St. Landry Parish Building Permit Fee Changes

In St Landry Parish, residents are required by ordinance to pay a fee to erect any structure. The minimum fee is $100, regardless of the cost of the structure. If you want to build a shed which costs you $300 you pay $100 fee. The way the ordinance is worded, even if you are building a $10 bird house you are required to obtain a permit and pay the $100 fee. If you fail to obtain this expensive permit, you face fines and even jail time.

This petition asks the Parish Council to restructure the fee schedule to relieve residents of this burdensome fee. Other communities in our area have much lower fees for building small structures such as a shed. The City of Opelousas, LA, for instance, charges only a $10 fee for a permit to erect a shed. 

It is outrageous that residents of St Landry Parish living 5 feet outside of the city limits of Opelousas have to pay 10 times more for the same permit.

Furthermore, there exists no provision in the ordinance to provide relief to those citizens who are in a very low income bracket, such as elderly Social Security recipients or those on Disability. We urge the council to exclude those citizens whose income falls below the poverty level from having to pay any fee at all.

I urge all residents of St Landry Parish to sign this petition asking our Parish Council to restructure the fee schedule to provide relief to our citizens.