One Step, Two Step, Next step- Canoe Step?

This year we embarked on the task of trying to complete one of our big landscaping feats on the hillside... the stairs down to the pond. Our conservation requirements gave us three years from the time of the original permit -November 2010 - to complete our original mitigation and close it all out.  Early this year, with time flying by and first hand knowledge of the speed of procedures in our town, we realized that we needed to get going on it if we were going to do anything at all.

The first step was drawing up a plan, which Anthony did on top of our original site plan. He ran this by the conservation agent in February and then gave it to the site engineer, who submitted it to the conservation commission in May as an amendment to our original plan. Spring planting season looked like it was turning into summer planting season. 

Wouldn't you know, our meeting date fell in the middle of a week in June when Anthony was bouncing back and forth between conferences in Maine and Rhode Island, and me alone with my big pregnant belly and toddler on a school night was not going to be able to make it. Not that we needed to, after all, we were paying our engineer to do it. At 7:00 that night I sat back grading papers on the couch watching the conservation commission on tv. After some rather contentious cases interspersed with the cons com members checking in on the Bruins game, our case finally came up at 9:41. It was peacefully agreed to by 9:46. While I'm obviously pleased by the lack of drama, I wish it could have happened before my bedtime.

With builder John standing by, we awaited the official word from the committee. And waited. And waited. And waited.  Anthony finally checked in on the progress (or lack there of), only to find that apparently it had been stuck on the admins. desk for a while. Really though, we know what speeds things up for us construction-wise... it's having a baby, right?

Our second child was born (!) and with Anthony's nagging gentle reminders to conservation, we got the word we could build our stairs. Juggling our new life, here's where we're happy we hired someone to build them instead of attempting to do this ourselves. 

It took us a while to get everyone home from Boston, and now our summer planting season has turned into a fall planting season, or more likely, moved back to a spring planting season due to a new state-wide ruling - which we still don't really understand - that we could have an additional three years to complete any work from the original cons com permit.  

Stairs to pond: check. The neighborhood cat already likes to lie out on the upper landing. 

Next up: figuring out the planting (can we just finish this already?), and getting a canoe to hold our family of four. I'd include Zippy, but let's be honest. He would have more fun barking at us from the shore.

-J&A

Suitable for Framing

I hold in my hands our actual Certificate of Occupancy.

Anthony gathered the final signature on our building permit this morning. (In case you're wondering, the last one was Conservation- although they have not granted their own Certificate of Compliance yet, apparently we're good enough to live here).

We are officially official.

-J

Holes

Holes in the front yard.

Holes in the back yard.

Holes in our bank account...

On Friday we came home to a very large hole, a very big excavator, and a super huge lego brick in our front yard. Apparently it was time to move the septic tank back in.

It was also time to get our mitigation plantings in. Anthony went to two different nurseries on Saturday and filled the Rav 4 with native species. He then began digging...

We're coming down to crunch time here where all the things that make a home need to have been bought yesterday so that we don't slow the project down. This is especially hard on us frugal wafflers, but we're hanging in there the best we can. We keep reminding ourselves that the important items are done (like the insulation), and what we're choosing now can be more or less changed down the road if we can't find exactly what we want at our bare-bones budget right now.

- J

November Flies By in the Blink of an Eye

What? No November post?

Where did November go anyway?

Oh yeah. We spent it waiting, and crossing t's, and dotting i's, and doing math, and trying to figure out other people's math, and filing things, and preparing to sign new contracts, and sweating about the lack of income my maternity leave is (not) providing, and reveling in the joy of chanting "Trot trot to Boston" for the twenty-thousandth time.

November came and November went and now it's December, so where are we?

Plans are being looked at by the structural engineer. New builder is ready to go. Building permit is ready to be filed. Conservation Commission planting extension until the spring is in hand (so that they have a better chance of survival). Loan has been applied for. We're slowly moving into the rental house. Belongings are being reassessed. Things are being posted on craigslist. Childcare for January has been secured (although impending going-back-to-work in January is being ignored). Zippy's still barking at the mailman. 

 And as for the little one... just when you thought she couldn't get any cuter- she does.

-J

The Long and the Short of It: Town Committees

We're through the committees, and despite all the delays, I guess it wasn't as painful as we had thought. I think the most difficult part was watching the timeline shrink in front of us. We didn't get to these boards until September, as opposed to original plan of the summer. Then both Conservation and Zoning gave us dates, only to come back later to tell us they had to move them back because they hadn't been advertised properly. To echo our representative, Tom, "How can that happen twice to one applicant?" And to echo the #1 lesson Natalie taught us while she was in the NICU: "It is what it is."

First up was the Conservation Commission. We left Natalie with Grandma and Grandpa May and apprehensively, yet excitedly, marched down to Town Hall. I felt that we got a lot of positive comments about the gem of a neighborhood we are in, the value of our project, and the creativity involved in designing for the narrow, slanty space while showing regard to the conservation issues. We were almost through peacefully until an old dry well in the back became something for the committee to ponder. And ponder they did, until they decided that it wouldn't do and we needed to add a new interloper to our plans instead. Bottomline- draw that in and come back in two weeks.

Two weeks later... Anthony was out on a cruise, and wasn't expected to be back until after the 7:00 meeting was underway, so I went on my own- leaving Natalie to keep Grandma Kirincich company while she made meatloaf. Once there I realized that being on the third page of the agenda meant that it might be a while, so I walked home with plans to watch the meeting progress on FCTV and go back when it got closer to us. Turning on the TV I started to sweat as I watched them skip agenda item after agenda item because representatives were not there. Somehow it was now only a few items away from us! I hurried back only to wait, wait wait...waiting long enough for Anthony to arrive back, and then waiting even longer... When Tom mentioned that the case right in front of us would probably be contentious and take a while I decided to go home and enjoy my meatloaf while it was still hot. Anthony stayed behind. We thought about bringing him a nice hot plate to the meeting, after all, the committee members were passing around a container of tomatoes amongst themselves for snacking.

At home Jeanie and I watched as the time ticked by. Finally, about 3 and a half hours after the start of the meeting it was our turn. The admin. called our case and then recommended that it be tabled because the representative was not present. I started shouting at the screen that Anthony was there and then they realized that Tom was indeed there. They reviewed that he was supposed to draw the new piece.

Committee: "And did he?"

Admin.: "Yes, he did."

Tom: "Can I go home now?"

So there it was- our one minute exchange, which was only drawn out slightly so that the secretary could record the happenings.

Next up was Zoning. The three of us all went together to this one, but Natalie and I stayed outside the room until our case was up. This board seemed to run smoothly. Once again Tom did a nice job explaining our case and our efforts to be less non-conforming. Again we heard positive comments, both about the location and the design efforts. They reviewed that three of our neigbors had written letters of support for the project. An additional abutter stood up and voiced her support, and we found out after that another abutter was at the meeting as well. The only stipulation was that the office in the basement remain an office and not be turned into another bedroom. Fine with us!

ZBA voted their approval the night of the meeting, and Conservation voted their approval the following week. Barring any appeals, we were through!

-J

Meet and delay, meet and delay...

Delays seem to come fast and furious, progress plods along slowly. I wonder though, how many delays can the town actually push on you?

We are in the phase of waiting for our conservation and zoning commissions to view, comment, and hopefully, approve our plans (submitted months ago). These are still just the skeleton plans. The details are still on hold until these are approved. So we wait through delays due to newspaper postings, delays due to technical details, delays due to 'cooling off' periods.

We are starting to wonder if the whole thing will happen this year. Winter is coming fast, and June (the end of the winter rental season) is just around the corner.

-A