Total Inspections

Inspections in Q4 totaled 20,706, which is up from the quarter’s five-year average of 19,605. In addition, total inspections for FY 2018 totaled 77,622, which is up slightly from the five-year average of 77,081.

New Non-Residential Permits Issued

There were six new non-residential permits totaling 27,848 square feet issued in Q4. This square footage is down from the quarter’s five-year average of 279,332. However, including the downtown parking deck, the square footage of new non-residential for FY 2018 totaled 1,860,318, which is up from the five-year fiscal year average of 1,299,602. The top new non-residential permits issued in this quarter were Ivybrook Academy, The Goddard School, Han-Dee Hugo’s and Starbucks.

Non-Residential Alteration and Addition Permits Issued

Non-residential alteration and addition permits in Q4 totaled 154, which is up from the quarter’s five-year average of 84. Also, non-residential addition and alteration permits for FY 2018 totaled 550, which was up slightly from the five-year average of 544.

Population Estimate

As of June 25, 2018, Cary’s population is  estimated at 163,763. This is an increase of 2.1 percent over the same period last year.

House Bill 948 (Building Code Regulatory Reform)

House Bill 948 (Building Code Regulatory Reform) was ratified by the legislature and signed by Governor Cooper on June 22, 2018. This bill will have two key impacts on local governments and inspection departments. First, the bill allows the North Carolina Department of Insurance (DOI) to contract out inspections to members of a “Code Official Market Place.” This market place is a pool of code officials, mostly retired, who are available to perform building code inspections throughout the state. The DOI will contract out inspections to these individuals when a requested inspection can’t be completed within two business days by the local inspection department. Additionally, local inspection departments will be required to refund a portion of the permit fee to pay for the outside inspection. Secondly, the bill includes an additional financial reporting requirement to ensure all building permit fees collected by the local unit are used solely to support the inspection department and does not supplement the local unit’s general fund in any way. Historically, Cary’s cost recovery rate for building inspection services has been approximately 70 percent.

Eastern Cary Gateway

IKEA

IKEA’s evolving business model has the retailer moving away from suburban, big-box retail outlets and into global city centers, which is why there are no longer any plans for a store in Cary. We are obviously very disappointed but are thankful that the decision came before the store was built and people were employed there. The timing also gives the mall’s owners, CBL, an incredible opportunity to reimagine the entire site and the future of this part of the Eastern Cary Gateway.

Fenton

Columbia Development and Town staff continue to meet regularly and are working through the terms of the Fenton development agreement. Columbia Development and their consultants also continue early planning of the site design and grading plans. Columbia Development representatives attended the International Shopping Center Convention in Las Vegas and stated that they had excellent interest in the project.