As promised earlier, i went into the City at 1pm today. First, I tried to make an appt with the project manager. The front desk kept asking why I needed to see her. Explained my situation and she insisted i had to speak to Zoning reviewer Charles directly.
So then i got on a list to speak to the zoning counter guy on duty. I asked him a couple of general questions and the light bulb went off. Turns out the big issue (which was not explained at all) is the floor area ratio to lot size. This reviewer had me crawling around trying to measure’grade of dirt’ to top of ceiling outside the basement. If the measurement is greater than 5’ then it has to be included in floor area for the calculation.
Maximum in coastal zone is 54% of lot. Believe me, i have no idea how tge guy next door on tge 3500 sq ft lot built that monstrosity. Our plans state we are at 41%. Even if we add the entire basement into the calculation we are only at about 46%. Why is everyone making such a big deal?? We are under the threshold??
Anyway, i made some manual corrections on the plans right there at the City. The Zoning guy at the customer desk said to go find the supervisor. I didnt want to cause a scene but i saw the supervisor sitting at another customer service desk. I moved to a chair right there. Place started clearing out about 3pm and someone politely asked if i had been helped. I told them i needed to make an appt with Charles in Zoning. He went and got the supervisor.
Told supervisor i just needed an appt. He rushed off to find Charles. While he is gone the 2 other zoning guys start telling me they cannot understand why the guy is holding everything up and cannot get signed off. “Its not like its a skyscraper or anything”.
Supervisor comes back after a long 20 minutes. “Sorry, the scheduler is out this week. Charles doesnt know what his schedule is until next week. He’ll contact you next week to set up an appt”.
This is when the minor meltdown started right in the lobby of the Bldg Dept. “I cannot wait for another week. I have foundation contractors starting on Monday. If i have to push them out again from late reviews they will go to another job. Zoning reviews have all been late” big sad face and im trembling and about to cry
Another explanation that they are short staffed. Finally he agreed to take the new plans back and do a quick review. He will call me tomorrow to let me know if plans are’acceotable’ for a final review.
I’m just hoping that they decide to do whatever it takes to get rid of this pesky old lady who keeps camping out in the bldg. Im praying that they will’signoff’
Thanks for letting me rant!! I’m pretty sure I’m going to have to call off everybody i have lined up to work next week
Coming back to your counter depth fridge issue. Just put everything back in the new fridge (Counter top french door). It all fits, and there is room for more, but it took some creative space planning, and it will take a while to get used to where everything now is.
cb, someone suggested that next time you go to the city office, look like you’re planning to camp out. I agree. Bring a small cooler with lunch, beverages, snacks; bring several books (don’t go the Kindle route – the books are more dramatic), bring your iPod, a sweater. And a really big purse.
Grab a prominent chair and Just Don’t Leave.
(Actually, ixnay on the beverages. You don’t want to have to leave to go to the bathroom.)
I’m just playin’ with you, trying to get us all to smile at this disaster of a so-called zoning office.
@jym626 I’m glad that you are happy with your Counter Depth refrigerator purchase. I personally love counter depth refrigerators and hate big refrigerators that stick out with the black sides showing. In fact I drive my guys crazy with refrigerator installations because I insist that it has to suck all the way into the cabinetry. Always install a big recessed plug box in the back just to save one inch from the plug making the frig stick out. I’ve discovered that installing a standard size recessed plug box doesn’t work because the refrigerator plugs are giant grounded 3 prong plugs and they don’t fit into the regular recessed box. Anything to save an inch!
