Go online for your Grafton building permits — paper permits may soon cost more
The good news: residents and contractors doing business in Grafton are now able to apply online for building department permits, doing away with the usual visit to the Municipal Center in these pandemic times.
The bad news: a good number are still putting in paper applications — and Building Inspector Bob Berger wants to charge a fee for the additional hassle.
“We cannot refuse a paper application by state law, but they take a lot more time,” Berger told the Select Board Tuesday.
The new online process has been popular since its introduction in May, with about 70 percent of building department regulars opting to input their application details and upload plans via computer. Berger would like to charge paper applicants $300 for new construction or $150 for renovation permits to encourage more people to go online.
The issue? Time.
“You got a McGill house or a Brendan homes house… it takes about three and a half hours for us to get that information into the database,” Berger said.
The Select Board saw the logic in time-saving but questioned whether the fee would discourage contractors from doing business in Grafton.
“I don’t want to see your department burdened… but I don’t know if a $300 penalty fee is the right thing,” Select Board member Ed Prisby said.
Berger said other communities are doing it, including Shewsbury.
Select Board member Doreen DeFazio suggested that Berger look into how other communities are handling the problem, with an eye toward seeing if those adding fees for paper are seeing more people opting for online.
The board agreed to reconsider the fees in a few weeks after Berger comes back with a report.
