Ask the Architect

When can we get started?

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Q. We’ve waited two months fort a building permit and won’t start without one. Our three children can be away for the summer and won’t have to be exposed to dust, noise and danger. But we’re not making progress, and may need a variance for just 5 inches more in our side yard and an architectural review board to approve the look of the outside. We’re really frustrated. Is it typical to wait this long? What can we do to avoid the delays? Should we hire the expediter we spoke to who claims to know someone?

A. So many have asked me this, because timing is everything, but experience has taught me that in the long run, the more important factor is the end result. Planning and permit time, unfortunately, are often underestimated, and I’m not sure why the 5 inches more into the side yard was needed. I can imagine you were aligning with another wall of the house, and the municipality isn’t one of those that changed its mind and allowed new construction to align with old, adjacent work.

Those communities that did decide that it was acceptable not to have to revisit the same setback problem made a prudent, common-sense decision. Architectural review boards were established to protect communities’ character, usually after some in-your-face non-conformist decided to shake things up by painting their home lemon yellow or put in windows facing a neighbor configured to look like five fingers with one taller than the others. You get the idea. Theses boards serve a specific role, to help neighbors protect their sanity, health, safety and real estate value, but in subjective terms. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Hiring an expediter who “knows people” sounds more like a ploy, and I doubt that any community with rules just turns a blind eye, these days, because someone knows someone. When I research old files in some communities and see old documents that never should have been approved, I know that what got by usually comes back to be a problem later. It isn’t rare to have to find a solution to one of these old problems, usually at the expense of the unsuspecting new owner, who says, “It’s been like that for 30 years … I cleared title … my real estate agent said it was fine …”

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