On the west side of our property, the property line was not clearly marked. We had a fence in the front yard, but there was some question about whether that fence was on the property line or not. When our plans went
to the Architectural
Review Board a couple of weeks ago, our neighbors to the west brought up the question
of the property line and the position of our new addition, relative to the mandatory
setbacks. Our original goal was to put up new walls on the east and west sides of
the house, about 18 inches out from the existing structure. The idea was that this
would give us the ability to live inside the house while the construction was going
on, with a minimal amount of impact (yeah, right). In deciding on the 18 inches on
the west side, I measured from the existing house to the existing fence in the front
yard and found the distance to be 6.5 feet. Since we are required to have a 5 foot
setback on that side, we had 1.5 feet to expand, and still be within the required
setback. Well, the disappointing news is that after splitting the cost of a survey
by Simpson
Land Surveying of the property line with our neighbors to the west, we found that
the property line was 1 foot closer to our house than the fence in the front yard
indicates. For the front yard this is not really a big deal. For the side yard and
the effects of the setback, this is a HUGE deal.

Now since we only have 6 inches to expand instead of 18, there is no possibility of building a wall outside of the existing structure. We now need to tear down the existing wall and replace it with a new one to support the upper levels. This is a major impact on our plans to live in the house. Obviously, we can’t continue to live in the house while the walls are gone.

Upon hearing this news, my dad very graciously (among all the rest of his generosity) offered a plan to take some extra, continuous time off work so that we could do the demo and get a shell of a wall up as soon as possible.

I am not sure what God’s reasoning is in making the property line end up where it is, but I know that His will is perfect. So I am counting on that perfect will to produce something great, because right now, I am extremely disappointed in the way things turned out.

The City of Carpinteria is
supposed to put the agendas
of the various boards on the web a week or so before the meetings themselves.
For whatever reason (the mudslides, maybe), the agenda for our meeting was very delayed.
But it is up for viewing now. We are Agenda
Item #3. They have 2 mistakes in the project items that we brought to their attention
at the meeting.

1. My name is not Martin Theule.
2. About 2/3 of the way down, objective CD-5d states that we will be using stucco. We
   are not. We are using wood siding.

We got the first drafts of the modified designs back from our architect. The primary changes have to do with roof pitch at the front of the house, and the west wall.
Some changes that were discussed today: turning the garage door to face the alley, and eliminating the 3rd story windows (to address privacy issues with my neighbors).