Thursday, December 21, 2006

Basement Finishing Project - Building Permits

So, because I am a responsible law-abiding citizen who wants to pay all his taxes, I obtained the proper building permits before I began work on my basement. Armed with my blueprints and pictures created with Plan3d, I took a morning off work and made the 20 minute drive down to the Prince William County Development Services building. I had already determined that because I was putting in a "kitchenette" (consisting of a sink and a refrigerator) I would need to sign an affidavit promising to never try to advertise my house as a duplex, or as having separate living quarters in the basement, nor would I ever try to rent the basement out as a separate unit, nor would I ever attempt to prepare a meal in the basement unless it was going to be consumed by someone who normally sleeps on the first or second floor... etc.

Anyway, when I got through the line at the Zoning desk, the guy looked at my plans and asked for my house location survey plat. I didn't have it. I had looked at it that morning while gathering up my paperwork, but I hadn't brought it. D'oh! Then he said, "Hmmm, what kind of sink are you putting in?"

Me: "I dunno, probably a medium-sized, double-basin stainless steel kitchen sink."

Zoning Guy: "You know, if it was only a small wet bar sink, then this would not be considered a kitchen, and you wouldn't need Zoning approval for your plans."

Me: "Yeah, like I said, it's just gonna be a small, single-basin, stainless steel wet bar sink."

Zoning Guy: "Okay, you're fine. Just go get in line at the Plan Review desk."

Whew!

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2 Comments:

Blogger daeth said...

That was great Josh!!! "Um, Like I said....." :)

1:22 PM  
Blogger sarah cool said...

That is too funny!!

Found your blog via STE BB!!

2:31 PM  

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