The best of times- the worst of times

What a rollercoaster ride this past week has been.  I have been so emotionally envolved with all the happenings that I couldn't even stand writing about it.  It has been that tough.   Tuesday and Wednesday I was ready to give the whole project up. 
First thing Tuesday morning I had a meeting with Gary, our banker.  I went into the meeting, check in hand ready to put in the final application, and submit my plans to an appraisor.  This costs about $800 dollars which is non-refundable.  The process was going fine, until Gary ran an updated credit check.  For some reason, which neither he or I could figure out, Teri's score had gone down.  We finally figured out that it went down because she had closed out a credit card the month before.  The drop was huge, and disqualified us from the program.  Quite a blow.  However we decided that I would write a letter explaining the drop in credit.  O.K, no huge deal, but still stressful.  We rescheduled for Wednesday to finish things up. 

I then went directly to town hall to submit the revised deed so that our building permit could go forward.  I went to see Bonnie, the zoning inspector.  She was the one who orginally told Teri that the deed that I had written up wasn't good because it didn't specifically combine the two plots of land together.  I asked her if this deed was acceptable.  SHE WOULDN'T GIVE ME AN ANSWER!  She kept hemming and hawing and offered to bring the deed to the town attorney, but didn't know how long that would take.  I couldn't understand-  if she was the one that disapproved of the original, did this satisfy her concerns?  Yes or no? She wouldn't tell me.  Very annoying.

She asked me, in passing, whether or not I had spoken to planning and zoning.  "No, why did I need to?" I answered.  She told me that the plot (even combined) was smaller than the minimum lot size, and would have to go to the head of P&Z and apply for a varience.  O.K..... So I go to Eric of P&Z, talk to him about this.  Seems I have to go in front of the planning/zoning commission and they have to decide whether I can build or not.  He won't be available to meet until Friday, the meeting is Monday, and the town needs 14 days before rendering a decision.  Now I am freaking out! 

First, isn't this a 'no-brainer'? I mean, I am taking two building lots-  lots that Jim and Peg have been paying taxes on, as building lots, combining them, and building only one house!  Right?

Secondly, I have been in the town hall running around, showing the sitemap, my plans, town officials have been on site, and not one person mentioned the fact that I would have to go in front of ANOTHER commission?  AND wait another two weeks before breaking ground!  I was planning on breaking ground May 3rd.  Meeting to approve this isn't happening until May 10th.  UGGG!

Lastly, I ran into Todd, the wetlands guy.  He says to me "Oh hi Sam, I was just about to shoot you off an email".  Now, at this time, I'm thinking that Teri and I are golden- The wetland commission seemed really into our presentation, and I felt really confident about the upcoming meeting.   This was not to be.  Because of the email that he sent, as well as every conceivable thing going wrong that day, I cancelled the bank application- and told Teri that as far as I was concerned, the project was dead. 

For next time- what the email stated, how the rest of the week went, and how we got back on track.

Thanks for reading!