On August 9, 2022, the Board of Supervisors received a presentation from the Nevada County Building Department on the department’s new Unpermitted Improvement Policy, formerly the As-Built policy. This revised policy addresses many of the hurdles and concerns for property owners and the development community. The goal of the policy is to embrace and incentivize proactive permitting to improve health and safety while not being punitive during the process.
Both the Building Department and the Community Development Agency (CDA) want to partner with the community to build successful and safe projects while also protecting property owners’ investments. While existing unpermitted structures and improvements can be common throughout rural Nevada County, many property owners want to legalize their property and/or obtain proactive building permits and other land-use permits. This process can be intimidating to the average homeowner. With the recently implemented policy, the Department hopes to make permitting more accessible, achievable, and remove barriers to obtaining permits.
“This policy was developed with input from the As-Built Policy Advisory Group with the intention of improving permitting. The Nevada County Contractor’s Association is excited to see this new policy unveiled for homeowners and contractors within Nevada County. This new policy brings a host of potential and allows new projects to be permitted; whereas they may have completely halted a prior project,” explains Barbara Bashall, Nevada County Government Affairs Liaison.
“We see the Building Department as a partner in the community; this collaborative effort addresses a major issue that impacts so many in our community. Our goal Is to provide outstanding service, each opportunity to improve our service and partner with the community is fulfilling,” says Nicholas McBurney, Supervising Building Inspector/Plans Examiner with the Nevada County Building Department.
To review the specifics read the Land-Use Permitting Associated with Preexisting Unpermitted Improvement Policy document.
If you have any questions about this updated policy, please don’t hesitate to reach out to the Nevada County Building Department at 530-265-1222 or BuildingDept@co.nevada.ca.us. Customer feedback is vital to the future success and improvement of the County; the best ideas to improve our services come from our customers!
