Lewiston
City of Lewiston, Planning and Code Enforcement Department
In short
City of Lewiston, Planning and Code Enforcement Department issues 7 permits we publish for Lewiston, last verified 2026-09-12. Each carries the fee as the agency publishes it, with a link to the schedule it was read from.
What this agency issues
| Permit | Issuing agency | Fee | Renews | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Building Permit | City of Lewiston, Planning and Code Enforcement Department | Commercial new construction: $25.00 base plus $0.35 per square foot, per floor. Commercial renovation: $25.00 base plus $7.00 per $1,000.00 of value. A flat $40.00 fee applies for a Change of Use. Work commenced before a permit is issued is charged double the customary fee. | one-time, per project — not stated in the published fee schedule | 2026-09-12 |
| Certificate of Occupancy | City of Lewiston, Planning and Code Enforcement Department | No fee | one-time — issued for a new occupancy or a change of business use | 2026-09-12 |
| Board of Appeals Petition (Variance / Administrative Appeal / Conditional Use)only if it applies to you | City of Lewiston, Planning and Code Enforcement Department | $150 flat, per petition, covering an administrative appeal, a variance, or a conditional use permit | not stated in the published fee schedule | 2026-09-12 |
| Sign Permitonly if it applies to you | City of Lewiston, Planning and Code Enforcement Department | $25.00 base plus $0.50 per square foot of sign area. | one-time, per sign — not stated in the published fee schedule | 2026-09-12 |
| Development Review (Site Plan Review / Conditional Use)only if it applies to you | City of Lewiston, Planning and Code Enforcement Department | Minor Site Plan Review (interdepartmental/staff review): $200.00 flat. Major Site Plan Review or Special Exception (including subdivision of an existing structure into 3 or more dwelling units), reviewed by the Planning Board: $500.00, plus a Required Advertising (PRA) surcharge of $100.00 per required public newspaper notice — a Planning Board matter requires 2 notices, i.e. $200.00 — for a combined $700.00. A Site Plan Amendment is $100.00 flat if staff-approved/de minimis, or billed at the same Major Site Plan Review rate if Planning-Board-approved. A Delegated Review (for state stormwater, traffic movement, or Site Law jurisdiction) adds $1,000.00 on top of the applicable Site Plan Review fee where required. | initial approval expires if the development has not started within two years; not completed within five years | 2026-09-12 |
| General Contractor Registration (not found)only if it applies to you | City of Lewiston, Planning and Code Enforcement Department | No fee | not applicable | 2026-09-12 |
| Family Child Care Home — Zoning Treatment Under State Law (Home Occupation Use Permit does not apply) (Lewiston)only if it applies to you | City of Lewiston, Planning and Code Enforcement Department | No fee | not applicable | 2026-09-12 |
Fees shown as a range or formula are set that way by the issuing agency — we do not average them into a single number.
About each permit
Building Permit
Required for construction, alteration, moving, or changing the occupancy of a building or structure, per § 18-27. The current Building Permit Fee Schedule (updated 4/16/2013, prices effective 7/1/2013) is the version published on the City's own site; electrical and plumbing permits are separately priced on the same schedule. A recipient who never begins the permitted work may request a 75% fee reimbursement within six months, per the same schedule's own reimbursement policy.
Certificate of Occupancy
No fee applies as a separate charge: the Building Permit Fee Schedule's own current text lists the Certificate of Occupancy as 'Included in Permit,' meaning its cost is bundled into the building permit fee recorded above rather than billed separately. The same line names a $260.00 penalty figure, which on its face is a penalty (for occupying a building without the required Certificate) rather than an application fee. No development within the scope of Article XIII, § 2 may receive a building permit or Certificate of Occupancy until development review approval has issued.
Board of Appeals Petition (Variance / Administrative Appeal / Conditional Use)
The City's own current Petition for Appeal form, filed with the Board of Appeals c/o the Code Enforcement Division, states a single flat $150.00 application fee that covers all three of the categories the same form lets a petitioner check: an administrative appeal, a variance, or a conditional use permit. Triggered when a proposed use or structure fails to conform to the Land Use Code's dimensional or use requirements, or when a party appeals a Code Enforcement, electrical, or fire prevention decision, and seeks relief from the Board rather than ordinary Planning Board approval.
Sign Permit
Required for a new or altered sign; administered by Planning and Code Enforcement alongside the building permit. The fee is itemized on the City's current Building Permit Fee Schedule (updated 4/16/2013, prices effective 7/1/2013), which also prices the commercial building permit and change of use.
