BUILDER CITES HIGH CAPE PERMIT COSTS

When it comes to residential development and construction, Herb Annis prefers doing business in Jackson instead of his hometown of Cape Girardeau.

One reason for his preference is a considerable price difference in building permits.

"In Cape it will cost me $1,300 to $1,500 just in permits," Annis said. "In Jackson I can get the same thing for $300 regardless of whether or not it's a home worth $50,000 or $500,000."

Annis, who owns Michael L. Annis Inc. construction company in Cape Girardeau, has other reasons for wanting to develop property in Jackson.

"I go to Jackson and everybody I deal with seems willing to bend over backward to help me out," Annis said. "I go to city hall in Cape and it seems like I've got to go through so much bureaucracy, I'd rather just send someone else. Now I hire an engineer, an architect and a lawyer to deal with them."

Said Annis: "It's not a healthy climate for development and construction in Cape right now. I think they really need an attitude adjustment at city hall."

Cape Girardeau Supervisor of Building Inspectors Rick Murray understands Annis' frustration, but Murray said the size of the cities differs.

"We are much larger than a town like Jackson, Scott City or Sikeston," Murray said of Cape Girardeau. "You're talking about the difference of say, 10,000 and 36,000 people. I think you will find that as a community gets larger so does the city staff. We have more fixed, base costs."

Murray said the reason permits are so much higher in Cape Girardeau is because a sewer tap fee is included in the rates. "Every person who builds a structure has to pay a $750 sewer tap fee," Murray said. The money is used as a maintenance fund. "It's used to take care of the sewers that we already have," Murray said.

Cape Girardeau has taken steps to simplify the process a builder or developer must go through. "Instead of sending someone to planning, engineering, finance and the inspection division, we try to set up a meeting where all of those people would be in the same room," said Murray. "We've been working on this for the last year and a half."

Cape Girardeau has three field inspectors; Jackson has one building inspector and two construction inspectors. The difference, however, is what happens after one deals with the inspectors. The most a builder or developer will deal with in Jackson is three to five people; in Cape Girardeau that number could go as high as nine or 10.

"We try to be flexible," Jackson Public Works Director Mark Brown said. "Our inspectors have gone to classes to become (Building Officials and Code Administrators) certified. In those courses they stress the importance of public relations."

Murray said he and two other inspectors in his office are also BOCA certified.

Annis has nothing but praise for Cape Girardeau building inspectors. "The inspectors in Cape are good," Annis said. "But they have to answer to so many people it's hard to get the job done."

Murray again pointed to the size of Cape Girardeau and the amount of projects, both residential and commercial, that must be handled. "When it comes to residential, I bet we're neck-and-neck," Murray said. "But where Cape may have an advantage in growth is commercial."

There have been 536 building permits issued in Cape Girardeau this year. Of that total, 102 were for commercial projects.

In Jackson there were 142 building permits issued, three of which were for commercial projects. Of the 142 permits, 120 were for houses, 13 for duplexes and six for condominiums.

Regardless of which city Annis chooses to work in, there are plenty of customers, said Annis.

"The last three years we've been as busy as we've ever been," said Ed Thompson, owner of Thompson Construction Inc. in Cape Girardeau. "The cost of land and material continues to go up, but it seems like there are still enough people interested in new homes."

Cape Girardeau and Jackson are bucking a national trend in new-home sales. New-home sales slumped 7.3 percent in the Midwest in September, lowest since June 1992.

"No question we're way above the average for the Midwest and actually for the rest of the state," Murray said.

Thompson said the same lot that went for $25,000 last year cost $30,000 to $35,000 today. "I guess it comes down to whatever the market will bear," Thompson said.

John Lichtenegger, who has been developing property in Jackson since 1977, said the last three years have been the best. "It's just been explosive in Jackson," Lichtenegger said.

A developer is responsible for providing the streets, sewers, water and utilities for a subdivision. "It's a very risky business," Lichtenegger said. Some of the risk has been taken out of Lichtenegger's most recent project, because it is next to one of the more attractive sites on the east part of town.

"The Bent Creek Golf Course has brought a lot of development on the east side," Lichtenegger said. "It's a tremendous drawing card." Indeed, Bent Creek was rated the best public golf course in the state of Missouri by Golf Digest magazine.

"That's really what a developer must look at: the lay of the land. If you can find a site that is next to something like Bent Creek, you know those homes will sell."

Lichtenegger is developing Green Meadows subdivision, which will have approximately 100 lots.

Annis is developing a subdivision between Cape Girardeau and Jackson just off of Highway 61. "We started selling the lots in August and are already two-thirds sold out," Annis said. "It's a good location because you're within minutes of Cape and right next to Jackson."

Annis has developed projects such as Ashland Hills Estates in Cape Girardeau. However, he now leans toward more development in Jackson.

"I have nothing against building and developing residential property in Cape," Annis said. "But right now I have no plans to do any work there. We're concentrating on the work we have in Jackson right now."