COVINGTON, Ky. - The City of Covington is temporarily waiving permit fees - but not application requirements - commonly associated with development, construction, and renovation projects to help protect jobs during the coronavirus pandemic.
The fee waivers - for dumpster permits, encroachment permits, and zoning permits - were contained in one of three executive orders signed by Covington Mayor Joe Meyer late Wednesday to help local businesses stay solvent during the global health crisis.
The other orders help businesses pay rent and mortgages and extend the tax filing deadline by three months.
“In times like this, even the smallest amounts of economic activity can make the difference between someone keeping a job or losing it,” Covington Economic Development Director Tom West explained.
“We want to make it easy for homeowners and business owners to continue to invest in their properties and hopefully create sales opportunities for hardware stores and other businesses and job opportunities for construction workers.”
Applicants must still apply for the necessary permits using the normal procedures and processes, but the fees associated with those permits are suspended temporarily.
The waivers were a collaborative effort among three City departments: Economic Development, which handles zoning; Public Works, which oversees encroachment permits; and Neighborhood Services, which oversees the dumpster permits, Neighborhood Services Director Ken Smith said.
“We all just put our heads together to figure out ways to keep projects moving,” Smith said.
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The executive orders are part of the City’s ongoing response to the coronavirus pandemic and are allowed under the formal State of Emergency declared by Mayor Meyer on March 19. The legal maneuver speeds the City’s ability to take actions to protect the public and mitigate the pandemic’s impact and allows Covington to be reimbursed by federal agencies for disaster-related expenses incurred during this time.