House funk

Carol Reed

In Memoriam
Messages
5,533
Location
Coolidge, AZ
Color me more than frustrated. Now the county has denied the setbacks originally put forth. Back to square one or maybe even before that. I bought that property because of those setbacks. Anything less for a building envelope makes the project fiscally unwise.

Can they do that? Evidently. Recourse? Don't know yet. Worst case scenario is sell the property and leave California. Can't afford to live here as a renter. Especially after I finally retire. That would really bum me out. I love it here and I love my job. Job could end the end of the year if my contract is not picked up. Not a competence issue but a financial issue there. Out if my hands.

Week is not starting off very well.
 
Well, I don't really know what to say. It's obvious how much you wanted to be where you are. At one time, I considered taking a position in Sacramento, but things worked out otherwise. Perhaps you're being led in another direction by a higher power that knows where you are really needed.
 
Bummer, worth appealing to see where it goes but the reports I've seen out of CA for that sort of thing are often complicated. Always hard to deal with setback like this, my only advice is to look at the sunk costs and figure if its worth sinking more in depending on your chances.

Lutherans are welcome in Texas.
:rofl: Sorry that just struck my funny bone, previously I figured you had to be some sort of baptist to live south of the mason dixon line :rofl:
 
Sorry to see this, Carol. Here's hoping you can reach an amenable agreement with the county, and if not, you find something even better.
 
Sorry to hear of your dilemma, I'd try for an appeal, perhaps a one-on-one with the folks you spoke with the first time and try to figure out why they had a change of heart.
 
Thanks, folks. You are lifting my spirits. I am pushing my pencil to see if it makes sense to sink more money into this. That's a tough decision in that I have no idea how much more will be needed to get past this hump.

@Charlie: I like Texas. Have friends in the hill country. And the peaches are worth the trip! But I love where I am and I sure would want to stay here. There is a difference. As for consulting with the higher power; that's what got me here in the first place. There is a plan!

Certainly your prayers and uplifting comments are more that welcome. Ain't easy doing all this alone.
 
That is really too bad Carol. People still seem surprised that so many are choosing not to live in that state anymore, I will not be surprised if they pass a law making it illegal to sell your house and move out of the state without paying a large fine, I know, never happen right? :rolleyes: This kind of over regulation and the large power of the small bureaucrat I'm sure is killing the construction business out there, as well as the renovation work too.

Best of luck.
 
Not a matter of over regulation, Stu. The problem here is one bureaucratic hand not knowing what the other is doing. And they make it my problem to solve! Not a problem confined to California. Had the same problem in Arizona when I prepare my house there for sale, as did my brother when he built his new house there.

Aside from which, I am not going to get on the 'bash' California band wagon.
 
I'm not bashing California Carol, I'm pointing out that the government and it's bureaucrats are no longer public servants, as they seem to care little about serving the public. In the real world, if these bureaucrats considered you a "customer" they would do everything possible to make it as simple and smooth for your to meet the required regulations so you could start building your home. You would be spending money in the local community, hiring workers, paying taxes etc. The sad fact is that they don't look at it that way, they don't care if you build your home or not, they don't care if you hire that contractor and all his crew, they don't care if you pay taxes into the local government, they just don't care, and until that changes, people like you will suffer.
That is not bashing California.
 
My heart goes out to you Carol. Dealing with all this on ones own is not fun. Stay the course sister and keep in mind you too have rights not just the state.

I agree wholeheartedly with Stu but i fear the problem is not confined to California.
I think you should look into contacting the local political rep for the area and let them know of your issue see if there is any reasoning they can do.

On other hand this piece of land does from the sound of things seem like you perpetually trying to shoehorn what u need/desire on the property. Maybe it is time to pause and take stock Hope you get a break.

Sent from my SGH-I337M using Tapatalk
 
Carol,
Know you love CA... it's a pretty nice place to live. I loved it when I was up in the Bay Area and would have stayed, but other factors went into play...now can't afford it... Same with Arizona, Loved the Tucson area, but can't afford it now either.

If California and Texas don't work out for you, Tennessee is a pretty nice place...
 
... If California and Texas don't work out for you, Tennessee is a pretty nice place...

South Georgia is really nice also. And that ain't easy to say since I'm a native Texan and thought for years that we would retire to the Hill Country. We're a couple of hours from great beach and the oysters in Apalachicola are the best!

The neighbor on one side is active in the Anglican church and loves to serve. There must be more churches per capita in our little burg than in most towns!
 
WOW - what a bummer.

Is there anything in the original sales documents that you can bring to the town hall to get the approvals you need?

Perhaps they are missing something.

Unlikely the sales docs would help much. What generally matters is what's on the deed itself. The deed can be modified as part of the sale in some cases but unless its properly recorded it doesn't generally count (there may of course be some exceptions to this :D).

We had a positive event in this regard a few years back, when our lot was partitioned part of partition agreement with the city was that there would be a future requirement for the homeowners to install sidewalks (at the city's demand, homeowners expense) placed on the deed. Because it wasn't properly recorded on the deed the city sent our a note that they were "generously not enforcing the requirement" :rolleyes: If it had been on the deed I doubt we would have bought the property either so there's that (one of the local businesses almost moved when the city wanted to bill them something like $180,000 for 200 feet of sidewalk, I think they eventually negotiated something - there's still no sidewalk there anyway)
 
South Georgia is really nice also. And that ain't easy to say since I'm a native Texan and thought for years that we would retire to the Hill Country. We're a couple of hours from great beach and the oysters in Apalachicola are the best!

The neighbor on one side is active in the Anglican church and loves to serve. There must be more churches per capita in our little burg than in most towns!

It's pretty hard to go more than a couple of miles here in East TN without passing a church... it's just 6 miles from my house into Tellico Plains and we pass 3 or 4 churches on the way.

Bill, I was born and raised in East Texas, left for a while to live in CA after the navy, then back to Texas after my divorce to raise my son there, right after the wife and I married, we went live in AZ, but I was offered a job back in Houston that paid more than the two of us were making in AZ.... the wife and I talked about retiring to the hill country also, but when her youngest daughter's husband was transferred from Houston to Cleveland TN, we came up for a visit and changed our minds... this is a beautiful place. My son now lives just over the mountains into Georgia... he has a beautiful house on top of a mountain, looking down on a lake... other than the taxes, I could live in Georgia too, but guess we'll stay where we are now.
 
Try getting on the schedule for the county planning commission and present your case. They hold regular hearings for just this kind of thing. Also try the county board of supervisors. That's what they're there for.
 
Top