The Village of Huntington Bay requires building and grading permits for: new construction, additions and structural alterations to buildings and dwellings, pools, hot tubs, garages, decks, grading or re-grading of property, retaining walls, patios, terraces, cabanas, gazebos, sheds, screened porches, tennis courts, basketball courts, and docks.

The overall reason for the Village issuing permits is protection - protection of the homeowner, homeowner's neighbors, and the Village. When an application for a building permit is filed with the Building Inspector, the first review that is undertaken is a zoning check. The existing property and structures as well as the proposed work are checked against the Zoning Code of the Village. The submittal is checked to see if the property and structures conform in terms of the required area of the lot, width of the lot, whether the property is a corner lot or a through lot, front, rear, and each side yard set-backs and building heights. This also helps to keep correct property lines between neighbors, and to keep the look and feel of the various zoning districts intact. If there are non-conformities with respect to the Zoning Code, a variance is required from the Village's Zoning Board of Appeals.

Once the zoning questions have been considered, the plans themselves come under review. Plans for any work requiring a permit must be prepared, signed, and sealed by NYS licensed architect or engineer. The plans and specifications are then carefully checked for compliance with the NYS Uniform Fire Protection and Building Code. This work is primarily for the protection of the homeowner.

Barring a need for a variance, the zoning check, review of plans, and permit issuing process takes, on average, about two weeks.

Once a permit is issued for a construction project, the Building Inspector makes periodic inspections to see that the work being done conforms to the building code and to the approved plans. This, too, is primarily for the protection of the homeowner. Specifically, an inspection is made of any footing and foundation walls before they are back-filled. The anchor bolt spacing is checked, followed by the framing, the insulation, and the plumbing. When the construction is completed, a final inspection is done before a Certificate of Occupancy can be issued.

The Village incurs expense in ensuring that all work is completed to code for the protection of the homeowner, neighbors, and the Village as a whole. That is the reason permit fees are required. They are based on a projected per-square-foot cost of construction. The more costly the construction, the higher the fee. The fees in Huntington Bay are similar to fees charged by other Villages on Long Island. They are adjusted when necessary, so that costs are not paid out of the general tax fund.

If anyone has a question about work they are considering for their home, feel free to contact the Building Inspector before commencing a project. The Building Inspector has office hours at Village Hall on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m.