Development Review (Site Plan Review / Conditional Use)
Article XIII, § 2(d) states the city council may from time to time establish reasonable application fees for site plan review; the City Council's own Zoning and Land Use Code Application Fee Schedule (updated 4/20/2010, effective 6/28/2010), linked from the Planning Board's own current page under 'Application & Materials,' sets the figures recorded above. Development Review is required — reviewed by the Planning Board (major developments) or the Staff Review Committee (minor developments) — for new nonresidential construction, an expansion of 1,000 or more square feet, conversion of a residential building to nonresidential use, a change to a more intensive nonresidential use, and several other triggers listed in Article XIII, § 2(a); no building permit or Certificate of Occupancy may issue for a covered project until development review approval is obtained. A separate Subdivision Review fee ($750.00 for the first 3 lots plus $100.00 per additional lot) appears on the same schedule for land subdivisions specifically, distinct from this Site Plan Review record. A small tenant fit-out inside an existing building that does not meet any Article XIII, § 2(a) trigger typically proceeds under the ordinary Building Permit process listed separately instead.
General Contractor Registration (not found)
No fee applies. Maine has no statewide general contractor license (confirmed at this project's own state layer), and Lewiston's own Code of Ordinances Chapter 22 names no general-contracting category among its complete enumerated licensable activities either. A Lewiston contractor's local obligation is the same building, electrical, and plumbing permit process recorded elsewhere in this file, pulled per project, rather than a standing local contractor registration.
Family Child Care Home — Zoning Treatment Under State Law (Home Occupation Use Permit does not apply) (Lewiston)
The City's current Home Occupation Application form, at Question 8, explicitly names 'family daycare' among the activities that disqualify an applicant from that permit altogether ('Does this activity not include the following: ...family daycare...?'), with the form stating that a 'No' answer to any Question 8 item means the activity 'does not qualify as a Home Occupation.' Under Maine's statewide statute, 30-A M.R.S. § 4364-D, no additional Lewiston zoning permit reaches a licensed family child care provider, so this record carries no fee: the statute makes such a provider 'a permitted use in a municipal area that is zoned for residential purposes, subject to the same requirements for other residential property,' consistent with the City's own form carving family daycare out of its discretionary Home Occupation review rather than leaving it unaddressed. This is beyond Maine OCFS's own state Child Care Facility License, recorded at the state layer. A stand-alone commercial child care center is not a family child care home and is not shielded by this statute; it instead follows the ordinary Building Permit, Certificate of Occupancy, and Development Review path listed separately for any other commercial use of comparable size. Chapter 22's own 'Group care facility' license category (§ 22-2) remains a separate, residential group-home/boarding-care category for more than eight individuals, unrelated to an ordinary daytime child care business.
Contact
- Jurisdiction
- Lewiston
- Phone
- (207) 513-3125
Contact details are taken from the agency’s own site or its published fee schedule. Where we have not verified a phone number we leave it blank rather than guess.
Sources
Every fee and term above was read from one of these government pages on the date shown.
- 30-A Maine Revised Statutes § 4364-D (Child care services in residential areas) — the statewide preemption making a licensed child care facility or family child care provider a permitted use in any residential zoneMaine Legislature · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-12
- Appendix A — Zoning and Land Use Code, Article XIII (Development Review and Standards) — applicability, minor/major development classification, and § 2(d) (application fees set by a separate City Council schedule)City of Lewiston, Maine · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-12
- Board of Appeals — the City's own current page describing the board's variance, administrative-appeal, and conditional-use-appeal authorityCity of Lewiston, Maine · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-12
- Building Permit Fee Schedule (updated 4/16/2013, prices effective 7/1/2013) — cost-of-work and per-square-foot formulas for new construction, renovation, Certificate of Occupancy, Change of Use, and sign permitsCity of Lewiston, Maine, Planning and Code Enforcement Department · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-12
- City of Lewiston Code of Ordinances, Chapter 18 (Buildings and Building Regulations), Article II (Building Codes) — § 18-27 (permits required) and § 18-28 (fees set by City Council schedule)City of Lewiston, Maine · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-12
- City of Lewiston Code of Ordinances, Chapter 22 (Businesses) — all eighteen articles, including Article II (general licensing), Article VI (Food Service Establishments/Mobile Units), Article XIII (Massage), Article XV (Marijuana/home occupation Use Permit), and Article XVII (Lodging Houses, citing 22 M.R.S.A. § 2499)City of Lewiston, Maine · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-12
- City of Lewiston Petition for Appeal (Board of Appeals application) — confirming the flat $150.00 application fee covering administrative appeals, variances, and conditional use permitsCity of Lewiston, Maine, Board of Appeals / Code Enforcement Division · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-12
- Home Occupation Application — Question 8 explicitly excludes 'family daycare' (among other named activities) from Home Occupation eligibility; the office-use fee field is left blank on the form itselfCity of Lewiston, Maine, Department of Planning & Code Enforcement · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-12
- Zoning and Land Use Code Application Fee Schedule (updated 4/20/2010, effective 6/28/2010) — Site Plan Review, Site Plan Amendment, Subdivision Review, Delegated Review, and Required Advertising (PRA) fees, linked from the Planning Board's own current page under 'Application & Materials'City of Lewiston, Maine, City Council · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-12
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