Just a heads up about the permit process for a garage conversion in Plaza Midwood

We started converting our detached garage into a studio last March, thinking it would be a quick 3-month project. The actual construction was fine, but getting the final occupancy permit from the city took an extra 5 months because of a zoning review backlog. They kept saying it was 'in the queue' every time we called. Has anyone else had a permit sit in limbo for that long in Charlotte?

3 comments

3 Comments

richard_mason2mo ago

Our plumbing inspection took eight weeks in NoDa.

nora_barnes2mo ago

Man, that's rough. Was it just the zoning review that held you up, or did they find other issues once they finally looked at it? I've heard of people getting stuck waiting for a fire marshal sign-off for weeks after everything else was done.

kevin_sullivan7d ago

Yeah, that zoning review was the main bottleneck, but they also flagged a minor setback issue on the lot line that took two resubmissions to clear up. It seems like once they finally got eyes on the plans, they started nitpicking everything. My advice is to go ahead and schedule the fire marshal walkthrough as early as you can, even if you're not done with zoning. If your contractor has a good relationship with the fire inspector, use it. Also, keep a folder with every stamped approval and email ready so when they ask for something, you can hand it over same day. You run into the same kind of runaway timeline with the fire marshal yet?