Yesterday my framing guy told me that they are going to leave to do a small job somewhere else ‘because they are close to having nothing to do because the foundation is not poured yet’. I am so at the mercy of the City right now. I had every duck lined up perfectly and now it is all unraveling
No problem with the beverages… they have a restroom right there in the waiting area But, it’s kind of like the foreclosure auctions… I’m scared to run to the restroom for fear that that moment will be when my name is finally called for my turn up to the counter
My opinion is that if they are ‘short staffed’ (which supervisor kept repeating) then someone should be authorizing a bit of overtime to get caught up. Or at least to keep the hysterical customers happy
Apologies if I was not clear- the previous fridge we had was also a counter depth. It was just the older traditional top freezer with ice maker in the freezer door. The french door fridges have the icemaker in the door, so the storage for bottles and such inside that door is narrow. The fridge and dishwasher are wifi enabled. Not sure why I need to communicate with my refrigerator!
Hah! on the wifi enabled. I purchased a special recirculating pump that gets instant hot water up to fixtures that are far away from the water heater. It has a timer so you can set it for the high usage times that people are taking showers, etc. The guy kept gushing that it had a WiFi option. All I needed to do was download a bunch of stuff to my phone or something. I just looked at him like he was from outer space… Why would I want to control the circulating pump from the phone? Was I going to have a shower emergency because I couldn’t wait 60 seconds for hot water to arrive in the pipes?
I love our recirculating pump for our shower, since the hot water heater is 3 floors away. But, its simply a timer on the wall. We push the button if the red light isn’t on. Don’t really need to activate it from my bed when I awaken, or on my way home form the gym!
The dishwasher is wifi enabled too. DH said he could call and turn on the dishwasher. I asked what her name was and didn’t want to know how he turned her on.
Yesterday, when I left the City, the supervisor promised that they would review the plans I dropped off (because I couldn’t get an appointment because the ‘scheduler’ was off this week). He said he would call me back this afternoon (Friday).
By 2pm I knew that nothing was happening. Still no reply on trying to get an appointment for final recheck. I had revised the plans with the Floor Ratio issue and I wrote a letter explaining that the basement was always in the calculations, we were not trying to exempt it. The guy had been writing a bunch of comments about measuring grade to ceiling, etc. I have been crawling around in dirt under the dang deck measuring dirt to ceiling from outside to get exact grade measurements. I never knew why I was going through this nonsense. I found the Municipal Code and realized that the Zoning guy thought I was trying to ‘exempt’ the basement from the Floor Ratio.
I recalculated Floor Area Ratio. Plans say 41% and my calculation is 43.25% including the basement, old garage and new garage. So, I think there was a math error by the draftsman. Anyways, the max ratio is 55%. Excuse me… what the heck is the big issue here? I am about 1300 sq ft below the threshold. The Zoning guy is making a freaking federal case out of it.
So, back to the City I go to be the squeaky wheel. I walk up to the Check In desk and explain very politely that I would like to see the Zoning over the counter. She asks if I have a project nbr. She says that I need to talk to the Zoning reviewer assigned to my project. I explain very politely that I have been trying to talk to the Zoning reviewer but he has not returned my phone calls or emails. She asks what do I need? I said I just wanted to have the Zoning person put this letter and revised plan (41% changed to 43.25%) on his desk to include in his review. She says that we are not supposed to do that, it’s really important that it gets logged into the system.
After a little discussion she asks who it is. She says he is ‘gone for the day’ and not available. Then she stands up and introduces herself, explaining that she was just covering front desk for the afternoon. It’s the Deputy Director of the entire Building Department!!! How did I get so lucky!!! That’s when I explain the whole story and how frustrated I am getting.
She then tells me to go sit at a desk and gets 3 department managers from Zoning. She pretty much tells them to take care of me. Poor supervisor guy comes back out and says "Sorry, Charles is not here today. Blah Blah about requiring the draftsman to come to a meeting (this is getting really freaking annoying) and promises to review together with him on Monday. They will get back to me… Yeah right!!
So, another day passes… but at least the whole place is starting to recognize the crazy lady
The idea of a wifi recirculation pump or a water heater is a good one, and the NEST thermometer, those will add values to your offering. Because for a frequent traveler buyer, he can turn on or off the appliances remotely without personal presence.
If I were doing a major renovation to a high end flipper, I would add internet enabled home automation to my house, that will draw a lot of attentions.
