Town of Stony Point, New York Building Permit Guide

Building permits in Stony Point come from the town’s Building & Zoning Department, 74 East Main Street (845-786-2716). The department refuses incomplete applications, so every document on its February 2026 checklist must be printed and attached, including each contractor’s current Rockland County license. The permit fee is about $50 plus $15 for each $1,000 of construction cost, and a one-year moratorium adopted on July 14, 2026 (Local Law 4, in force from its filing with the Secretary of State) has paused most new residential applications.

What requires a building permit in Stony Point?

Chapter 77 of the Town Code, rewritten by Local Law 2 of 2024, requires a building permit for construction, additions, alterations, demolition and changes of occupancy, then lists the work that is exempt. The exemption list is short, and its shed limit is 120 square feet with no wiring.

The 2026 moratoria

Local Law 4 of 2026, adopted July 14, 2026, stops the town from accepting or processing building permit applications for residential uses, and the town boards from acting on residential site plans, subdivisions, special permits and variances, for one year from its effective date (the Town Board can extend it). Exempt work includes a one- or two-family house and its accessory structures on a lot already approved for that use when no variance is needed, minor subdivisions, decks, sidewalks, porches, pools and fences, remodeling a building with a valid certificate of occupancy without enlarging it or changing its use, fuel tank work, and well or septic repairs. Local Law 5 of 2026, adopted the same day, pauses permits for battery energy storage facilities for eight months. It follows a narrower pause: Local Law 2 of 2025 (July 22, 2025), extended by Local Law 1 of 2026 on January 27, 2026, held up permits for detached one- and two-family homes that needed the relief provision of Section 215-94 to meet bulk rules, exceeded 6,000 square feet, or exceeded 3,000 square feet on lots under 20,000 square feet. Local Law 3 of 2026 (June 9, 2026) then changed floor area ratio rules and added rules for manor residences and houses on noncomplying lots.

What Stony Point decides and what the state sets

The state Uniform Code and Energy Code set construction standards. Stony Point adds its zoning (Chapter 215), fees (Chapter A221), electrical standards (Chapter 91), flood damage prevention, freshwater wetlands, trees, stormwater, historic resources and waterfront consistency chapters, and Rockland County adds its trade licensing laws.

Stony Point building department: who handles permitting

The Building & Zoning Department is led by Building & Zoning Inspector John C. Hager, with a deputy and an assistant building inspector, a fire inspector and code enforcement officers. It covers all of Stony Point and its 15,335 residents (Census 2025 estimate), since the town contains no incorporated village; the Villages of Haverstraw and West Haverstraw to the south belong to the Town of Haverstraw.

Stony Point permit types and filing rules

Residential permits

The department’s document checklist, revised February 3, 2026, is the filing standard: anything missing means the application is not accepted. It calls for:

• the building permit application and the Homeowner’s Acknowledgement form;
• a DB-120 disability benefits certificate and a C-105 workers’ compensation certificate for every contractor, naming the Town of Stony Point as certificate holder (ACORD forms are refused), or the town’s workers’ compensation exemption affidavit when the homeowner does the work;
• each contractor’s current-year Rockland County license for residential work, including the electrician, plumber and home improvement contractor;
• product specifications: pool ladder, alarm and heater; generator details showing NFPA 37 compliance; roofing ice and water shield, shingles and wind rating;
• two sets of site plans or surveys showing the work, with plans sealed by a New York architect or engineer when construction is valued over $20,000;
• for solar, photos of the ladder access points on the premises.

Section 77-4 adds what the drawings themselves must show: the scope and location of the work, exits, the building’s thermal envelope, structural details such as braced walls and member sizes, the electrical, plumbing and mechanical systems, a written statement of Energy Code compliance, and a scaled site plan drawn from an accurate boundary survey with distances to lot lines and street and finished grades. The Code Enforcement Officer keeps a public record of the local design criteria (snow and wind loads, frost depth, flood maps) that the drawings must use.

Building or remodeling a home here? Alliance handles residential permit applications, so the crew isn't waiting on the counter.

Commercial permits

Commercial projects that need site plan approval go to the Planning Board first, and the department posts a planning flowchart to follow before that meeting. Site plan fees run $150 per 1,000 square feet of developed area with buildings up to 40,000 square feet. Under Section 77-4 the construction documents must show the means of egress and the fire-protection and other building systems, and come with a statement of special inspections where the Uniform Code calls for one; the department also posts a Fire Inspection Record of Completion form.

For tenant improvements and new commercial builds, Alliance handles commercial building permits through issuance. More on this: commercial building permits explained.

What comes before the building permit

• Zoning Board of Appeals variances: $300 plus $100 for each extra area variance, plus notice costs.
• Planning Board site plans, subdivisions and conditional uses, and the Architectural Review Board ($100).
• Filling and grading needs its own application.
• Flood zones: Stony Point participates in the National Flood Insurance Program with a flood map dated March 3, 2014, and the Hudson waterfront falls under the town’s waterfront consistency review.
• Septic: under Section 77-4D(6), major changes or additions to a building served by a septic system may need Health Department approval before the permit issues; the Building Department decides what counts as major.

Stony Point building permit fees

Section A221-2D of the Town Code sets the building permit fee at $50 for work costing up to $999 and $15 for each additional $1,000. The department’s fee table, effective August 12, 2026, shows what that means by job cost and adds administrative fees for anyone, owner or contractor, who starts work without a permit:

A $100,000 addition therefore carries a $1,550 permit fee, the figure at the top of its band. Other fees in Chapter A221: temporary certificate of occupancy, 10% of the permit fee; certificate of occupancy for a change of use, $50; certificate of occupancy and violation search, $150; and a second failed inspection of the same item, $75. The no-permit fees are added to the normal fee and do not stop the town from prosecuting the violation.

