It's Friday, it's payday and there's a little bit of snow on the ground. It's a good day :)
Some friends of ours with 2 young kids drove by our house last night to see our lights and yard decorations. DH told their dad - have them tell me if it's too much, not enough or just right LOL. Their assessment: it's awesome, but they would add some lighted candycanes. Guess what we'll be adding next year? haha.
We got a call yesterday from the new owner of the lot next to us. (they live in Tx). It just kind of sounds like more of the same...basically trying to feel dh out, to see if they can do what they want and if anyone's going to care. We have restrictions (not covenants) on how close we can put a permanent foundation/structure to the edge of the properties where they drop off down the bank. No closer than 25 feet. We also have restrictions that we cannot touch the river bank. (We are high bank properties, like over 100 ft up a steep bank). I think its our DNRC that control this. So, even though we technically own our property part way down the bank, to the high water mark, we are not allowed to alter it. Of course new owner wanted to know how close he could build (it's right in your lot CC&R's...) because they wanted to build right up next to the bank, and then says "ya, I need to figure out how to make a trail down to the river". (but then at one point said ya, I saw that about the 25' - so why ask then?)
DH just said do so at your own risk and told him what happened with our other neighbors (Mr & Mrs) who first built here 8 years before anyone else and tried to build steps/ramp down to the river. He also told him about another property owner about 1/2 mile down river. She bought her property like 10 years ago. It's a wide piece (10 acres) and not quite as high bank and the previous owner had basically cut in a little road to get down there, apparently years before. But over the years it got overgrown, so wasn't really noticeable. A few years ago new owner decided, hey, I'd like to use this little road trail to drive my quad down there, so she cleaned it up, pulled weeds, etc. Well, she got notified by the DNRC she was in violation and had to restore that hillside and they literally gave her like a month deadline.
I was the one who answered the phone (he called on our landline) when he called and dh was in the shower. He said their builder had some questions on what they can/can't do, so he was wondering if we knew. I decided dh would be best to talk to him (since he dealt with all that during our build) and told him dh will call him back in a bit. But, before hanging up I did say "so, are you guys going to get started building next spring?" He said well...we're still trying to decide if we need a house in Montana. We live in Tx and also have a vacation house on a lake in another state, so not sure if we need another one. Plus, still trying to find out how much it's going to cost to build".
They bought this lot, without seeing it for themselves. Only their son had checked it out and I'm guessing he had just told them/assumed they would be able to just build right up next to the bank, (because his wife wants to see the river from inside their house) and hey, just make your own access down to the river. Now they are trying to figure out how they are going to build 25' back and see the river and apparently their idea/solution is build a 2 story house up on stilts...........
It's been 3 weeks again since we went to the city for groceries. My time flies. Once dh gets up and going this morning I'll ask him when, this weekend, he wants to go in. At least, with our 3 week schedule of getting groceries, this month we only have to go in once :)
I just checked the hospital's patient portal to see if dh's blood test results are showing yet and they are. Negative, so it's not autoimmune pancreatitis. Now we wait until the next endoscopy on Jan 9th to see if we can get any answers. At least we got the test in before the end of the year and it's not going to cost me anything.
And that is EXACTLY why you should pay for a feasibility study when you consider buying lland. A guy who built on the 5 acres next to our farm started clear cutting the lot without a permit, stupidly city on a restricted area, and the Department of Natural Resources posted a cease and desist order. It was an expensive and lengthy process for him to get construction started again…took almost a year. Frankly, I had no sympathy because he just wouldn’t hear anything he was told. “It’s my property and I can do what I want on it!” Well, not exactly…he also didn’t look into the setback requirement when he started putting up his ADU. He had it abutting the easement for the private road. I would like to say I didn’t laugh when he had to remove and then re-pour the concrete pad, but I would be lying. He still thinks we reported him for both violations, but I swear we didn’t. PUD reported him for the clearing because he knocked down a wire and took out power. The setback violation for the ADU was flagged during a routine inspection. I think he figured once he got the permit he would do what he pleased.He is LUCKY it was caught them and not later and that’s all he had to rectify.. Seriously, if *I* was going to report it, after the way he behaved to me and my neighbors after he knocked out the whole road’s power, ( he packed up a and got the hell out of there when it happened. We had to call PUD…hahahah they charged him for that too) I would have waited until least the framing had started to make it even harder on him .
ReplyDeletePrior to this house, we planned to purchase two ocean view lots, 2.5 acres each and build on one of them. We reconsidered when we realized that the setback from the property line really impacted not just the house plan we could have, but what else we could do on the property. We would have owned the property to the north, our structure still had to be so many feet from the property line, regardless of who owned it. Add the restrictions on the septic and it was just not feasible for what we wanted to do. That study was worth every cent!
My dd and sil are having to go through A LOT just to get started building on their 5 acres. Permits for everything. They finally got the go ahead to be able to cut down trees to start clearing for building. My other thought, on the guy wanting a trail/steps down to the river...what are you going to do once you get down there? It's completely rocky. There's no "beach" or sand. The "flat" part you can actually stand on once you get yourself down there, is only a few feet flat before it starts going steep uphill (and you are just standing on rocks and small boulders, not to mention depends on how high the river is) and various plants growing out in between. It's not like you can set some chairs down there and sit. Plus down there is considered public land, so you can't do anything/set up anything.
DeleteThese people sound like they would be a problem.
ReplyDeleteMost people are, unfortunately. We are the type of people who follow the rules. We knew when we bought this property we had to build back 25'. We had to be 30' from the frontline of the property and 15' from the sides. We also knew we were not allowed to touch the river bank. It never crossed our minds to try to do otherwise. I can only imagine what a small (the guys words) house up on stilts is going to look like in a neighborhood of $800k+ homes. Though I'm not really sure if a home up on stilts meets our covenants that say the dwelling must have a permanent continuous foundation of concrete or concrete blocks. I don't know anything about how stilt homes are built. Maybe a foundation is poured and the stilts placed in that? I would think that stilts would be placed holes dug with concrete around it, not a continuous perimeter foundation, but what do I know.
DeleteI thought the rules applied to everyone as well too. We don’t have covenants where we are, but as you well know, the permit process and building codes are strict! There’s a good reason for them, and as much as I griped about the paperwork, fees and delays (I even needed an in person, on site meeting to obtain an informal conference note with the state forestry department proving I hadn’t logged…it was a pain, but the meeting itself was really enjoyable and a kid is now considering majoring in a similar field as a result) the rules are there to protect and preserve the area for ALL residents. If you can follow them, they can follow them.
Delete(Meg B….and the first comment was from me as well. Sorry for posting anonymously)
DeleteI definitely agree with the rules about not touching the river bank or building near it- if it starts to erode because people are building too close or ON it, that's going to affect more than just their property/river bank.
DeleteI thought you were being sarcastic about a house on stilts to see the river. OMG, how ridiculous.
ReplyDelete