Tuesday, September 14, 2004
DC Government 1 - Elephant - 0
The Joys of Big City bureaucracy
Just thought I'd chime in with an update on my attempts to get a building permit for a new fence at my house. This morning I headed over to the DC permit office to get a building permit so I can construct a fence at my new house. The old, four foot high chain link fence dates to the 1940s and I'd like to replace it with a more decorative wood privacy fence.
Last night I downloaded the permit application from the DC government website. Good so far. The permit requires that an applicant submit a survey of the lot. I have a survey that came with the closing documents of the house, but it indicates that I can't use if for a fence permit application - go figure. So, my limited goal today was to get a copy of the plat and submit my permit application. Here's what transpired.
Trying to be savvy, I headed for the permit office first and grabbed a number (88). Then I went around the corner to get a copy of the survey plat (which I already have, but must pay another $30 for a new copy). I fill out the application for the plat and they give me a receipt to take to a different floor to pay. I do this (The cashiers were actually very nice). So, with my receipt I head back upstairs to give the receipt to the survey clerk. She informs me that it will take 7 to 10 business days to get a copy of the plat - again even though the survey book was right there on the counter and despite the fact that I already have a copy of the survey.
So, I go back in the permit line. Unfortunately, I've missed my number and they are on 91. So I get a new number 103. After waiting about 40 minutes, they were still on number 91, so I left.
I'm now trying to reach the landscaping contractor to push back the install date for my fence which was scheduled for next week. Oh Joy!
Just thought I'd chime in with an update on my attempts to get a building permit for a new fence at my house. This morning I headed over to the DC permit office to get a building permit so I can construct a fence at my new house. The old, four foot high chain link fence dates to the 1940s and I'd like to replace it with a more decorative wood privacy fence.
Last night I downloaded the permit application from the DC government website. Good so far. The permit requires that an applicant submit a survey of the lot. I have a survey that came with the closing documents of the house, but it indicates that I can't use if for a fence permit application - go figure. So, my limited goal today was to get a copy of the plat and submit my permit application. Here's what transpired.
Trying to be savvy, I headed for the permit office first and grabbed a number (88). Then I went around the corner to get a copy of the survey plat (which I already have, but must pay another $30 for a new copy). I fill out the application for the plat and they give me a receipt to take to a different floor to pay. I do this (The cashiers were actually very nice). So, with my receipt I head back upstairs to give the receipt to the survey clerk. She informs me that it will take 7 to 10 business days to get a copy of the plat - again even though the survey book was right there on the counter and despite the fact that I already have a copy of the survey.
So, I go back in the permit line. Unfortunately, I've missed my number and they are on 91. So I get a new number 103. After waiting about 40 minutes, they were still on number 91, so I left.
I'm now trying to reach the landscaping contractor to push back the install date for my fence which was scheduled for next week. Oh Joy!
