XPost: pdx.general, or.politics, alt.politics   
   From: pjberg@webtv.net   
      
   `   
      
   Permits turn dream into nightmare   
   BY CHARLES PORCHIA   
   For The Register-Guard   
   Published: Sunday, March 25, 2007   
      
   When it came time to leave the sheriff's department in Nevada, my wife   
   and I looked in Oregon for a place to retire. The summer of 2001 found   
   me riding my motorcycle up and down the back roads of Lane County   
   looking for country property close to town. In August we found it: 46   
   acres in the Mohawk Valley, just eight miles northeast of Springfield.   
      
   It was beautiful, with pasture for our horses and room to build the   
   workshop of my dreams. I had a '68 Dodge Charger I planned to restore,   
   and several vintage motorcycles. I figured Oregon would be really laid   
   back. I probably wouldn't even need a building permit. Little did I   
   know!   
      
   At that time two other deputies were retiring to Oregon's Wallowa   
   County. One went to Joseph, the other to Lostine. When I told them I   
   found the perfect place, they warned me that I'd never get a permit to   
   build my workshop - Lane County is run by liberal kooks from Eugene and   
   the University of Oregon. I said they were both crazy, and jealous   
   because I found such a nice place. Besides, it was already in escrow.   
      
   Soon after we were settled in our new home, I learned that I would need   
   a building permit after all, and would have to apply for it in downtown   
   Eugene. The first things I noticed when I walked in the door were some   
   overstuffed couches and boxes of toys for kids to play with while their   
   parents were doing paperwork. I thought to myself, "This is going to   
   take a long time."   
      
   Having come from a rural county in Nevada with fewer than 4,000 people,   
   I was somewhat surprised that the permit was not issued right over the   
   counter along with a small fee. After all, it was just an outbuilding on   
   46 acres.   
      
   But they wanted a plot plan to show where on the property the shop would   
   be, along with some structural drawing. I returned home, made the   
   drawing, went back downtown, and was told there would be a $300 fee to   
   start the application process. I had imagined that the whole thing would   
   be $150 max; again, little did I know.   
      
   It took them two months and four days to approve the permit. I had paid   
   the $300 application fee, and now they wanted $1,926 more. The   
   electrical permit was $191, for a total of $2,417.   
      
   "This is outrageous." I said. "This is a workshop; it has no kitchen or   
   bathroom!"   
      
   All the fees were itemized on the receipt: The permit itself was $517,   
   but that was just the beginning. Plan check was $336, staff surcharge   
   $36, new technology fee $10, administrative fee $272, planning sign-off   
   $200, planning sign-off flood plan $660, planning sign-off wetlands $60,   
   long-range planning surcharge $91, and sanitation permit review $43   
   (remember, the shop had no plumbing).   
      
   I was mad and really disgusted when I got home. I called to complain   
   bitterly of being ripped off for $2,400 to build a workshop. I was told:   
   "All the fees are listed, just add them up."   
      
   "I did add them up!" I said. "It added up to too much!"   
      
   Next I called my county commissioner, Don Hampton at the time, and   
   complained some more. He called back later and said there had been a   
   mistake of $797, and I would receive a refund. In the end it cost   
   $1,620. We all know that if I hadn't complained, the county would never   
   have refunded that money.   
      
   The high fees were just the beginning. I was told my property was in the   
   Mohawk River floodplain, and that I should allow for the highest   
   floodwaters that could be anticipated in the next 100 years. The shop   
   floor would have to be at least 488.7 feet above sea level.   
      
   I said, "Since I'm 62 years old, let's just plan for a 38-year flood."   
      
   Of course, that got nowhere fast. I would have to pay a surveyor $275 to   
   set an elevation mark on an oak tree next to the shop site. Now I'm   
   $1,900 into it and haven't even started digging.   
      
   The next shock was that 488.7 feet above sea level would make one corner   
   of the shop four feet above the natural grade.   
      
   I have no idea whether rising ocean levels due to global warming will   
   require the shop floor to be raised in the future, but now I'm asking   
   myself: How can they rebuild New Orleans below sea level where millions   
   of homes are at risk, but my shop must be one foot above a flood that   
   "might" happen every 100 years?   
      
   To get the floor that high above the ground would require 6-inch-thick   
   stem walls rising above the regular foundation, then be back-filled,   
   with the concrete floor being poured over that. That caused another   
   expense. The walls needed to be designed by an engineer who called for   
   2,000 feet of reinforcing steel bar, spaced 10 inches apart. To raise   
   the floor four feet took 16 loads of backfill for a total of 450 tons,   
   costing $4,200.   
      
   The money I had set aside was going fast.   
   By the time I started raising the walls, I was well over budget. The   
   only thing I could do was stretch out the work.   
      
   I applied for the permit on Jan. 12, 2004. The final inspection was on   
   Nov. 22, 2006.   
      
   To be fair, I felt the county should be able to present its side of   
   these issues. I contacted Jeff Towery, who heads the Land Management   
   Division. He immediately agreed to meet. Towery was very well prepared.   
   I was given handouts showing fees and other pertinent information. He   
   provided me with an aerial photo of my property showing that it was in a   
   flood plain.   
      
   Towery acknowledged that it took longer for the county to issue permits   
   than they would like. In 2002-03 it took 85 days to get a building   
   permit for a private home. By 2005-06 it was down to 64 days. For   
   commercial construction it was 204 days in 2002-03, and 87 days in   
   2005-06. Using a 2,000-square-foot home for a comparison of fees, in   
   Lane County a building permit would cost $2,868, while in Eugene it   
   would be $155 more, and in Springfield $592 less.   
      
   I believe Towery is genuinely trying to improve the department. The   
   inspectors - Bob Bullock, Kim Helsel and Scott McIntyre - were prompt,   
   fair and helpful. Also, Elaine Johannes does a great job handling the   
   phones. I really had no problems with the people at the county. It was   
   the fees and all the requirements that made the whole process so   
   frustrating!   
      
   Building fees vary widely from county to county in the Western United   
   States. Flathead County, Mont., requires no building permit at all.   
   Plumbing and electrical permits are issued automatically through the   
   mail. Bonner County, Idaho, had so many complaints about its building   
   department that the county supervisors did away with it completely.   
   Homeowners need only an electrical permit issued by the state.   
      
   Most people think California is absolutely the worst when it comes to   
   red tape. The city of Concord, Calif., requires permits for a metal   
   garden shed! In 1989 I built a 2,000-square-foot home in Los Angeles   
   County. It took two years to get the permit, at a cost of $11,500. I   
      
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