By Dawn De Busk

Staff Writer

NAPLES — A solar energy business brought to the town’s attention an error in the way applicants are charged for building permits.

Rather, it was an error in how the cents sign was being interpreted.

“We recently had the building permit fee schedule contested, stating the way it is written with cents versus the dollar sign is confusing,” according to Naples Town Manager John Hawley.    

“When you use the cent symbol that actually means one quarter of cent. It doesn’t mean 25 cents and so on,” he said.  

For this particular solar farm project, the 40 cents per square foot would have resulted in a $240,000 building permit, Hawley said. 

The town has not done anything illegal.

The town manager consulted the town attorney to get advice going forward. 

The town is in the right “because we have consistently charged the whole cent value, instead of a fraction of the cent. It is defendable in court because the precedence has been set,” Hawley said.  

“However, she did suggest to avoid confusion in the future, we adjust our fee schedule to remove the cents sign and put in dollar symbols,” he said. 

On Monday night, the Naples Board of Selectmen approved a typo change, making it clear a fraction of a cent per square foot is the formula for figuring out the fee.

“The reason why this came up is because we have a solar project that was approved that is going to apply for the permitting. Based on the commercial rate of 40 cents per square foot, their building permit — it is going to be more than $240,000,” Hawley said. 

Forty cents per square foot versus one-quarter cent per square foot is quite a difference, he said. 

He consulted the attorney again, explaining why the applicant was originally contesting.

“Under the Title 38, section 3702, the municipality is responsible for reasonably setting fees to cover the cost of municipal expenses,” he said. 

The town lawyer said the law requires that the town be consistent and treat all applicants equally, Hawley said. 

“We had another solar project that was approved. Those fees were $40,000 and [those fees] were paid,” Hawley said. 

“You have to be careful. The law expects you to treat all applicants equally. In this case, you’ve already charged a solar farm 40 cents per square foot. You cannot now do something for the next person unless you retro charge the first solar farm,” he said.   

At one point in time, the town staff figured out a fee that covered the town’s cost.

“It was determined that it cost you so much to do a building permit. All the fees to see that project through: the permitting, the assessments, the taxation, the administrative,” Hawley said. 

The attorney confirmed that the town’s “cost per square foot fee is not unreasonable,” he said. 

“When those fees were established there was no way to see that something like this [acres of solar farms] would come up in the future,” he said.

It is worth considering that the town might consider adopting a maximum fee so the cost is capped.