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Mostly Cloudy No end of regulations No end of regulations
Q. We had an addition built over 10 years ago but we didn’t get a permit. A note was left on our door that we need a permit, so we checked into it and found out that many laws have changed and we have to do an energy audit and a lot of rigamarole, and maybe even tear part of the addition apart to correct things. Sounds like the work of Obama; don’t we have some recourse? Shouldn’t the addition be grandfathered? We shouldn’t be made to do all these changes, should we?
A. So you built an addition and want to know what to do and who to fight about this? Everyone I know in your local government would shake their head at the fact that you blame others for your 10-year free ride.
They have no sympathy for your skirting the rules. Waiting to file to avoid taxes usually works out badly, since your county checks your property and has been taxing you all along. Had you gotten a permit under the older codes from the era of your construction, you could have avoided the expense you’re now facing because of the stricter codes.
We all want to blame somebody. I did a little research about the Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s latest policy changes.
After the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland caught fire and the oil spill in Santa Barbara, Richard Nixon signed the bill to create the EPA in 1970. Gerald Ford’s administration brought about pollution standards for cars with catalytic converters. Under Jimmy Carter we got standards for clean drinking water and the Clean Air Act.
Ronald Reagan’s terms saw us panicking over asbestos, the Superfund Cleanup program and environmental education, while cleaning up the Great Lakes and the Chesapeake.
Nobody ever talks about the warming of relations that helped bring down the Berlin Wall, when the EPA jumped in to help the Soviet Union respond to the Chernobyl disaster.
The first President Bush signed the law giving disabled people civil rights, and George Jr. was actually the guy you should blame for our energy policy, since his administration took huge steps to implement the energy guidelines and laws you’re now complaining about.
The cartoonist Walt Kelly wrote the “Pogo” comic strip line, “We have met the enemy and he is us.” So before blaming presidents, who really have more important issues to tend to, examine whether anything you can do will help improve your situation and those around you, then do the right thing.
Write a letter telling the building department that you intend to address the matter, hire a professional to go to bat for you, and begin evaluating how best to meet your obligations. Because after you fight City Hall and lose, you’ll still have to upgrade, but officials may at least help you more if you show them you want to comply. Good luck!
© 2010 Monte Leeper
Readers are encouraged to send questions to yourhousedr@aol.com, with “Herald question” in the subject line, or to Herald Homes, 2 Endo Blvd., Garden City, NY 11530, Attn: Monte Leeper, architect.
