By John Pacenti
The Manalapan Town Commission has approved a broad update to its building-related fee schedule, the first major overhaul since 2010, following staff recommendations that existing fees no longer cover the true cost of operations and legal review.
Building official Jacek “Jack” Tomasik told commissioners at their Jan. 20 meeting that the changes focus on “supporting fees,” not the core building permit fee itself, which remains unchanged.
Key elements include:
• Higher planning and zoning application fees for variances, special exceptions, site plan reviews, zoning text amendments, and ARCOM (Architectural Commission) reviews, which Tomasik said are currently “completely outdated” and fail to reflect the intensive back-and-forth with applicants and attorneys.
• A new surety requirement tied to the cost of police traffic maintenance during construction, to address State Road A1A situations where FDOT requires officers or traffic control around work zones. The bond would be collected before road-affected work begins.
• Zoning review fees were added to all building permits after staff noted Florida law prohibits using building permit revenue to fund zoning work. The new fee will help pay for additional hours by Zoning Administrator Alice Everard, who has agreed to increase her schedule by six hours a week to keep pace with demand.
• A revamped permit renewal and extension structure, reducing the renewal fee from a flat $1,000 — which Tomasik said made little sense for small jobs like water heaters and AC change-outs — to $250 for minor permits, with larger projects paying 2% of the calculated permit fee.
• A refund policy to return a substantial portion of fees when projects are canceled after a permit application is submitted or the permit is issued.
• New expedited plan review fees — $1,000 for residential and $1,750 for commercial — allowing applicants to pay extra to have plans reviewed on an overtime basis without delaying other projects.
Tomasik said the package is intended both to “recover the cost of operation” and keep Manalapan “statutorily compatible” with Florida law, while aligning generally with neighboring municipalities of similar size.
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