Construction was started in April of 2008 after several months of planning. It will be well into 2010/2011 before we can use the four camp sites. There were a few planning steps that didn't get investigated well enough, and as I said several times, out of order steps really mess up a project.

 

The steps are not complex, they just take time and money. The order of events is quite important as out of order events can be very costly:

 

This the most difficult step. Until you have a building permit, you are in the position of asking permission to build, not actually building anything. Getting a building permit is easy as long as it doesn't involve a planning board.

 

Building code enforcement officers have a very well defined set of codes and regulations to follow. As long as your project falls into the clearly defined codes, then it's easy. Once outside of those codes, the building inspector has to kick it back to a planning board. The major mistake people make is to approach the planning board if they don't need to. It is unnecessary to approach a planning board until the building code enforcement officer tells you that they need planning board approval before they can issue a building permit.

 

The code enforcement officer is trained in the interpretation of the regulations, while a planning board member often has very little training in the area and interprets regulations with their own subjective criteria rather than objective interpretation of codifed regulations. This is because zoning regulations and planning boards are set up to codify NIMBY responses and prevent things whereas building codes are set up to help you build things correctly.

 

Once the planning board has determined that you are trying to do something that somehow must be prevented, then getting a "YES" requires extreme patience, understanding, and helping the planning board understand that once you are within the zoning and building code regulations, they don't have the authority to say "NO", nor can they stall you until they enact new zoning regulations to prevent your project.

 

The steps involving NYSDEC SWPPP and the NOI were missed in the planning stages. The contrator doing the major excavation didn't understand it, and the building code enforment officer, missed the requirement for an NOI. During the project, the NYSDEC put a cease and desist order in place and created a whole host of other complications.

 

All because the order of events was wrong. Fortunately, the folks at NYSDEC were quite understanding and in the end allowed the permit filings to take place out of order.

 

There is another 2 acres of trees on the north side of the property that will remain untouched. The boondock area itself is a DIYGuy project and will take a few years to get done. There are at least 150 trees to come out of there and a lot of small saplings need to be tranplanted before major excavation starts. Pulling stumps is really hard work.

 

Planing for this will begin once the main space is usable.