Civic · 6 pages · 12 min

How a permit is a prior permission

A permit authorizes a described project before the work starts, rather than forgiving the work after it is done.

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From the opening

A permit is a prior permission, meaning the ordinance treats a named activity such as building, grading, or opening a regulated use as something that must wait for an official yes. The applicant shows that a described proposal meets the applicable rules, and the issued permit is the decision that this proposal may proceed. The opening covers the approval comes before the work, ministerial permits follow written rules, and discretion can require a hearing first.

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Inside

The approval comes before the work
Ministerial permits follow written rules
Discretion can require a hearing first
Later enforcement is not a permit
Where the idea stops applying
A distinction worth keeping

Sources

Building permit as prior approval
Ministerial versus discretionary permission

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How a permit is a prior permission

From the opening

Inside

Sources

Also on the desk