Storm Shelter Building Permit Cost

[Red Arrow]

I guess this is just another advantage of living in the big city.

Safe rooms provide excellent protection in a tornado, but they cost several thousand dollars, and Tulsa adds an expensive permit on top of that. The permit fee charged by the City of Tulsa is the highest one we've found.
In Oklahoma City it's $70, in Moore it's $24.50. Claremore's is free. In Owasso it's $29, but the Jenks and Broken Arrow fee of $60 is nothing compared to Tulsa, which can be as much as $260.
Several city councilors think that fee is out of line.
"Our permits are based on the cost of the structure, plus the review cost and inspection cost," said Harold Tohlen, of the City of Tulsa.

http://www.newson6.com/story/22524567/tulsa-city-councilors-discuss-storm-shelter-permit-fees

Emphasis is mine.  Why should the cost of the permit for something like a storm shelter be based on the cost?

[patric]

I guess this is just another advantage of living in the big city.
http://www.newson6.com/story/22524567/tulsa-city-councilors-discuss-storm-shelter-permit-fees
Emphasis is mine.  Why should the cost of the permit for something like a storm shelter be based on the cost?

What service(s) does the city provide in exchange for this?  Do they earn this fee somehow?

Other than possibly an attempt to skim off part of a federal subsidy (which does not exist in most cases) it does not serve the citizens.
The fee should be eliminated, even if for no other reason than as a gesture to encourage more shelters.

[guido911]

I am going to have a global warming shelter installed soon. I will have to pay the "liberal bed wetters keep out" signage fee on the door to the shelter.

[Red Arrow]

What service(s) does the city provide in exchange for this?  Do they earn this fee somehow?

Judging from some friends who rebuilt some hangars at RVS, the city provides inspections (for a fee, of course) to make sure you cannot sue the city if something bad happens after being built to city approved codes. I personally think it is nothing more than a racket to jack up prices, discourage improvements, and provide business to the brothers-in-law.

[Red Arrow]

I am going to have a global warming shelter installed soon. I will have to pay the "liberal bed wetters keep out" signage fee on the door to the shelter.

Plus a battery backed-up "EXIT" sign at the door.

[Ibanez]

When we were building our house in 2008 the permitting from Tulsa County drove me nuts. 1/2 mile further South and we wouldn't have had to deal with them.

What really chapped my donkey was the same guy was doing all the inspections but wouldn't do them all at the same time. He would literally do one, drive to the end of our driveway, 330 feet from the house, pull out onto Yale, turn around and drive back to the house. All so we would have the privilege of paying another permit fee since it was a "different" visit.

He also wanted to do stupid things like make the electrical outlets in the ceiling for the garage door openers GFCI outlets. I just happened to be here at the time he was doing that inspection and telling the electricians they had installed the wrong outlets so I asked him why that was a requirement as it would make resetting the outlets a pain since the garage ceilings are 14 feet high. The inspector just said it was required so I asked if he could show me the code. He pulled out a mess of paperwork and flipped through it until he got to a spot and pointed at it. I don't remember the exact wording but it was something along the lines of "or as required by the inspector." I then asked why he required the GFCI outlets given the location in the ceiling he said "because I make the rules."

So the electricians changed out the outlets, shaking their heads the entire time, the little Napoleon inspected things, put on his sticker and as he drove out of the driveway I had the electricians change the outlets back from GFCI's to normal.

Don't even get me started on INCOG.....

[Red Arrow]

What really chapped my donkey was the same guy was doing all the inspections but wouldn't do them all at the same time. He would literally do one, drive to the end of our driveway, 330 feet from the house, pull out onto Yale, turn around and drive back to the house. All so we would have the privilege of paying another permit fee since it was a "different" visit.

I know you don't want to "aggravate" the inspector but it would have been really tempting for me to tell him to come back at another time which was "not today".  If he wants to make a separate trip, so be it.

[heironymouspasparagus]

When we were building our house in 2008 the permitting from Tulsa County drove me nuts. 1/2 mile further South and we wouldn't have had to deal with them.

What really chapped my donkey was the same guy was doing all the inspections but wouldn't do them all at the same time. He would literally do one, drive to the end of our driveway, 330 feet from the house, pull out onto Yale, turn around and drive back to the house. All so we would have the privilege of paying another permit fee since it was a "different" visit.

He also wanted to do stupid things like make the electrical outlets in the ceiling for the garage door openers GFCI outlets. I just happened to be here at the time he was doing that inspection and telling the electricians they had installed the wrong outlets so I asked him why that was a requirement as it would make resetting the outlets a pain since the garage ceilings are 14 feet high. The inspector just said it was required so I asked if he could show me the code. He pulled out a mess of paperwork and flipped through it until he got to a spot and pointed at it. I don't remember the exact wording but it was something along the lines of "or as required by the inspector." I then asked why he required the GFCI outlets given the location in the ceiling he said "because I make the rules."

So the electricians changed out the outlets, shaking their heads the entire time, the little Napoleon inspected things, put on his sticker and as he drove out of the driveway I had the electricians change the outlets back from GFCI's to normal.

Don't even get me started on INCOG.....

Same guys who "inspected" and approved a 12awg aluminum wire connection from a junction box at one end of a house in Tulsa, running to the other to power an electric dryer.  10awg is required if copper.  And if using aluminum, one size higher is required, so 8 would have been necessary.  Plus, I believe the code prohibited aluminum in the space it was run anyway for this type residential - haven't verified yet.  But Colburn Electric and him must have been 'good buddies'....

[sauerkraut]

This is totally crazy.

[heironymouspasparagus]

This is totally crazy.

??   Are you...what,....examining belly button lint...??....doesn't really fit this thread....

[Nik]

What service(s) does the city provide in exchange for this?  Do they earn this fee somehow?

Don't they provide a service that allows search & rescue teams to identify owners of storm shelters in tornado-hit areas so they know which houses to check? I believe that the storm shelters companies provide a similar service. It would suck to be stuck underground because your house collapsed on top of the shelter. By no means a justification of the high price tag, but, if they do offer this service, it is something.

[patric]

Don't they provide a service that allows search & rescue teams to identify owners of storm shelters in tornado-hit areas so they know which houses to check? I believe that the storm shelters companies provide a similar service. It would suck to be stuck underground because your house collapsed on top of the shelter. By no means a justification of the high price tag, but, if they do offer this service, it is something.

I think that service is generically referred to as the "fire department" and includes a wide variety of search and rescues.   
Im not familiar with any city inspection fees being diverted to public safety, but that doesn't mean it couldn't happen.

The southwest corner of the cloverleaf where the Broken Arrow expressway meets 169 has had several storm shelters on display, they all have doors that open inward so as not to be blocked by debris.

[sauerkraut]

No Way mayor Bart!

[Hoss]

No Way mayor Bart!

Still must be clearing the lint....