Our biggest problem with Caton House is dealing with the City. Early on we requested a meeting of city staffers to review requirements. Several staffers didn't show up even given weeks of notice. So requirements that fell under their purview weren't addressed and are now jumping up to bite us. Plus the fact that we paid a sizeable fee for the meeting!
Another issue we've had is that we never know who to talk to at the city. Last week Brian stopped by the planning department and asked "Fred" a question. He was told to go downstairs and ask "Jeff". So he did, only to have "Jeff" tell him to go upstairs and ask "Fred"!! That's a typical interaction with the city, unfortunately.
We have generated an appaling amount of paperwork on this project. As of a month ago we were up to 79 pages, and I know it has grown to over 100 pages since then. There's one application that's so complicated that we've had to hire another engineer to fill it out. Plus the number of times city staffers have contradicted and reversed themselves has made this project truely frustrating.
We've given the city staffers feedback on these and other issues, and can only hope that things improve. We've requested that the code books be put on reserve at the local library so we can access the info we need. We hope to have our permits soon as we have a "carved in stone" moving date.
On the positive side, we have gutters! So we're inching forward as much as we can without permits. I'm meeting with a graphics artist to make a business sign for us. He has some really good ideas!
I'm attaching a photo from Google Earth of the house. The bottom of the photo is the southeast corner of our property.
