Obstructionist city council
We're trying to get planning permission to build a ''mega- shed'' -- a three-car garage -- a few metres off of one end of the house. The model we're looking at has one garage door, and two ''empty'' garage bays.Short-term it **might** hold a car, but eventually it'll be the ''box room'' to hold misc. ''stuff'' (Christmas decorations; suitcases; etc.), plus have my music gear, woodworking gear, workout things, and a bunch of other stuff that, yeah, are more ''mine'' than ''my wife's''. It'll be my big playhouse (which I'll also end up sharing with the kids -- which should be nifty).
ANYHOW -- I just got a phone call this morning saying that we can't build it where we want to, because that's a ''waterway'' -- i.e. where the water goes when it floods. Except that where we've located it is actually one of the highest spots on the property!!!
What happened is that during (or shortly after?) the 1974 Brisbane Flood, the city charted out where the flooded areas were, and added those to their city planning charts: If you proposed buildings are in the ''potential flood areas'', you can't build there (or at least, need to do special things in order to get permission). However, they didn't base their zoning on the contours of the land. Instead, they just used a few spots as data points, and played ''connect-the-dots'' in a straight line -- again, regardless of the actual contours of the land.
So: It looks like we'll need to contact some certain branch of the city council; fill out some forms, pay some fees; and have some person come out to personally look and say ''Yep! The map's wrong -- this-here is high ground!!!"
Which means future delays.
I just wanna get my shed built. Sigh.
--GG
posted by Gye Greene @ 10:27 PM
3 Comments:
There isn't the funding for the City/County/whatever jurisdiction to map every single foot (or even every single 10 foot segment) of land for flood hazard. If this was attempted, the cost would be so high that people who were clearly OUT of the floodplain would complain that their taxes were subsidizing people developing land IN the floodplain. So the jurisdiction has to do the best it can with limited information, and, when in cases such as yours, you know that it is actually quite HIGH there and NOT in the floodplain, rectifying the situation is up to you. You will probably need to hire a surveyor to measure the elevation of the area and file a "Letter of (floodplain) Map Amendment" (that's what it's called in the US, anyway) stating that it is truly out of the floodplain.
Some surveyors have experience with this, others will tell you they can do it for you, but then take hours and hours because they are clueless and/or have never done it before. Get recommendations of surveyors from the local planning office if you can. (You may have to tell them you are asking for a recommendation "off the record," as they'll be hesitant. Tell them you don't want to waste your money NOR increase THEIR workload by having a shoddy/sloppy surveyor complete the paperwork.) It will probably cost you a few hundred dollars.
Let me know if you have any questions or if I can help. If it turns out this area IS within the floodplain, you can also likely "vent" your garage (for floodwaters to pass through) instead of elevating it, which is likely cheaper.
Good stuff. :)
I recognize that they can't map every single bit. At the same time, **surely** they have access to SEMI-accruate topographical maps (e.g. airplane + radar/sonar?).
What I resent is that because **they're** incorrect, **I** have to spend $$$ to rectify **their** problem.
Bad analogy: "Our records show that you have a toxic waste dump in your back yard."
"Umm - no I don't."
"Well, **prove** it to use. Hire a surveyor, fill out extra forms, pay extra filing fees, etc."
It would be much more equitable if -- even though they haven't pre-surveyed the topography -- they upgrade their records on a case-by-case basis -- at no cost the citizen -- such that the citizens don't have to subsidize **their** bad records.
--GG
Google Earth.
That's all I've got.
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