Thursday, June 19, 2008
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Tile-picking
Tile! My nemesis! Picked tile for 2 bathrooms today, with my interior-designer-nee-architect. I'm thrilled. Photos unexciting, but the glass accent tile in the first bathroom (floor) will be charming.
(note: we didn't end up using that glass accent tile after all, and I regret it! glass tile accents in floors is great.)
Downstairs bathroom #2 (guest bath):
(note: we didn't end up using that glass accent tile after all, and I regret it! glass tile accents in floors is great.)
Downstairs bathroom #2 (guest bath):
Plan approval
News from the City: our coordinator is approving the plans! Once again, public works is the problem child, not having entered their updated comments yet. Guess that won't happen until 4:59:59pm tomorrow, when they're "due."
Monday, June 16, 2008
Subfloor demolition
Restore the original fir floor? Hah, the glue used on the 1980s parquet destroyed the fir floor and much of the newer plywood subfloor. Unexpected demolition of subfloor now too. Great.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Interior gutted
The family room viewed from what was the kitchen.
A view that didn't exist before: from the West bedroom out to the East yard.
The "sunroom."
Gutting is gut-wrenching. This was our home after all!
A view that didn't exist before: from the West bedroom out to the East yard.
The "sunroom."
Gutting is gut-wrenching. This was our home after all!
Original fir floor
Most flooring removed, exposing the original fir floor and some interesting historical notes about the house. One room we called the "sun room" from the previous owners really was a porch once, as the floor was painted.Another room we've always used as the office used to have a bay window. Its fir floor is a beautiful rich red, and I wonder if it can be restored.
Our 20-month-old toddler is not a good mixture with this construction zone.
Friday, June 13, 2008
Impact Fee Removal
We sent an email to the city detailing our concerns about the fee. Later, I get a call: they agree! They found a "prior condition" clause and are removing that fee. They're appreciative of our "professional" input.
June 13, 2008
Thank you for meeting with us yesterday (Thursday June 12 2008) to discuss the developmental impact fee of $1157.13 that Public Works has imposed on our project (#2008-1849).
There are several layers of problems here, from missing records to a poorly structured charge for increased impact on publics works systems.
We don't argue the point that increased occupancy implies increased load on public works. But the incremental impact fee is defined as a delta between two sewer connection charges, triggered by 3 bedrooms, and this unnecessarily ties together events that could be separated by decades. Indeed, the sewer connection fees are clearly stated in the Fee Schedule to be collected *at*time*of*connection*, and that makes sense since fees are bound to change over the years. Also, the definition of "occupancy" by bedrooms is problematic, as number of bedrooms is not sent to the county for recording, only square footage is.
Even the fact that the impact fee is a one-time charge is a problem, as it forces homeowners and the city to dig up records that may never have existed. (Why is this fee a one-time charge anyway? Occupancy impact on public works is ongoing; wouldn't a multiplier on water usage would be more appropriate?)
Perhaps the biggest problem is this odd fee structure (subtracting sewer connection charges for adding a 3rd+ bedroom) is not clearly stated in writing.
As you mentioned, the city of Sunnyvale has perhaps become accustomed to large developments, but there are many 2BR sewer-connected bungalows out there waiting to have bedrooms added. This fee structure is just plain inappropriate.
It's even less appropriate when the bedrooms already existed. Our situation is marked by three events, separated by decades, that Public Works forced by this fee structure to pull together into one:
* circa 1960 -- sewer connection
* circa 1980 -- addition: 2 stories, 4 bedrooms, 2755 sq.ft.
* 2008 -- the Doudnas apply for building permit, no bedrooms added
While this problem's roots are in the fee structure itself, we understand we
need to try to work within the system as it exists. Given that, let's address
the facts.
A) Developmental impact fee is for adding bedrooms.
We're not adding bedrooms.
We're not creating new impact on public works systems.
There is ample evidence our house already had 4 bedrooms. The most compelling is your copy of plans for project #2005-1306, a tiny 2nd-story addition which clearly illustrate four bedrooms. Other projects (roofing, heating) involved the city, approved permits and on-site inspections. Dean Kimbler did most of the inspections, he will likely remember our oddball house.
We can also provided a dated photo of the house exterior in 2001 (included in a submittal to Sunnyvale for a Use Permit, project #2000-2042), that clearly shows the second story addition (though not the interior bedroom layout). We can also provide real estate appraisals, insurance forms, and affidavits from longtime neighbors that the house has had more than two bedrooms for years.
