Building Departments
I could not be more frustrated with {insert City name} building department – Am I out of my mind or should service actually be getting better when the demand slows down??
I challenge anyone who reads this to attempt to get a building permit for ANYTHING right now and forward me the story of your experience.
I am currently on day 10 of getting a permit in the City of (insert name). Simple swimming pool and spa in Placerita Canyon – has no oak trees on the actual property and has a septic tank instead of a connection to City sewer line.
Plan Checks to date:
1. Third floor, Engineering department
2. Third floor, Planning department
3. Third floor, Flood department
4. First floor, Building and Safety
***plan check, submit plans and wait***
5. Informed that because there are oak trees “in the area” I will need to deal with “Urban Forestry” (oxymoron?).
6. Informed that because there is a septic tank I need to deal with L.A. County Sanitation – the inspector has NO office hours and roams the entire L.A. County – available only by phone.
7. Submitted oak tree plans, have been waiting for (2) days only to hear back that the homeowner isn’t allowed to have a salt chlorination system in the pool because it could potentially damage the 500 year old oak tree roots that are located 150′ away but the plans are still under review and I will get an answer “in the next week or so”.
8. Submitted plot plan with septic tank and leech field location – after waiting a week and a half, I need to have an on site meeting to verify that there is enough room on the one acre property to install a separate leech field in the event that the first one fails. May have to get an Environmental report for the property and unearth both the leech field and septic tank as well as possibly having to survey the site to prove that it is high enough to withstand the 1000 year flood (yes, everyone knows that water isn’t good for swimming pools).
Does anyone else think this is a little much for a hole in the ground that holds water??
