City of Morgan Hill Offers Amnesty for Add-ons and Upgrades

June 20th, 2010 // Categorized under: Community Information

Good news for those of you who have done unpermitted work to your property!  The City of Morgan Hill is offering an opportunity to those of you who decided to go ahead and do the work – and worry about the permit later.   For the next two years, until June 30, 2012, you can make sure that your unpermitted work meets life and safety compliance without having to pay any penalty fees for work already done.  As stated in the City of Morgan Hill’s website:

“Overview

In an attempt to assist property owners in securing retroactive permits for work that has already been performed, a temporary Building Permit Amnesty Program has been implemented.  The program will allow property owners that have constructed room additions, remodels, or performed other work that would otherwise require a building permit, to apply for the appropriate permits without paying penalties.  The primary objective is to achieve code compliance for life and safety aspects of the code, and therefore reduce liability and increase safety for property owners and/or tenants.  This program will only be in effect until June 30, 2012.

Fees

All current applicable permit and impact fees would still be due; however, the penalties would be waived–which could mean hundreds or even thousands of dollars in savings.

Process

  1. The applicant applies for a building permit and all penalty fees are waived;
  2. The Building Inspector performs a preliminary inspection of the property to determine the scope of the work, and if plans will be required;
  3. As-built plans are submitted, if deemed necessary;
  4. If the inspector determines that the unpermitted work will comply with current applicable codes, permit fees are paid, an active building permit is issued to the property owner, and a final inspection takes place.

Codes and Regulations

It will be necessary for the unpermitted construction to comply with all current codes.  In cases where there has been extreme divergence from zoning and building codes, the illegal construction will not be permitted.  In this situation, the property owner will be required to restore the structure and/or site to its previous condition.”

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This entry was posted on Sunday, June 20th, 2010 at 8:56 am and is filed under Community Information. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

  1. Diane Kawell said at June 20th, 2010 at 2:16 pm

    Hi Gretchen – what a great opportunity for homeowners to get this done .. I am guessing that if someone bought a home where things were already done without a permit before their ownership, then this would also apply .. ?

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