VillageInspector
Sawhorse
The permit is not illegal just because you claim that it is illegal. It will take a court of law to deem the permit illegal. Now that may not be the case everywhere but you are up against a recalcitrant building department.
I can tell you that from my experience a permit can be old and moldy but not expired as long as the system shows it as not expired. Okay I get that time has run out but if nobody went into the computer and expired the permit and nobody has written "EXPIRED" with a date and signature on the permit.....well then an inspector can keep it alive with an inspection. I have done exactly that.
There's reasons for doing that. Maybe we dropped the ball. Perhaps a contractor bailed. Jobs will get every inspection except the last inspection. The owner is oblivious. Should we then make the owner pay a load for a final inspection. I've had jobs that stalled because of a catastrophic health issue.
I tell you these things to illustrate that we can do pretty much whatever we want when it comes to expiring permits.
I agree with all of the above and I'm certain an attorney can make the argument that the applicant/client did not bother to renew the permit pending the outcome of the legal actions. Bottom line, as stated above, don't put much stock in the status of the permit.