Seventy-three building permits for single-family houses in seven months.
That figure had Salmon Arm Council talking on Monday.
The city’s monthly building department report showed 17 single family building permits issued in July this year, up over nine in July 2016. That brought the total number of single-family homes to date this year to 73, nearly double 2016’s 39 for the same period.
Coun. Chad Eliason asked if this is a record year, but it isn’t quite.
In 2007, there were 99 single-family dwelling permits as of July 31. However, city staff say this year all the building permits are for homeowner housing, while in 2007 several were for spec homes, many of which took a long time to sell after the market fell in 2008.
Coun. Kevin Flynn agreed he hasn’t seen anything like this since 2006 or 2007.
“That’s a lot of houses.”
Eliason said that along with new single-family dwellings, lots of renovations are going on.
He remembered how, in ’06 and ’07, builders were coming to council saying there weren’t enough lots for new homes.
So council went through the official community plan and identified some areas where the urban containment boundary could be expanded, such as Upper Lakeshore.
He pointed to many benefits of the boom, such as building permit revenue, income for the building trades and more.
“These are good for Salmon Arm economically. It’s a big bang for our buck, a big multiplier…”
He gave kudos to staff for all their extra work.
Flynn, too, acknowledged staff’s work.
“Those numbers are staggering really,” he said.
Coun. Ken Jamieson said this shows Salmon Arm is a desirable place to live.
He added that city hall seems to be a pretty friendly place to do business, noting lots of city halls don’ t have such a good reputation.
Eliason said he’s pleased to see Salmon Arm is getting a mix of the whole spectrum of housing types.
Mayor Nancy Cooper said she was talking to realtors on the weekend.
“It is an exciting time for Salmon Arm and a time of high growth.”
