City, Broadway or rural Lee County: the same permit desk
The City of Sanford's Inspections Division handles permitting and building inspection for Sanford, the Town of Broadway and unincorporated Lee County. It sits in the Buggy Company building and takes applications through its online CSS Portal or in person. Residential permits are all-trade permits. Read the Division's permitting page before you plan a garage slab, a shed slab or a workshop floor.
One inspection office for the whole county means one desk whether your lot is on a city street or a county road. A permit application that isn't paid and issued within 60 days of the invoice date is treated as abandoned. An issued permit expires six months after issuance if work hasn't started and immediately if work stops for 12 months, so have the pour scheduled before the permit clock starts. Our permits guide covers how Cumberland County, Harnett County and Hoke County handle permits closer to Fayetteville.
Why a state-road driveway permit can hold up your zoning clearance
Sanford's Unified Development Ordinance, Sec. 3.2.3, says that to build any structure, use any land or change a use, you need a zoning clearance permit from the Department of Community Development and a building permit from the Building Inspections Department. A zoning clearance expires if 12 months pass without a building permit.
Sec. 8.5.2 adds a state-road rule. Anyone in the incorporated or unincorporated parts of Lee County who connects to a state road has to hand the City a copy of the NCDOT driveway permit, and no Zoning Clearance Permit is issued until a copy is submitted. That catches a shed or shop with a new driveway on a state-maintained road. Request the NCDOT permit through the District Engineer early, since a simple request typically takes four weeks or less. The paving and aisle standards in Article 8 don't apply to a single-family home or duplex, beyond leaving land for two off-street spaces per detached dwelling.
Residential slab installation is priced by the square foot, $7 to $12 per sq ft on a reinforced pour. These sizes come straight from that range, and smaller shed pads hit a job minimum.
| Project | Size | Per sq ft | What it comes to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Backyard shed pad | 12x16 (192 sq ft) | $7 to $12 | $1,344 to $2,304 |
| Workshop floor | 20x24 (480 sq ft) | $7 to $12 | $3,360 to $5,760 |
| Garage floor | 24x24 (576 sq ft) | $7 to $12 | $4,032 to $6,912 |
| Garage with a workshop bay | 24x36 (864 sq ft) | $7 to $12 | $6,048 to $10,368 |
Stone base on clay, a PE compaction report on filled lots, thickened edges and tear-out of an old pad change the total. Every price is confirmed in a free written estimate after we see the site.
