Even that modest, seven-permit increase this year can be viewed as "another little bit of good news," Sullivan said.
"We're just actually pleased, given all the other sectors that had problems -- tourism, air cargo was down ... traffic at the port was down. At least one industry held stable."
Why the big drop in single-family residential permits since 2001?
The last eight years have seen "kind of the last wave of easily developed land in this town being developed," Sullivan said. "What we have left is Hillside lots that are difficult to develop, lots with a lot of peat that are difficult to develop. ... Now it's much more challenging."
Commercial development was down in 2009 from 2008, Jones said.
"The number of permits was down from 54 to 45 permits, and the valuation was down substantially, from $178 million to $114 million," he said. "The average commercial new building size in 2009 was about $2.5 million, which is a relatively small building."
The city did see an upswing in retrofits and remodelings of existing commercial buildings, however, Jones said.
The overall value of new construction in 2009 was $451.5 million, down from $463 million in 2008.
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