The last time Oakwood saw comparable numbers was in 2003, when the city and schools completed major capital projects, said Ethan Kroger, Oakwood code enforcement officer.
The permit values total includes work such as home construction; heating, ventilation and air conditioning; garages and sheds; and fences and retaining walls.
While the number of permits issued fluctuated between 347 and 397 the past five years, the schools and the library projects in 2020 and 2021 were valued at $10.3 million and $4.55 million, respectively, according to Oakwood records.
Those projects “certainly pumped up the numbers” in permit values, said Kroger.
Total permit values for 2017-19 were $5.81 million, $6.88 million and $5.21 million, respectively, records show.
The average value of Oakwood permits annually in the past 10 years is $7.83 million, Kroger said.
The city also a “saw a significant amount of permits” for room additions, patios, decks as Oakwood residents sought to improve their property during the COVID-19 pandemic, Kroger said.
Oakwood schools is in the process of an $18 million renovation. Phase I of the district’s master facilities plan is being funded by a May 2019 voter-approved bond issue to improve buildings that have an average age of more than 90 years, records show.
The district is working with contractor Danis Construction of Dayton “and other partners to commission all of the mechanical updates to finalize the project,” Oakwood schools community relations Director Traci Hale said in an email.
The project remains on budget, she added.
Wright library recently completed a yearlong, $5 million renovation that includes improved disability access, a new children’s section, and expanded community meeting spaces.
It was funded with a tax issue generating $3.8 million, as well as $1.5 million in private donations. A 1.5-mill levy was passed with support from 67% of voters in 2020.
The 81-year-old Far Hills Avenue site named after Orville and Wilbur Wright, as well as their sister Katharine, opened in 1939 and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2013.
OAKWOOD PERMITS
Year # of permits Value
2017 397 $5.81M
2018 364 $6.88M
2019 353 $5.21M
2020 351 $14.7M
2021 347 $13.69M
Source: City of Oakwood.
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