Lori, Julie's mom, had a dream the other night that the City of Seattle called to let us know that our permit had been approved. We are taking this as a good omen because nothing else seems to be going our way right now. Friday is April 1, the beginning of the "dry season" for building. It's not looking very good for us to put a shovel in the ground this week, not to mention the rain is still falling. The permit is probably still weeks out at best. All the while, the clock is ticking on the precious dry season. Our builder and subcontractors are growing impatient with the delays. We are frustrated that it's still a dream, not reality.
We know good things take time and this project is no exception. It's survival of the fittest. Crazy young couple with a big dream versus the red tape wielding City of Seattle. We are determined that our Dream House will become reality and we will triumph over Goliath. Bring it on, City of Seattle! Can you taste the frustration?
Monday, March 28, 2011
Sunday, March 20, 2011
A lot to ponder: Water Collection Systems
Today, Julie and I went to visit Dan Illich, our neighbor bordering us to the South on 53rd Ave. First of all, Dan is quite possibly the nicest man we've ever met. He sadly lost his wife to cancer not long ago, but he's always the most pleasant and welcoming man, even when we're there to ask him to sign a waiver.
Anyhow, Dan showed us his neighbor to the South who has a huge rain collection system that captures rain water in a 1000-gallon (or more) tank, that they can then use to water plants during dry times in the summer.
This got us to thinking and looking into the matter a bit...something I've thought of a good bit before, but haven't really looked into the details. The basics we need to consider:
- Location
- Homemade or Manufactured
- Size
The location is pretty easy. Underneath the deck at the home will be a very awkward space. There's a 5' concrete wall patterned after the deck above, and hollow in the middle. Then, another 8' to the deck above. It would be an ideal space to hold something like a water basin.
So, first thing we did when we got home was to look at the plans and verify that a water tank would fit there. What do we find? There's already one in the plan! Unfortunately, the one on the plan is required by the city as a "Detention Cistern". The city requires these to slowly release water, rather than have all of the rain water storm the sewer system at once. See their specifications here. But, at least it verified for me that the location is correct.
Second, homemade or manufactured. Well, the required one from the city will probably have to be manufactured, but I'll check on that. 1000-gallon tanks cost over $1,200 and come in a variety of shapes and sizes including tubular, rectangle, and bladder style. I kindof like the bladder style ones. Regardless, they're pretty expensive.
A great site for looking at all kinds of tanks is: gototanks.com. Also, for my own reference, this one's a little cheaper.
Homemade ones are intriguing. My biggest concern is if the City will let me do it, but they can be very inexpensive. According to this website, you can get all of the plastic tanks you want for free! The trick would be trying to engineer them together into a single system. I assume we'll need a small water pump, too...
In sum, I really want a big rain collection system. So size = big.
Next Up: Round 4 Permit Submission.
Anyhow, Dan showed us his neighbor to the South who has a huge rain collection system that captures rain water in a 1000-gallon (or more) tank, that they can then use to water plants during dry times in the summer.
This got us to thinking and looking into the matter a bit...something I've thought of a good bit before, but haven't really looked into the details. The basics we need to consider:
- Location
- Homemade or Manufactured
- Size
The location is pretty easy. Underneath the deck at the home will be a very awkward space. There's a 5' concrete wall patterned after the deck above, and hollow in the middle. Then, another 8' to the deck above. It would be an ideal space to hold something like a water basin.
So, first thing we did when we got home was to look at the plans and verify that a water tank would fit there. What do we find? There's already one in the plan! Unfortunately, the one on the plan is required by the city as a "Detention Cistern". The city requires these to slowly release water, rather than have all of the rain water storm the sewer system at once. See their specifications here. But, at least it verified for me that the location is correct.
Second, homemade or manufactured. Well, the required one from the city will probably have to be manufactured, but I'll check on that. 1000-gallon tanks cost over $1,200 and come in a variety of shapes and sizes including tubular, rectangle, and bladder style. I kindof like the bladder style ones. Regardless, they're pretty expensive.
