Opinion ID: 1656009
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The County's Counterclaim for Unpaid Fees[12]

Text: A county may regulate and restrict, by order of record, in the unincorporated portions of the county, the height, number of stories, and size of buildings . . . the location and use of buildings, structures and land for trade, industry, residence or other purposes. Section 64.850. To effectuate this power, section 64.865 provides, in pertinent part: no building or other structure shall be erected, constructed, reconstructed, enlarged or altered, or repaired in such manner as to prolong the life of the building . . . without a permit. . . . Although not expressly provided for by section 64.865, Missouri courts have allowed counties to charge reasonable fees for the issuance of a building permit in order to recoup associated costs. See Lodge of the Ozarks, Inc. v. City of Branson, 796 S.W.2d 646, 656 (Mo.App.1990); cf. Wilhoit v. City of Springfield, 237 Mo.App. 775, 171 S.W.2d 95, 99-103 (1943). The question arises whether section 64.865 implicitly authorizes a county to commence an action for unpaid building permit fees when it did not issue a permit and did not incur the associated expense. In Premium Standard Farms, Inc. v. Lincoln Township of Putnam County, 946 S.W.2d 234 (Mo. banc 1997), this Court discussed the powers of a county in the context of building regulations. There, the Court stated: Counties, like other public corporations, can exercise the following powers and no others: (1) those granted in express words; (2) those necessarily or fairly implied in or incident to the powers expressly granted; (3) those essential to the declared objects and purposes of the corporations  not simply convenient, but indispensable. Any fair, reasonable doubt concerning the existence of power is resolved by the courts against the corporation and the power is denied. Id. at 238. In section 64.895, the General Assembly expressly authorized certain remedies for violations of section 64.865. Specifically, a person who constructs a building without a permit may be charged with a misdemeanor. Section 64.895.1. The county commission may also institute any appropriate action or proceedings to prevent the unlawful subdivision development or erection, construction, reconstruction, alteration, relocation or maintenance or use, or to restrain, abate or correct such violation, or to prevent the occupancy of the building or structure. Section 64.895.2. Because these remedies protect the county's interests and because the county did not incur an expense necessary to recoup, the remedy requested by Lafayette County may not be necessarily or fairly implied from section 64.865. As section 64.865 neither expressly nor implicitly authorizes a county to bring a cause of action for unpaid building permit fees when it did not issue a permit and did not incur the associated expense, the judgment of the circuit court as to Lafayette County's counterclaim is affirmed.