Building permits causing stir in mayor’s race
In a recent mayoral debate between current Clinton City Mayor Scott Burton and opponent Stephen McNally on WYSH FM radio, a listener submitted a question for Burton regarding his use of building permits when remodeling homes he rented out.
The listener asked whether he had applied for permits or not.
According to WYSH, there are no building permits on file for Burton other than a 2006 addition to his own home.
WYSH also reported that the only building permit on file for McNally was for construction of an in-ground pool in 2015; however, a public records search conducted by The Courier News shows that McNally’s permit was filed post, or mid-construction.
At the bottom of the file is a handwritten note that says, “Penalty of DBC permit fee – working without permit.”
When The Courier News initially filed the public records request, that handwritten note was cut off from the copy received.
The tops of certain letters were visible and so a new copy was requested.
The clerk had to request the original and made a copy of that, which had the note fully visible.
A copy of both reports is available on mycouriernews.com.
According to WYSH, Burton said that he does perform work on his rental properties but it was work that didn’t need building permits, like heating and air work.
WYSH looked into the issue and discovered that the city’s building codes do require a building permit for installing a new HVAC unit. In a follow-up call with the Courier News Tuesday morning, Burton confirmed that the contractor had not gotten a permit for the installation of a new HVAC system but got it on Monday when he realized the error.
“We as a city need to do a better job educating the public in what you need a permit for,” Burton told the Courier. “Even I didn’t know, and a lot of others I talked to didn’t either. Everyone makes mistakes.”
Burton will oppose McNally during the Nov. 6 election.
Scott-Burton-2006-permit.pdf
Stephen-McNally-2015-permit.pdf