<p>I understand and agree with the general concept of requiring permits – to keep people safe – but sometimes people with a little authority love to hold it over the folks who have to get that approval. Hence, long waits, three people saying three entirely different things, and an approval process that seems to depend on whim. </p>
<p>Sending good thoughts your way CB as you visit the permit department today!</p>
<p>Evidently it is all about the setback. There is a 5ft setback requirement, although I am not sure it applies to such a small lot. Unfortunately the codes are in force for the current minimum lot requirement of 5,000sf and my lot is smaller. </p>
<p>Since the Utility Room is on the property line and inside the required set back, it cannot be ‘liveable’ space. I need to be careful to keep the ‘name’ of this building as Storage Room (Utility Room is not on their list of acceptable non liveable space). I am allowed to have a bathroom, but I believe that the bathroom cannot be in the setback area which will cause me a lot of grief - it’s not doable on the west side of that room. </p>
<p>A ‘non liveable’ space inside the setback cannot be connected to ‘liveable’ space. Although this doesn’t make any sense to me because a garage is allowed to be connected to a house and that has a lot more serious safety issues with carbon monoxide, etc.</p>
<p>The thing that is most annoying is that the City permit website is not providing any information on what type of documents are required to submit for the historical review. I am just guessing that they need photos of front of house and a description of the windows??? I have researched everywhere and they don’t have anything friendly telling me what to do. </p>
<p>It’s very obvious that California has a very strong licensed contractor lobby that have managed to force all kinds of strong language onto a permit application. I have to sign a million pieces of paper clearly stating that I should be hiring a licensed general contractor or I am liable for everything. My situation is a hybrid… I am acting as my own general contractor but hiring licensed subcontractors. No box to check for that situation!! All kinds of dire warnings on the permit application and unenforceable liability scares.</p>
<p>The permitting process seems onerous when the people on the wrong side of it are like cb, who care about having the property look nice and fit in with the neighborhood, and use licensed tradespeople to do work that is up to code even if unpermitted and uninspected.</p>
<p>But I’ve seen some really scary, dangerous stuff done by people who didn’t know what they were doing and/or were too cheap/greedy to do it right. Things like using lamp cord to wire up outlets or not vent a gas-fired water heater or structural issues that would make your hair stand on end.</p>
<p>Some of the historical stuff can get a little crazy, but lots of people feel preserving the past is important.</p>
<p>I think cb is going to breeze through the permitting process, because it is obvious she is going above and beyond. If she turns that house into a $900K home, the city rakes in huge tax dollars. So they have a lot of incentive to approve things.</p>
<p>Well, looks like I have hit another snag keeping me from moving forward. I just called the City Code Compliance guy and Yes, he received the plans yesterday. No, he hasn’t started looking at them. Evidently I cannot go submit an permit application until he reviews the plans and stamps them. Oh, and I am required to bring a copy of the ‘Notice of Violation’. I don’t have a notice of violation, he never generated one. So, he has to generate some Notice just so I can have a copy attached to the plans before I can even submit.</p>
<p>So, he says he might be able to review this morning and he needs to generate a Notice before I can even go to the next step. </p>
<p>Unfortunately the Building Permit Department could care less about the values of the property because they are disconnected from the County Assessor who will value this property for property tax revenue. All they care about is their permit fees which keeps their office running.</p>
<p>However, our new Mayor has made ‘permit application friendliness’ one of his top priorities. They are now open on Thursday nights and Saturdays and even do field inspections on Saturdays for homeowners. We will see how friendly this whole thing gets.</p>
<p>But, I have an ace up my sleeve now. Our family has been in the neighborhood for over 20 years and some of our best friends are the top general contractors in the neighborhood. They know my situation and one of them called the Senior Building Inspector, who is also a surfing friend of my husband. He proactively called me, talked me through some questions I have and gave me his personal cell number. If I hit any snag I am supposed to call him while sitting right there at the desk and he will talk to the Plan Reviewer to expedite anything I need. </p>
<p>The reason that they are all trying to help me is a whole other story… I will share someday with you all.</p>
<p>CB,hugs. patience. I know time is money for you. I hesitate to suggest anything because you are so proactive, but can you find out the town clerk and talk to him/her? They are often the glue that holds town rules together. Or find a retired one as a person just to ask “dumb” questions of.
