Construction levels “normal” in 2020

By Sean Feagan, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Statistics from Strathmore’s development services department show that while building may have slowed slightly in 2020, growth was similar to other years, despite the pandemic.

Chuck Procter, the town’s manager of development services, presented an overview of the department’s work throughout 2020 during the Feb. 10 committee of the whole meeting.

Development services is a public-facing department working to facilitate growth and development in Strathmore, he explained. Its seven staff provide building permits, development permits, plumbing, electrical and gas permits, business licenses, subdivisions and area structure plans, and provides policy including the land use bylaw and municipal development plan

The number of these permits the department handles each year can be used as rough indicators of growth and development in Strathmore, explained Procter.

In 2020, the town issued 130 development permits and 18 dwelling units, representing a total construction value of about $22.7 million. This was slightly fewer than in 2019, when 151 development permits and 24 dwelling units, of a total value of about $21.3 million were issued.

“Although not a perfect indicator of the economic conditions in Strathmore, these stats help paint the picture that although it was a global crisis, a global pandemic, we still had a fairly normal year in terms of construction (in 2020),” said Procter.

Another metric was the number of real property reports (RPRs), which are legal documents prepared by land surveyors, showing the property lines and building extents. In 2020, 113 RPRs were performed, compared to 135 in 2019, showing there was roughly a similar number of houses in town changing hands, he said.

Finally, building permits were compared. In 2020, 168 electrical, 140 gas and 93 plumbing permits were issued, compared to 186, 134 and 75, respectively, in 2019.

Mayor Pat Fule said the statistics presented show last year development across town was not impacted by the pandemic as much as may been expected. 

“It definitely sounds like 2020 turned out to be a better year than we had thought it would,” said Fule.