What do these permits involve in Casper?

Question

Accepted Answer

Conditional Use Permit / Variance / Site Plan Review

$600.00 is the current figure in the February 2, 2026 Current Fee Schedule. Its Planning/Engineering Division(s) Development Review Fee Schedule prices a conditional use permit at $600.00, a variance or exception at $600.00, a zone change at $750.00, a site plan at $600.00 up to 20,000 square feet rising to $1,200.00 from 20,001 to 43,560 and $2,000.00 above that, a preliminary plat at $1,000.00, a final plat or re-plat at $1,200.00 for 25 lots or fewer, a minor boundary adjustment at $200.00, a right-of-way vacation at $400.00, an annexation at $1,000.00 (other fees such as plat or zone change may also apply), a planned unit development initial review at $2,300.00 and amendment at $1,000.00, zoning research at $50.00 per hour, and a city-owned property license or lease application at $250.00, with Old Yellowstone District architectural design review free and county clerk recording fees included in the application fees. After-the-fact applications may be assessed double the initial fee. Every one of these figures is identical to what Resolution No. 17-220 set in 2018 — the schedule's substance has not moved in almost eight years, only its cover date. One entry in the City's own table reads oddly and is quoted rather than corrected: the final plat or re-plat row for '26 lots or less' is priced higher, at $1,800.00, than the '25 lots or less' row at $1,200.00, which on its face looks like it should read '26 lots or more'; the wording is reported here exactly as printed.

Building Permit

The operative February 2, 2026 Current Fee Schedule is a scanned, image-only PDF with no text layer; every figure above is read from its four pages. The formula above $100,000.00 and the two plan-check rates are identical, dollar for dollar, to what Resolution No. 17-220 set in 2018, which is worth noting: nearly eight years on, Casper's building-fee structure has not changed, only been re-issued with a new date stamp. The two bracket irregularities disclosed in the formula are genuine defects in the City's own document, as printed — a business valued at $25,500 should confirm with Building Inspection whether $326.00 or $353.00 governs before relying on either. One code inconsistency is also recorded: §15.04.040 adopts the 2021 International Building Code while §15.04.050's amendments reference the 2024 Edition.

Fire Inspection (self-inspection programme; fee not published)

No fee is published: Chapter 15.40 and the Casper Fire-EMS and Community Risk Reduction pages carry no fee schedule. What is confirmed is an unusual and business-friendly inspection model. Section 15.40.105(B) makes low-hazard commercial occupancies eligible to inspect themselves — specifically 'Business Group B', 'Factory Industrial Group F2 (Low Hazard)' and 'Storage Group S2 (Low Hazard)' — and (C)(1) provides that 'Self-inspections, performed by the business owner, manager, occupant or other duly authorized person shall be completed annually by December 31 of each year,' with (C)(2) adding that 'On-site inspections by Casper Fire Personnel… will be performed on a rotational basis averaging no more often than once every three years.' A retail store, office or low-hazard warehouse in Casper therefore self-certifies most years. One charge is published: §15.40.085 sets a nuisance alarm fee of 'one hundred dollars per occurrence' for the third and subsequent occurrences in a calendar year.

Certificate of Occupancy (required; no fee line in the published schedule)

The requirement is unambiguous and current — §15.04.090 bars use, occupancy and any change in occupancy classification until the building official issues the certificate. No fee is stated here because none is published: the February 2, 2026 Current Fee Schedule carries no certificate-of-occupancy line in either the building-permit table or the planning fee table, and Resolution 17-220 from 2018 carried none either. The consistency between the two documents across eight years is some evidence the omission is deliberate — the certificate may be treated as covered by the building permit fee — but no provision says so expressly, so no fee figure is stated here.

General Business License — City of Casper position (seven enumerated categories)

No fee applies. The City's Business Licenses page and CMC §5.04.040 list a short, closed set of licensed businesses, and no general business license: junk dealers, pawnshops, itinerant merchants and unsolicited salesmen, secondhand dealers, vehicles for hire buses, vehicles for hire taxicabs, and the sale of alcoholic beverages. None of the ten industries covered here is on it. The published fees for those that are: a junk dealer is $50.00 and a pawnshop $100.00 with a $1,000 bond, each running the calendar year; an itinerant merchant is $25.00 for ten days per calendar year, with a ninety-day extension available for fruit and Christmas tree vendors; an unsolicited salesman and a secondhand dealer are $25.00 each; a hotel or rooming house $25.00; a vehicles-for-hire bus license $65.00 with a $1,000 surety bond and liability insurance, running the fiscal year; a taxicab company $65.00 and a taxicab driver $25.00. The City adds a rule worth noting for multi-activity businesses: 'Unless otherwise provided, if a business enterprise involves more than one of the above-named services or businesses, a license must be obtained for each fee classification. These fees shall not be prorated and are not transferable except upon application to the City Council.' What actually reaches food and personal-care businesses in Casper is the Chapter 8.04 health license, recorded as a separate requirement.

Permit	Issuing agency	Fee	Renews	Last checked
Conditional Use Permit / Variance / Site Plan Reviewonly if it applies to you	City of Casper, Community Development Department — Planning Division	$NaN per application	one-time per application	2026-09-14
Building Permit	City of Casper, Community Development Department — Building Inspection Division	The Combined Building, Electrical, Plumbing and Mechanical Permit Fee Schedule prices every project by total valuation in narrow bands: $70.00 at $1.00 to $1,000.00, $95.00 at $2,000.00, $184.00 at $10,000.00, $298.00 at $20,000.00, $353.00 at $25,000.00, $568.00 at $50,000.00, $729.00 at $80,000.00 and $841.00 at $100,000.00. Above $100,000.00 the schedule states a single formula: $806.00 for the first $100,000.00 plus $5.60 for each additional $1,000.00, or fraction thereof. A plan check fee is layered on top: 65% of the building permit fee on any multi-family, commercial or industrial valuation exceeding $25,000.00, or a flat $280.00 on any new one- or two-family residential building regardless of valuation. Starting work before a complete application is reviewed and approved doubles the building permit fee. Two irregularities in the City's own published table are disclosed rather than silently corrected: the $25,001.00–$26,000.00 bracket is priced at $326.00, lower than the $353.00 charged for the $24,001.00–$25,000.00 bracket immediately below it, before the trend resumes upward at $370.00 for $26,001.00–$27,000.00; and the $50,000.00 valuation appears as the closing figure of one bracket and the opening figure of the next. Related flat fees on the same schedule: a residential demolition permit is $200.00 and a commercial demolition permit $300.00, each plus an erosion control permit if applicable; an erosion control permit is $50.00 per acre plus bond or surety; a code compliance inspection is $75.00 residential or $150.00 commercial; a re-inspection is $75.00; research is $50.00 per hour; and an initial building permit, a sewer permit and a water permit are each $35.00.	a permit is good for 180 days once issued	2026-09-14
Fire Inspection (self-inspection programme; fee not published)	Casper Fire-EMS, Community Risk Reduction Division	No fee	self-inspections are completed annually by December 31; on-site inspections run on a rotational basis averaging no more often than once every three years	2026-09-14
Certificate of Occupancy (required; no fee line in the published schedule)	City of Casper, Community Development Department — Building Inspection Division	No fee	one-time, issued on completion	2026-09-14
General Business License — City of Casper position (seven enumerated categories)only if it applies to you	City of Casper, City Clerk's Office	No fee	not applicable to a general license; the enumerated licenses run either the calendar year or the July 1 to June 30 fiscal year depending on category	2026-09-14

Business licenses and permits in Casper, Wyoming

What are you opening in Casper?

Permits that apply to every type of business in Casper