If there is no notice of violation, would he consider NOT issuing one? </p>
<p>Good luck vibes pointed your way.</p>
<p>I’m hoping things will go more smoothly with the help you are getting. It’s so sad that someone who is improving a eye-sore, health hazard, fire hazard and who knows what else hazard of a home is getting such a hard time. Permits exist for a reason, but the whole process should be manageable.</p>
<p>I’m eager to hear the story of why this acquaintance of your DH is eager to help you. Sounds like DH did him a big favor once upon a time. But you’ll tell us when this is all behind you.</p>
<p>Coralbrook your saga reinforces why so many in Ca don’t “just” pull a permit for every job. Time, money, inconsistent information. Even with inspections- each inspector can interpret things differently. I know few people who actually permit all the work they do on their homes.
It’s great that you at least have people who are going to try to make it work for you.
There is a big remodel- total gut going on down the street from me. I know for a fact that no county permits have been pulled. They did pull a permit from the association that we live in. I don’t know what it says about the association that they don’t care if you have a county permit as long as they get their money. I know the guy doing the work and he does top notch quality work. Another house a few doors down just closed escrow and a few days later I hear bulldozers all day long. I doubt they could have pulled any permits that quick.</p>
<p>Regarding the Notice of Violation. When the neighbor called (or visited) the City he filed an official Citizen Code Complaint that went into a database against the address. I proactively called the Code Compliance guy and had a meeting at the house and subsequent discussions. He told me that he would not issue a Citation or a Penalty/Fine. But, the only way to get the ‘complaint’ closed out of the computer system is to issue a ‘Notice’ document. He has not issued the Notice document.</p>
<p>If I try to go apply for permits, they will see the Code Violation Complaint in the system and it is required to be ‘resolved’ by the Code Compliance Officer before I can proceed. A bureaucratic nightmare!</p>
<p>Regarding sale of small house across the street:</p>
<p>I do not see any connection between the original Listing Agent and the Buying Agent. They are not from the same office. The Buying Agent obviously ‘found’ the property for a big investor group. That buying agent also listed the property again after the flip. </p>
<p>Well, another day wasted. Code Compliance Officer promised me he would review plans in the morning and call me back. Waited all day, no call. I didn’t want to be a jerk and keep calling him. I am going to drive in there and just sit tomorrow.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, I have discovered that the existing window openings in the bedrooms do not qualify for ‘legal egress’ at their original size. Of course I ordered windows to fit that size to minimize renovation costs. They may require that I cut open larger openings, order new windows, make new window framing, fix the exterior stucco, fix the interior drywall, make new window trim on interior and on and on and on. We will see.</p>
<p>Yes, they may.</p>
<p>Serenity prayer.</p>
<p>Bigger windows. Oh my. But that would change the historic appearance of the house… 15 years ago almost to date I had to yell at the guy in charge of permits at our local city hall for holding back the permit for the driveway for our house that was under construction. He claimed that it was done in the interest of protecting me, the future homeowner, from the “evil builder.” </p>
<p>Believe me, anyone can get out of the existing window size. For some reason the City changed egress to 5.7 sq ft from 5 sq ft several years ago. Our size is 24"high x 30" wide. If someone needs to get out due to an emergency… they can definitely get their butt out that opening.</p>
<p>Followed up with Code Compliance Officer this morning. Oh, he was just starting to look at plans. He still needs to generate a ‘Notice’ and then he has to get a supervisor to sign it. He says he is making a list of corrections needed on the plans. I might be able to come pick these up today, but then I have to go back to Draftsman, get corrections made, bring them back to Code Officer. He then has to review plans again and ‘stamp’ them before I can come pick them up. Not allowed to make an appointment to apply for permit until I get all these items in hand.</p>
<p>I’ve got several more days ahead of me running around in circles.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, all of our kitchen cabinets are getting delivered today and I have to find a place to put them while they linger in the house for weeks.</p>
<p>As we say in the South for multiple reasons, bless your heart! And I genuinely mean it 
</p>
<p>I called Code Compliance Officer at the end of the day today and he tells me that is in the middle of reviewing the plans but he is down at the County building pulling any building records they have. I remind him that I had all the building records and we reviewed them together. Evidently he is not allowed to take the building records I wasted my time standing in line to get (and $$$). He has to get them himself.</p>
<p>Another day goes by</p>
<p>Meanwhile I have chosen my exterior paint colors and we are ready to start painting. Spent the day doing power wash, scraping, sanding everything. I’m going with the stucco body as white and then doing a pale taupe on the siding around the front for a little bit of contrast. May paint the front wall of the house a fun color but I cannot do anything with that because it needs stucco repair. Stucco guy cannot come until someone tells me whether we are going to keep my new exterior walls in the back because they need all new stucco. So, it’s all part of the waiting game. I don’t want to pay him twice.</p>
<p>Can you work on the fireplace surround, coralbrook?</p>