A great site for looking at all kinds of tanks is: gototanks.com. Also, for my own reference, this one's a little cheaper.
Homemade ones are intriguing. My biggest concern is if the City will let me do it, but they can be very inexpensive. According to this website, you can get all of the plastic tanks you want for free! The trick would be trying to engineer them together into a single system. I assume we'll need a small water pump, too...
In sum, I really want a big rain collection system. So size = big.
Next Up: Round 4 Permit Submission.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Round 3 Complete. Fail.
Report on Outcomes:
- Pass Drainage Dept: Fail
- Pass ECA Slide Dept.: Fail
- Acquire Permit: Fail
Well, it's a bit of a depressing day, but we're certainly still hopeful. I'm convinced that March is the busiest time of year in the Department of Planning and Development (DPD), as I'm sure we're not the only ones trying to get our permit before the rainy season restriction is lifted on April 1 (for those who don't know, due to potential slide concerns, many construction projects cannot begin between October 31 and April 1...once the site is stabilized, construction can continue into that time frame).
Today, we received our notice of corrections from Jim Mattoon in the ECA Slide Department. He has added a couple of requirements, including the need to get permission from another neighbor to briefly encroach on their property, and the need for constant monitoring of some of the temporary shoring behind the house.
Combine this with the drainage concerns, and we've got a full 'nother round to go through with the DPD before a permit can be issued. It appears the corrections are not particularly vast, so we should be able to get them resubmitted quickly, but it's still a frustrating setback.
It's unlikely that construction will begin April 1 at this point.
Next Up: Redrawing the Steep Slope set-back?
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Another Bump in the Road
As of about 3pm this afternoon, it appears we may be forced to round number 4 with the City of Seattle. Nothing that appears to be their fault...just more problems with the design that need to be corrected before we can break ground.
A few weeks ago, on Feb. 17, we submitted the third round of permitting documents, attempting to correct the plans to satisfy two more departments: Drainage, and ECA Slide (ECA stands for Environmentally Critical Area). Today, I contacted Michelle Macias at the City of Seattle after the status of the Drainage Review on the DPD website changed from "Incomplete" to "Corrections Required."
For those interested, you can always follow the updates on the City's progress here: http://web1.seattle.gov/DPD/permitstatus/Project.aspx?id=6218195.
Apparently, there are still corrections to be made. We don't yet know how significant these changes are. They may be very cosmetic and simple. However, they guarantee a 4th round submittal (the image above is actually inaccurate...despite it saying "Cycle #4", we're actually just completing Cycle #3.
The worst part is, in Cycle #2, we were technically approved...Ms. Macias at the City just recommended that we modify the plans to save some money, because we had too many retention ponds listed. So, it's very frustrating to go from "Approved" on Cycle #2 to "Denied" on Cycle #3.
So, we're still waiting on the ECA Slide Review. If that goes well, there's a chance we can resubmit very quickly and still be ready to go April 1, but it's not looking great right now.
A few weeks ago, on Feb. 17, we submitted the third round of permitting documents, attempting to correct the plans to satisfy two more departments: Drainage, and ECA Slide (ECA stands for Environmentally Critical Area). Today, I contacted Michelle Macias at the City of Seattle after the status of the Drainage Review on the DPD website changed from "Incomplete" to "Corrections Required."
For those interested, you can always follow the updates on the City's progress here: http://web1.seattle.gov/DPD/permitstatus/Project.aspx?id=6218195.
Apparently, there are still corrections to be made. We don't yet know how significant these changes are. They may be very cosmetic and simple. However, they guarantee a 4th round submittal (the image above is actually inaccurate...despite it saying "Cycle #4", we're actually just completing Cycle #3.
The worst part is, in Cycle #2, we were technically approved...Ms. Macias at the City just recommended that we modify the plans to save some money, because we had too many retention ponds listed. So, it's very frustrating to go from "Approved" on Cycle #2 to "Denied" on Cycle #3.
So, we're still waiting on the ECA Slide Review. If that goes well, there's a chance we can resubmit very quickly and still be ready to go April 1, but it's not looking great right now.
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