Building Permit Allocation System

The Town of Mount Pleasant is currently operating under a Residential Only Building Permit Allocation System (BPAS). The purpose of the system is to respond to a variety of growth and development issues which affects the Town’s ability to meet community expectations and demands. The intent is to create a program to distribute certain building permits at a reasonable rate and in a manner intended to limit the pace of construction of certain dwelling units over a fixed period. Currently the BPAS will be in operation for five-years with a start date of January 8, 2019 and any applicable building permit application received AFTER this date will be subject to the allocation requirements outlined below. 

The program runs in six-month allocation cycles with predetermined allocation numbers for New Single Family (attached and detached), Accessory Dwelling Units and Multi-family Units in all areas of incorporated Mount Pleasant, except Carolina Park and the upcoming neighborhood Liberty Hill Farms, which are excluded from this program. Also excluded from this program is low income/affordable housing.  

The regulations of this program shall apply to any building permit application for a residential dwelling unit to be placed on a vacant lot or parcel in the corporate limits of the Town of Mount Pleasant on which a residence(s) did not exist as of the date of adoption of this system. Redevelopment (tear down and rebuilds) are not subject to the BPAS except if you are adding more dwelling units than what previously existed.

 ****WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW****

A. Permits shall be issued on a semi-annual basis in chronological order in which applications are received (commonly referred to as “First Come, First serve”) by the Building Inspections Division of the Planning and Development Department.

B. One-half of the allocated permits will be available on January 1 and the other half will be made available on July 1 of each year. Each six-month period represents an allocation cycle.

C. Applications for a building permit will be accepted at any time during the allocation cycle, starting on the first day of a semi-annual allocation cycle.

D. Any permits allocated for a given cycle but not issued during that cycle shall be carried over and will be made available with the next or subsequent allocation cycles. If the number of building permit applications exceeds the available supply for the semiannual allocation cycle, no further permits will be issued. If we currently do not have an allocation number available to issue to you, your submittal will be accepted and held as first in line (in the order it was received) for the next allocation cycle at the end of the current six-month cycle.

E. Permit requests will be considered for completed applications only. Please refer to the checklist on the application page(s) to ensure you are submitting all necessary forms and documents. Incomplete submittals will be rejected, and your plan review deposit will not be refunded.  Applications with the Contractor listed as to be determined will not be accepted.

F. Each permit application shall be made pursuant to a specific set of plans for a specific lot or parcel. Plan substitutions are not allowed. Minor revisions are allowed only to plans under review or that have been issued a Building Permit upon approval of the Building Official. Substantial revisions may require a resubmittal. Plan substitutions will require the permit to be voided and will require a new submittal to include another plan review deposit.

G. Applied permits not picked up and paid for within 180 days become invalid, permit is voided, and you will have to reapply via the Town online application portal.

H. For permits issued, construction must commence within 180 days or the permit becomes invalid, is voided and you will have to reapply via the Town online application portal.

I. For permits issued, construction must be maintained in any rolling 180-day period or the permit becomes invalid, is voided and you will have to reapply via the Town online application portal.

J. To maintain fair and equitable distribution of permits, applicants are limited to ten building permit applications in any one 24-hour period. For any applicant that exceeds ten building permit applications in one 24-hour period the overage will not be accepted, and applicant will be required to make re-application. 

K.  To maintain fair and equitable distribution of permits, no more than 25 Single Family homes (attached or detached) can be applied for in any one six-month allocation cycle for a single family development/subdivision or combination of phases in a larger development/subdivision.

For more information, you can view a copy of the signed ordinance.

Below is a quick glance at the numbers that will be distributed per year and over a five-year period.