B) The City has no record of this fee ever having been collected for our
property.
We can't possibly be held accountable for missing or never-existing records.
The odds are high that the sewer connection was done when the neighborhood was developed in the 1960s, as evidenced by two letter "S" imprints marking our western sewer lateral on Kinglet Court, one on the sidewalk and another on the curb. Both appear to be original concrete poured when the subdivision was built shortly after our neighborhood was annexed by the city of Sunnyvale. As such, this fee may never have existed when our sewer was connected.
No matter, the fee applies when bedrooms are added, even though it's defined as a sewer connection charge. But we can't prove that fee was paid in 1978 any more than you can prove it wasn't. This is an impossible impasse.
It's a dangerous door to open to charge homeowners for old fees not recorded in the city database. We understand that a homeowner buys a home's liabilities, but we did all possible diligence when we bought the house to turn up these liabilities, including a permit search. We didn't come up with an original building permit either. We well understand your concern about finding illegal improvements, but a single absent record, in the presence of mounds of other evidence, isn't sufficient evidence of that.
We have other issues regarding the city's records of our sewer laterals that must also be addressed as well. But our building permits (or comments) are due June 18, and we would like to resolve this problem first.
*** We request a waiver of the $1157.13 developmental impact fee on the grounds
detailed above, summarized below:
- Fee structure ties together events that can occur decades apart.
- Impact fee itself not clearly stated.
- Occupancy definition based on bedrooms, which are not recorded by the
county.
- We are not creating new impact on public works systems.
- Absence of a city record by itself insufficient grounds to charge us.
Since purchasing our home in 1999, we have done everything we can to ensure the City of Sunnyvale is kept informed and issues permits for all applicable changes to our property. We have always worked within the system and we believe in it. Sunnyvale has been good to us, and our excellent past dealings with the Building Department contributed to our decision to stay in Sunnyvale and remodel instead of move. It's from that context that we genuinely believe a developmental impact fee on this project to be just plain wrong.
Please let us know which supporting documentation you would like us to bring for you to examine and copy, as Ms. Chu had suggested.
Regards,
...
June 13, 2008
Thank you for meeting with us yesterday (Thursday June 12 2008) to discuss the developmental impact fee of $1157.13 that Public Works has imposed on our project (#2008-1849).
There are several layers of problems here, from missing records to a poorly structured charge for increased impact on publics works systems.
We don't argue the point that increased occupancy implies increased load on public works. But the incremental impact fee is defined as a delta between two sewer connection charges, triggered by 3 bedrooms, and this unnecessarily ties together events that could be separated by decades. Indeed, the sewer connection fees are clearly stated in the Fee Schedule to be collected *at*time*of*connection*, and that makes sense since fees are bound to change over the years. Also, the definition of "occupancy" by bedrooms is problematic, as number of bedrooms is not sent to the county for recording, only square footage is.
Even the fact that the impact fee is a one-time charge is a problem, as it forces homeowners and the city to dig up records that may never have existed. (Why is this fee a one-time charge anyway? Occupancy impact on public works is ongoing; wouldn't a multiplier on water usage would be more appropriate?)
Perhaps the biggest problem is this odd fee structure (subtracting sewer connection charges for adding a 3rd+ bedroom) is not clearly stated in writing.
As you mentioned, the city of Sunnyvale has perhaps become accustomed to large developments, but there are many 2BR sewer-connected bungalows out there waiting to have bedrooms added. This fee structure is just plain inappropriate.
It's even less appropriate when the bedrooms already existed. Our situation is marked by three events, separated by decades, that Public Works forced by this fee structure to pull together into one:
* circa 1960 -- sewer connection
* circa 1980 -- addition: 2 stories, 4 bedrooms, 2755 sq.ft.
* 2008 -- the Doudnas apply for building permit, no bedrooms added
While this problem's roots are in the fee structure itself, we understand we
need to try to work within the system as it exists. Given that, let's address
the facts.
A) Developmental impact fee is for adding bedrooms.
We're not adding bedrooms.
We're not creating new impact on public works systems.
There is ample evidence our house already had 4 bedrooms. The most compelling is your copy of plans for project #2005-1306, a tiny 2nd-story addition which clearly illustrate four bedrooms. Other projects (roofing, heating) involved the city, approved permits and on-site inspections. Dean Kimbler did most of the inspections, he will likely remember our oddball house.
