The time period for some borough property owners to apply for driveway permits free of charge will be coming to a close, soon.
According to borough code, every driveway that touches, or will touch, a borough road requires a permit. Normally, the cost for that permit application is $50, plus a $150 refundable deposit. The code also applies retroactively for driveways that already exist. Until March 18th, driveways constructed before 2011 are exempt from the application fee.
Matt Garner, right-of-way inspector for the Mat-Su Borough, says the majority of driveways in the Valley that should have permits do not. That is changing, however. Garner says Facebook appears to have been the most effective form of outreach for driveway permits. Since a post in early February, he says his department has received about 450 applications. In all of 2019, the department processed less than 800.
Garner says a realistic timeframe from application to receiving permission to build is around ten business days. For driveways that already exist, he says the two most common missing elements are a requirement for a paved apron for dirt driveways abutting a paved road and a lack of culverts for driveways crossing drainage ditches.
For more information on the driveway permit program, property owners can call the borough’s permit center at 907-861-7822. The required standards for a driveway permit are available on the Mat-Su Borough website under the eCommerce section.