Land use applications are priced separately under Section A221-2: an interpretation by the Zoning Board of Appeals is $50, an appeal $60 and a use variance $300, each plus the cost of publishing the hearing notice, and the town can require an escrow deposit to pay its planning and engineering consultants’ review of larger projects.

Trade permits and who may pull them

Rockland County licenses. Licensing is county law here. Chapter 250 of the Laws of Rockland County bars anyone from running an electrical contracting business in the county without a license and also licenses electrical inspection businesses; Chapter 319 licenses plumbers and heating and cooling contractors; and Chapter 286, replaced by the County Legislature on April 14, 2026 (Local Law 4 of 2026), requires a home improvement license. Stony Point asks for a current-year copy of each license with the application.

Electrical inspection. Chapter 91 adopts the National Electrical Code and deputizes the inspectors the Town Board appoints to inspect and approve electrical installations, at no cost to the town.

Fire safety inspections. Once a building is in use, the Code Enforcement Officer or a designated inspector inspects buildings with assembly areas and schools at least every 12 months, and multiple dwellings and all other non-residential buildings at least every 36 months; an owner can also ask for an inspection.

Insurance. Workers’ compensation and disability proof must be on the state forms, not ACORD certificates, with the town as certificate holder.

How to apply for a Stony Point building permit

Review, corrections and what causes delay

The most common reasons for a rejected filing are ACORD insurance forms, a missing or expired county license, and plans without a seal on work over $20,000. A residential application outside the moratorium exemptions cannot be accepted until the moratorium ends. A permit lasts 24 months from issue and can be renewed for a fee if it lapses. Keep the permit displayed at the site where it can be seen until the work is finished, and build exactly to the accepted drawings.

Stony Point inspections and certificates

Chapter 77 lists the stages the inspectors check where they apply: the site before the permit issues, footings and foundation, the slab preparation, framing, structural, electrical, plumbing, mechanical and fire-protection systems, fire-resistant construction and penetrations, wood stoves, chimneys and vents, Energy Code items such as insulation, windows and air leakage, the setting of manufactured homes, and the final. Work must stay exposed until it passes, and the inspector may accept a remote inspection instead of a site visit. For every new building, the foundation location must be submitted and approved before framing starts, or the permit can be revoked. A second failed inspection of the same item costs $75.

New buildings and major additions also need a stamped as-built survey by a New York licensed land surveyor showing the building, its setbacks and the parcel lines before the certificate is issued, along with any special inspection reports, flood hazard certifications and Energy Code test results that apply. When the work is finished you file the Certificate of Occupancy/Compliance application with its affidavit. A temporary certificate costs 10% of the permit fee. Buyers and lenders can order a certificate of occupancy and violation search for $150 by following the department’s search instructions.

New York building code

New York builds on one statewide code, the Uniform Code, outside New York City; the 2025 edition and 2025 Energy Code took effect on 31 December 2025 (the all-electric provisions remain suspended by court order). Cities, towns and villages administer it, and local standards stricter than the code need Code Council approval. The Uniform Code in New York

Stony Point permit FAQ

How much does a building permit cost in Stony Point?

$50 for work up to $999, then $15 per $1,000 of construction cost, so about $1,550 for a $100,000 job.

Can I build a new house during the 2026 moratorium?

Only if the lot is already approved for a one- or two-family house and no variance is needed; otherwise residential applications are paused for a year from July 2026.

Do I need a permit for a shed?

Not for a shed of 120 square feet or less with no electricity; anything larger, or wired, needs one.

Do contractors need a Rockland County license?

Yes. The checklist requires a current county license for every contractor on residential work, including electricians, plumbers and home improvement contractors.

What happens if I start work without a permit?

Since August 12, 2026 an administrative fee from $250 to $5,000 is added to the permit fee, higher for a repeat, and the town can still prosecute.

Can a homeowner pull the permit?

Yes, with the Homeowner’s Acknowledgement and the workers’ compensation exemption affidavit.

Do I need a survey for a new house?

Yes, twice: the foundation location must be approved before framing, and a stamped as-built survey by a licensed land surveyor is needed before the certificate of occupancy.

How long is a permit valid?

24 months from the date it is issued; an expired permit can be renewed for a fee.

Permit search and official resources

To check a property’s permit history in Stony Point, order a certificate of occupancy and violation search ($150) from the department, or file a Freedom of Information request using the form on the Building Department page.

• Stony Point Building Department, forms and fees
• Building permit document checklist, February 3, 2026
• Homeowner’s Acknowledgement
• Certificate of occupancy/compliance application
• Filling and grading application
• FOIL request form
• Town Code Chapter 77, Building Code Administration
• Town Code Chapter A221, Fees
• Local Law 4 of 2026, residential moratorium
• Local Law 5 of 2026, battery storage moratorium
• Rockland County Chapter 250, electricians
• Rockland County Chapter 319, plumbers and heating contractors
• NYS code adoption notice

Simplify Town of Stony Point permitting with Alliance Permitting

Alliance Permitting is a permit documentation and submission company in New York. We prepare your paperwork, file it correctly and coordinate with the permitting authority through issuance. We are not a contractor and we do not perform licensed plan review or inspections; that work stays with your licensed team and the jurisdiction.

This guide is provided by Alliance Permitting for general information about Town of Stony Point permitting. Requirements, fees, and procedures change; confirm details with the permitting authority before relying on them.