We can also provided a dated photo of the house exterior in 2001 (included in a submittal to Sunnyvale for a Use Permit, project #2000-2042), that clearly shows the second story addition (though not the interior bedroom layout). We can also provide real estate appraisals, insurance forms, and affidavits from longtime neighbors that the house has had more than two bedrooms for years.
B) The City has no record of this fee ever having been collected for our
property.
We can't possibly be held accountable for missing or never-existing records.
The odds are high that the sewer connection was done when the neighborhood was developed in the 1960s, as evidenced by two letter "S" imprints marking our western sewer lateral on Kinglet Court, one on the sidewalk and another on the curb. Both appear to be original concrete poured when the subdivision was built shortly after our neighborhood was annexed by the city of Sunnyvale. As such, this fee may never have existed when our sewer was connected.
No matter, the fee applies when bedrooms are added, even though it's defined as a sewer connection charge. But we can't prove that fee was paid in 1978 any more than you can prove it wasn't. This is an impossible impasse.
It's a dangerous door to open to charge homeowners for old fees not recorded in the city database. We understand that a homeowner buys a home's liabilities, but we did all possible diligence when we bought the house to turn up these liabilities, including a permit search. We didn't come up with an original building permit either. We well understand your concern about finding illegal improvements, but a single absent record, in the presence of mounds of other evidence, isn't sufficient evidence of that.
We have other issues regarding the city's records of our sewer laterals that must also be addressed as well. But our building permits (or comments) are due June 18, and we would like to resolve this problem first.
*** We request a waiver of the $1157.13 developmental impact fee on the grounds
detailed above, summarized below:
- Fee structure ties together events that can occur decades apart.
- Impact fee itself not clearly stated.
- Occupancy definition based on bedrooms, which are not recorded by the
county.
- We are not creating new impact on public works systems.
- Absence of a city record by itself insufficient grounds to charge us.
Since purchasing our home in 1999, we have done everything we can to ensure the City of Sunnyvale is kept informed and issues permits for all applicable changes to our property. We have always worked within the system and we believe in it. Sunnyvale has been good to us, and our excellent past dealings with the Building Department contributed to our decision to stay in Sunnyvale and remodel instead of move. It's from that context that we genuinely believe a developmental impact fee on this project to be just plain wrong.
Please let us know which supporting documentation you would like us to bring for you to examine and copy, as Ms. Chu had suggested.
Regards,
...
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Meeting about impact fee
Dave and I met with the assistant Director of Public Works, and also a senior civil engineer. We gained a better understanding of the source of this developmental impact fee, as it's intended to charge homeowners with more residents for additional impact on public works systems.
But the fee is structured as a delta between two sewer connection fees (we're already connected to sewer), and is triggered by adding a 3rd or more bedroom (we're not adding bedrooms). We're all for paying our fair share, but this one isn't right.
But the fee is structured as a delta between two sewer connection fees (we're already connected to sewer), and is triggered by adding a 3rd or more bedroom (we're not adding bedrooms). We're all for paying our fair share, but this one isn't right.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Interior demolition
Interior demolition has been fast, furious and unrelenting. The downstairs is almost entirely gutted.
Family room before and after:
Kitchen before and after:
Family room before and after:
Kitchen before and after:
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Fee for adding bedrooms?
Un-friggin' believable. This Public Works person at the city told our architect today that this mysterious $1157.13 "developmental impact fee" was for adding bedrooms, which we're not doing.
Think he'd bother to check the city records? Nope, he's using realquest.com, which indeed does list our house as a 2BR. He said people add on without permits all the time and that it's up to us to provide documentation that the house already had 5BR and that the developmental impact fee had already been paid. Never mind that this "developmental impact fee" doesn't appear in the city's fee schedule, or that previous permitted work we've done clearly indicates more than 2 bedrooms.
Think he'd bother to check the city records? Nope, he's using realquest.com, which indeed does list our house as a 2BR. He said people add on without permits all the time and that it's up to us to provide documentation that the house already had 5BR and that the developmental impact fee had already been paid. Never mind that this "developmental impact fee" doesn't appear in the city's fee schedule, or that previous permitted work we've done clearly indicates more than 2 bedrooms.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Demolition starts
Interior demolition starts today! Keyword is interior.
Please don't look up this date on the Permits Timeline.
