April's jump in building permits issued by the City of Mesquite appears to be a blip on the radar that didn't last long. The number of permits, 27 in all, issued in May fell by more than half from the previous month's yearly high of 57. That's the fewest number of permits issued by the Development Services Department in 2012. See Mesquite Citizen Journal story Building Permits Jump Up in April

Several types of permits, new business and swimming pools, that usually have at least a couple issuances, saw no activity at all.

The good news in the numbers is that the total valuation of the permits only fell by about a third from $3 million to just over $2.1 million.

Single Family Residences

As usual, about half of the permit activity took place in the Single Family Residence area. The total valuation of the 13 permits issued was the second highest of the calendar year at $1.9 million. Pulte Del Webb, who concentrates its building in Sun City Mesquite, obtained six permits. That's twice the number the company pulled in April. LHSC, Inc., only took two permits in May, down from the 10 permits for new homes the builder took out in April. Four permits were issued to NRC for new homes and one was issued to Maves Construction.

Five of the permits for new home construction were valued in the $120,000 range. That continues to reflect the downward trend in home values from the price bubble a few years ago.

Residential Modifications

The valuation of building permits issued in May for Residential Modifications was the second lowest of the calendar year at only $17,328. Only January saw a lower valuation in this permit category. Looking back over the last 12 months, it's the third lowest monthly valuation.

All six permits were issued to awning companies, Stuart Awning and Southwest Awnings.

Commercial Modifications

No building permits were issued for new businesses in May. That's only the second time in the last twelve months that's happened (March was the other month). One commercial modification permit issued for work at 330 Falcon Ridge Parkway accounted for the bulk of the valuation in this category at $92,796. The other two permits were issued for minor work at the Eureka Casino Hotel.

Two permits for new commercial buildings were issued to Leishman Construction for work at the Mesquite Municipal Airport. Both permits were valued at $25,855.

Monthly Comparisons

Comparing the numbers for May 2012 to those a year ago reflects a drop of $1,452,647 in the total valuation of building permits issued by the City. The total valuation of Single Family Residences permits dropped $1.5 million from May 2011 to May 2012.

For the 2012 calendar year so far, the total number of permits issued lags calendar year 2011 by 55 permits. The dollar value of permits issued so far in 2012 lags a year ago by $1.2 million.

Business Licenses

While a total of 26 business licenses were issued in May, four of them were issued to the Envy Nightclub and three of them were issued to United Coin Machine related to its slot operations at Peggy Sue's diner. One business license was issued to Larry H. Miller Theatre, Inc, the company that is taking over operations at the movie theatre on Mesquite Blvd.

Only five business licenses were revoked in May, all of them at the request of the owners who were no longer in business.