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The Building Battle: News from the front
Bureaucracy--Any administration in which the need to follow complex procedures impedes effective action. (From the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language.)
If you’re thinking of building or remodeling, you should know what to expect, so you can be prepared. In Boulder or in unincorporated Boulder County (UBC), expect construction to take longer, cost more, and be more frustrating than you might expect. Construction is always a challenge, but to build here, you’ll need real stamina and patience.
First of all, you’ll need a building permit to build almost anything. In fact, in Boulder, you’ll need a permit to repair your fence. One city employee sincerely expressed pride in the new streamlined procedure for fence permits that could be accomplished in only thirty days.
If you’re planning to build a new home in UBC, you’ll have to insure that you have a "buildable" lot. Some people still assume that if you own land, you can build on it. Unless your lot is properly zoned, and is designated "build by right", you may not be able to build at all. In general, if your lot is not part of a platted subdivision, you can only build one house for each 35 acres.
If you are building a new home, or any addition of 1,000 square feet or more (including unfinished basements) in UBC, you must endure the county’s site review process. It will take about six weeks, if you’re lucky. Site review will determine whether your project will affect riparian flyways, wetlands, archeologically sensitive sites, endangered mice, abandoned mines, or your neighbors—even if the neighbors are miles away. The county will review your wildfire mitigation plan, your driveway, your proposed paint colors, your landscaping plan, the external light fixtures you will use, where the house will be located on your land, and many other items too numerous to mention.
Your neighbors will all be notified of your plans, and given ample opportunity to offer objections. Neighbors routinely object to the height or size of a project, the removal of trees, the proximity to property lines, or the use of land they have always considered to be their personal park. They often object if your house will be bigger than theirs. The very fact that your proposed house can even be seen from another house may be enough reason to block the permit—even if the offended neighbor is a mile or more away!
If you think you can get the "rule book", and simply follow the rules, think again. Site review is a subjective process, and open to interpretation with wide latitude. Some permit applications have been denied because the house would be "bigger than the applicant needed" (The rules do not say how large a house may be).
If your house will be "too large", or too far from an adequate fire hydrant, you will be required to install a sprinkler system in the house, or upgrade your driveway to the approximate specifications of a runway at D.I.A..—typical cost—approximately $6,000.00.
The county may also extort land from you in exchange for permission to build. They routinely use their leverage to force people to donate part of their land to the county. The donation usually takes the form of a "conservation easement". This essentially means that you can only build if you dedicate part of your land to the county’s open space (but you still get to pay taxes on it). If there are any other favors you can do the county, like clearing up old boundary disputes in your subdivision at your own expense, they will hold up your permit until you’ve done the work, whether it was your responsibility or not!
If your building project will be in the city of Boulder, the city has it’s own list of obstacles, including a possible building moratorium. When building permit applications (for new houses) exceed the allocations set by the City, you must compete on a quarterly basis for the privilege of building. There is a "point system" set up for this contest, and if you don’t score high enough, you may not be able to build. You may, however, try again every three months. This allocation system is due to the "Danish Plan" of growth control, and is the city’s method of keeping growth in check.
Recently, the city is requiring homeowners to upgrade the size of the water service and meter when adding plumbing fixtures. The assumption is that if you have three faucets in the house, you will use more water than if you have one or two faucets—and they want you to have good pressure. In years past, the city would not allow you to have a water service larger than they wanted you to have. Now they are requiring it, and charging you for it.
Building permit applications also trigger a visit from the department of sidewalks. If your sidewalks need repair, they will take this opportunity to have you repair them (or put money in escrow) before issuing the permit. They won’t likely bother your neighbors about their sidewalks until they want a building permit.
One particularly tricky obstacle to building in Boulder is the solar fence ordinance. The actual calculations required are somewhat complicated, but generally, if your house is anywhere near your north property line, you will not be allowed to build an addition that will cast a shadow on your neighbor’s property--whether your neighbor objects or not. This ordinance eliminates the possibility of a second-story addition on many of the homes in Boulder, especially on streets oriented north-south. This ordinance is in addition to the one that limits height to 35 feet.
If you’re adding onto a house that has wood shingles or shakes, you may be required to re-roof the entire house (if you want the addition to match), because wood roofing material is now illegal in the city.
Most of us are familiar with zoning setback requirements. They determine how close to your lot lines you can build. But if your house is on a corner lot, don’t assume that the front of your house faces the street that matches your address, or is the side with your front door. The city will decide for you, and this decision may stop your remodeling plans.
This is just a sampling of some of the political issues related to building. I thought you’d want to know why construction takes so long and costs so much.