Please don't look up this date on the Permits Timeline.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Submitted plans
Architect re-submitted to the city today! Bastards tried to send her away when she arrived at 4:30pm, they close at 5pm. The city has 14 days to respond, COB June 18. She's been working really, really hard. Please take your hands off your keyboard and mouse and join me in applause.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Window sign-off
Met w/window guy, signed off on almost all windows, minus a sizing question or two for the architect. Says I'm the first homeowner who's ever brought an architect in to order windows.
There is not going to be a single mistake in numerous oddball windows, not even handle finish or screen material color. It's nailed.
Later note:
Sliding door backward
There is not going to be a single mistake in numerous oddball windows, not even handle finish or screen material color. It's nailed.
Later note:
Sliding door backward
Monday, June 2, 2008
Developmental Impact Fee
Eventful day!
Met with contractor, discussed how to progress with demolition given the permits delay.
Architect arrived during contractor meeting by coincidence, in pursuit of a sewer cleanout as the city's Public Works requires be added (do we already have one? looks like not). Ah. Nothing like seeing your architect and your contractor talking to each other.
This morning we sent an email to the city asking some of the strange fees on the comments list, expressing waning confidence in the whole process. For example, one of the requirements was to upgrade our water meter -- which we already did in 2004. Doesn't the city have a record of this?
This afternoon, someone from Public Works showed up at our house taking photos. Rare, but Dave and I were both home. We asked the guy about the comment "The new accessory building would add the following fees: $1157.13 fee for the SS" that was hand-crossed-out. He said that was a "developmental impact fee," then asked how many bedrooms we have now (4 or 5 depending on if you count closets), then said it was for adding a bedroom. Shrug when I said it's a suite and might not be two rooms, then something about it depends on how you play the rules. Little did I know at the time he wasn't talking about 4-5 bedrooms to 5-6 -- he thought the house had 2. And what's SS?
Encroachment permit? For water meter upgrade. No way Jose, we already did that in 2004, got the signed and paid permit right here. More hand-waving about a sewer cleanout, saying it had to be half-on city property, but a brick retaining wall forces it entirely onto our property, so how could we need an encroachment permit? More hand-waving. Claims neither of our sewer laterals are in the city's records (what, we're on septic?). All public utilities easements and services are supposed to be on the plans, he claims.
Finally, he put us off about the "developmental impact fee" by telling us to look at the fee schedule on their Web site. We did: City of Sunnyvale Fee Schedule. Nothing obvious about "developmental impact fee."
We're documenting all this and will request a full fee itemization. For almost $10,000 in permit fees alone, we're entitled. Unfortunately, this is costing valuable time too.
Met with contractor, discussed how to progress with demolition given the permits delay.
Architect arrived during contractor meeting by coincidence, in pursuit of a sewer cleanout as the city's Public Works requires be added (do we already have one? looks like not). Ah. Nothing like seeing your architect and your contractor talking to each other.
This morning we sent an email to the city asking some of the strange fees on the comments list, expressing waning confidence in the whole process. For example, one of the requirements was to upgrade our water meter -- which we already did in 2004. Doesn't the city have a record of this?
This afternoon, someone from Public Works showed up at our house taking photos. Rare, but Dave and I were both home. We asked the guy about the comment "The new accessory building would add the following fees: $1157.13 fee for the SS" that was hand-crossed-out. He said that was a "developmental impact fee," then asked how many bedrooms we have now (4 or 5 depending on if you count closets), then said it was for adding a bedroom. Shrug when I said it's a suite and might not be two rooms, then something about it depends on how you play the rules. Little did I know at the time he wasn't talking about 4-5 bedrooms to 5-6 -- he thought the house had 2. And what's SS?
Encroachment permit? For water meter upgrade. No way Jose, we already did that in 2004, got the signed and paid permit right here. More hand-waving about a sewer cleanout, saying it had to be half-on city property, but a brick retaining wall forces it entirely onto our property, so how could we need an encroachment permit? More hand-waving. Claims neither of our sewer laterals are in the city's records (what, we're on septic?). All public utilities easements and services are supposed to be on the plans, he claims.
Finally, he put us off about the "developmental impact fee" by telling us to look at the fee schedule on their Web site. We did: City of Sunnyvale Fee Schedule. Nothing obvious about "developmental impact fee."
We're documenting all this and will request a full fee itemization. For almost $10,000 in permit fees alone, we're entitled. Unfortunately, this is costing valuable time too.
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