Watertown Will Begin Issuing Building Permits This Week

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The following announcement was provided by the Watertown Building Inspector:

Governor Baker has allowed construction to re-open in Phase I of the four-phase Re-opening Plan, provided that all safety guidelines are followed and each contractor signs an agreement to follow these guidelines.

Watertown Town Hall continues to be closed however, building permits will begin to be issued during the week of May 19, 2020. If the work is small in nature, an email will be sent out with directions on how the permit can be printed. If the permit has multiple pages of architectural drawings, the town is developing a pickup procedure to begin during the week of May 19, 2020.

Please keep in mind, you will be notified when your permit is issued and is ready to be picked up.

Building Permit applications can be submitted through our on-line portal, through mail or by appointment only, please call Debbie Helie or Peter McLaughlin if you have any questions at 617-972-6480.

Please note the following:

  1. Applications will be reviewed on a first come, first serve basis and no exceptions will be made. We currently have a que of applications submitted prior to the shut-down which will take priority, the only exception will be emergency situations such as an active roof leak.
  2. Any application that is incomplete will not be reviewed until all necessary documents are provided. We will communicate through email and/or by phone. Once we have a complete package, the application will go into the que – we will not ‘move to the front of the line.’
  3. Any application requiring DPW approval must be submitted to DPW prior to being submitted to the Building Department.
  4. Be patient. We will get to every application as quickly and safely as possible.
  5. We will be actively monitoring work sites and any site not adhering to COVID-19 safety guidelines will be shut down.

We thank everyone for their patience.

Peter J McLaughlin
Building Commissioner
Town of Watertown

5 thoughts on “Watertown Will Begin Issuing Building Permits This Week

  1. I think it might be wise to cut back on building permits until this city and it’s Board of Health do something to address the increased rat problem within it’s borders. Traps, gas or anything else that will eradicate this serious problem otherwise newcomers might just find out and stop buying property. We have had over a dozen cars infiltrated by you know what in our section so I might advise others to open up the hoods on their cars and look for evidence of …….. Well, you know!

  2. The town needs to address this problem before they start working on the schools. Residents may need to get the state involved if they town does not. I am fearful of what will happen when they tear down the Cunniff school because of the rat problem in the west end.

    • This definitely needs to be looked at and plans put into place before any construction is started. The rat problem is just as bad if not worse in the east end. The last time construction was done at the Hosmer while redesigning the streets and sidewalks, there where rats everywhere day and night. You’d think a call to the health department would help? Nope. They came out to the neighborhood and started looking for reasons blame the residents for the problem. Issuing warnings that people’s property’s (tall grass, unkept yards, etc. ) were causing the increase in rat sightings and not the construction. The very next day while walking my dog I saw two large rats running across the front of the Hosmer in the school yard. I wonder if the town issued themselves a warning for that??

  3. “The very next day while walking my dog I saw two large rats running across the front of the Hosmer in the school yard. ”

    I hope Mike Driscoll and Mark Sideris see this! This is unacceptable. Contractors are supposed to take aggressive steps to mitigate a rat infestation prior to breaking ground. This is especially critical as we are an urban suburb. The coordinating town departments need to do their job and stop blaming the residents. And, if anyone in town government/administration cops an attitude, print their name here!

    • It doesn’t matter if they see it. They don’t care and will not do anything about it.
      When this first happened in the east end about 10 years ago it was because of the digging at the old cement yard on Grove street. Mt. Auburn Hospital was putting in a new lot for parking. Myself and the neighbors complained and the town seemed to care and did something about it. Problem seemed to go away.
      Then not long ago they decided to completely redo the streets and sidewalks all around the Hosmer neighborhood. Then the rats came back. Only this time the town was very defensive and put the total blame on the residents in the area.
      Now what a lot of people didn’t know is that all that new construction that “had to be done”, even tho the streets and sidewalks were made new just a few years before, was because of a reconstruction award the town won to “improve” the streets and sidewalks for kids to get to school. The town beat out every other town in Massachusetts to get this money. So of coarse the town didn’t want to look bad in that it was causing rats to be running around the neighborhood day and night as soon as the digging started.
      And as far as improving the streets and sidewalks so everyone can access the school better? In reality it’s 10 times worse now. So I’d say that free money was not well spent.

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