A slowdown in real estate sales and Mother Nature's wrath may have affected Norwich's permit, according to information presented at the Jan. 24 Village Board meeting.
Trustee Jack Bielak said roofing permits in the village more than doubled last year after two major hailstorms damaged many roofs.
Meanwhile, property inspections fell nearly 17% from 2022 to 2023, likely due to high interest rates and Norwich residents likely wanting to remain in the village, according to Building Director Patrick Gorski. Stated.
These are just two of the highlights culled from the Building Department's first detailed annual report to the Village Board, presented at the board's regular meeting.
Bielak said he and Gorski decided to begin filing annual reports after recently discussing department statistics. The ultimate goal is to submit monthly reports, Gorski said.
“This is something we will continue to do,” Bielak said. “We want to be able to track year after year to understand what the department is doing and what's happening in the village. We just want to provide a snapshot. ”
Trustee Debra Budnik said she likes the idea.
“This is a good thing,” Budnik said. “It's useful information for the future. It's good to be able to share this information.”
Bielak said the department is trying to become more technologically advanced and provide more information to the board.
“As I like to say, information is important and it is powerful,” he said.
Gorski said the former Norwich Building Inspector started the process with paper reports in 2022, but the Building Department is now moving its records to electronic format.
“Paper is very easily available as opposed to the manpower required for paper,” he said. “We can get reports and numbers and see how many permits and inspections have been done.”
The goal is to track community and economic development in real time and share that information with the board, Gorski said.
“We have a transparent tool that we hope to be able to provide to the board on a month-to-month basis,” he said.
Gorski said Norwich saw a slight reduction in development from 2022 to 2023 because most of the land in the village is already developed.
However, he said the village will see some retail development as the former Putting Edge Miniature Golf Center and nearby properties are being converted into single-floor retail space.
Other items included in the report were:
HVAC permits decreased by almost 41% from 71 in 2022 to 42 in 2023.
“My interpretation is that it's because the weather has become milder,” Gorski said. “There wasn't much of a need to upgrade or replace the system.”
The number of fence permits increased by 18% from 100 in 2022 to 118 in 2023.
Level work permits for concrete, pavement, and asphalt decreased by approximately 28% from 143 in 2022 to 103 in 2023.
Commercial fire alarm permits decreased by 50% from 20 in 2022 to 10 in 2023.
Fire sprinkler permits decreased by 78% from 18 in 2022 to just four in 2023.
Gorski attributed the latter two declines to a “stagnant period” in Norwich's commercial development.
“Most commercial spaces in the village are already state-of-the-art and modern,” he said. “There's not much to develop other than the putting edge area right now.”
