ZONING CAN MATTER IN UNEXPECTED WAYS
WHEN ZONING MATTERS: Want to improve things by adding a room, garage, swimming pool, pave or widen your driveway? Basement wet after a neighbor made improvements like that? If you know the rules before hiring an architect or an Attorney, you can avoid costly mistakes and find ways to get the municipality involved to make things right. Based on experience gained from designing and building 65 homes, I can review your site plan, deed and house drawing to see what development is possible; or, I can suggest how a neighbor's improvements may be impacting your property, etc.
ORDINANCES CAN PROTECT YOUR RIGHTS: Knowing more about municipal rules, your rights and options, can lead to wiser choices. For example, a neighbor
may seek municipal approval for changes that you feel will hurt your property value, or will alter the character of your neighborhood. Seven years chairing a Municipal Planning Commission taught me how to evaluate such concerns, and how to find solutions rather than pick fights.
KNOWING HOW TO INTERPRET AND USE THE RULES CAN BE VERY REWARDING: Try reading Ordinances for zoning, land development, water management, conservation, etc. They are often poorly written, hard to understand, confusing, and sometimes one Ordinance conflicts with each other in subtle ways. Ordinances are not always black and white. For example, I bought land, thinking I would build a single home, because my Realtor and the Municipal Zoning officer told me that the lot could not be subdivided. Later my instincts kicked in, and I thought that subdivision was possible. My engineer said it was geometrically impossible. I showed him a way. The Township said their Ordinance blocked subdivision. After $30,000 of legal and engineering services, I won. The impossible to subdivide lot sold for $220,000. The Township immediately changed their Ordinance to stop others from following my example.
FOX GUARDING YOUR HEN HOUSE? Sometimes municipal officials love their power to say no, to stop development, to preserve the views they grew up with, keeping you from doing what you want with the land you bought and pay taxes on every year. Going to officials like that is a bit like being a hen asking the fox guarding the hen house if it you are safe at night. And there is the occasional official who is friends with the very neighbor whose actions are harming your property. You never know. It only takes one apple to spoil a barrel.
My only interest is to hear you out, inspect the paperwork, review your Township Ordinances, and report my findings. If you need a lawyer to secure your rights, this way you will start off with your argument prepared in a way the lawyer and/or engineer can review. Few attorneys have $120 million of construction experience, or learned to survey at age 13. Fewer have bought and subdivided land or chaired a planing commission and seen scores of projects.
EXAMPLE: INTERACTIONS BETWEEN ZONING, FIRE AND BUILDING CODES
A building inspector visited a long-operating public shelter. He cited the facility for overcrowding and unsafe conditions. The organization's Attorney retained me to review the rules, prepare a scale drawing, and recommend a response. I found that the facility was not violating rules and only had to make a few minor changes to satisfy the official. It was a situation where a well-intentioned official feared liability if lives were lost in a fire. By making a scale drawing, I proved that exits, etc were adequate to meet the code. To read this report, click here:
Some Ordinance related issues are very simple, but others are not. There are also times when Ordinance review can help resolve issues in unexpected ways. If you have problems related to Municipal rules, if you wonder if you really can or can not do something after you talk with your local Zoning Officer, well, I will be happy to hear you out and share thoughts. If that is all that is needed, great! If you feel that you want to take a deeper look, we can discuss possible next steps. Let me hear from you. The first consultation is on the house, no cost to you.