Boatcop
11-10-2007, 07:10 PM
What a bunch of idiots.
Building permits continue to plummet
Addition-alteration permits on the rise
By Tony Raap
Friday, November 9, 2007 9:30 PM MST
The already bleak housing picture grew even darker Friday as officials announced that home construction tumbled yet again last month, plunging to its lowest level in more than 20 years.
The latest snapshot of the cityÂ’s building activity, released this week by the Development Services Department, showed that the city in October issued seven single-family building permits, the lowest monthly total since October 1983.
“I have never seen it that low for one month,” said Bud Schulz, executive director of the Colorado River Building Industry Association. “This is about as low as it’s ever been.”
Media coverage of a rare amoeba that killed a Lake Havasu City teenager in September might have played a factor, Schulz said. Most of the reports, particularly those done by the national news media, were “sensationalistic,” he said.
The Naegleria fowleri amoeba made headlines worldwide when it killed Aaron Evans, a Lake Havasu High School freshman who contracted the amoeba while swimming in Lake Havasu.
Essentially, the amoeba enters the body through the nose and travels to the brain, where it feeds until the person dies, prompting several media outlets to refer to it as a “brain-eating amoeba.”
“We really don’t know,” Schulz said of whether there was a direct link between the amoeba coverage and the drop in building permits.
He was more adamant about the effect of proposed impact fees, which would shift the burden of expanding city services from taxpayers as a whole to developers responsible for the growth in population.
A plan by city leaders to impose impact fees on builders would only exacerbate the building industryÂ’s struggles, he said. Under the plan, an $8,000 impact fee would be added to every new home built in city limits.
“How much more are we going to burden the existing unimproved lots before no one will pull any permits at all?” Schulz said. “In order for the impact fees to bring additional revenue to the city, people are going to have to build.”
The national housing market isnÂ’t all that healthy either. Builders nationwide slashed investments in housing projects by 20.1 percent in the third quarter, the largest drop in a year, according to The Associated Press.
“It’s all over the country. I don’t think it’s just Lake Havasu,” said Diane Wildfang, developer of the Sailing Hawks master-planned community, a north-side residential development.
Despite the drop in single-family building permits, the number of additions and alterations rose sharply in October. The city issued 88 such permits last month, up from 67 in September.
Those figures “look pretty good primarily because people are staying in their houses and refurbishing them rather than building new houses,” Schulz said.
John Rudolf contributed to this story. You may contact the reporter at raap@havasunews.com.
Building permits continue to plummet
Addition-alteration permits on the rise
By Tony Raap
Friday, November 9, 2007 9:30 PM MST
The already bleak housing picture grew even darker Friday as officials announced that home construction tumbled yet again last month, plunging to its lowest level in more than 20 years.
The latest snapshot of the cityÂ’s building activity, released this week by the Development Services Department, showed that the city in October issued seven single-family building permits, the lowest monthly total since October 1983.
“I have never seen it that low for one month,” said Bud Schulz, executive director of the Colorado River Building Industry Association. “This is about as low as it’s ever been.”
Media coverage of a rare amoeba that killed a Lake Havasu City teenager in September might have played a factor, Schulz said. Most of the reports, particularly those done by the national news media, were “sensationalistic,” he said.
The Naegleria fowleri amoeba made headlines worldwide when it killed Aaron Evans, a Lake Havasu High School freshman who contracted the amoeba while swimming in Lake Havasu.
Essentially, the amoeba enters the body through the nose and travels to the brain, where it feeds until the person dies, prompting several media outlets to refer to it as a “brain-eating amoeba.”
“We really don’t know,” Schulz said of whether there was a direct link between the amoeba coverage and the drop in building permits.
He was more adamant about the effect of proposed impact fees, which would shift the burden of expanding city services from taxpayers as a whole to developers responsible for the growth in population.
A plan by city leaders to impose impact fees on builders would only exacerbate the building industryÂ’s struggles, he said. Under the plan, an $8,000 impact fee would be added to every new home built in city limits.
“How much more are we going to burden the existing unimproved lots before no one will pull any permits at all?” Schulz said. “In order for the impact fees to bring additional revenue to the city, people are going to have to build.”
The national housing market isnÂ’t all that healthy either. Builders nationwide slashed investments in housing projects by 20.1 percent in the third quarter, the largest drop in a year, according to The Associated Press.
“It’s all over the country. I don’t think it’s just Lake Havasu,” said Diane Wildfang, developer of the Sailing Hawks master-planned community, a north-side residential development.
Despite the drop in single-family building permits, the number of additions and alterations rose sharply in October. The city issued 88 such permits last month, up from 67 in September.
Those figures “look pretty good primarily because people are staying in their houses and refurbishing them rather than building new houses,” Schulz said.
John Rudolf contributed to this story. You may contact the reporter at raap@havasunews.com.