On Sunday, the 7th day say the Bible tells us that God rested. I guess Alexandria follows the same principals because no construction is allowed on Sundays. I wish I rested some more while I was getting the plans ready for the city hearings. The zoning department where amazing! Very helpful and gave me great ideas. They also responded to my questions in a day. A big thank you to the zoning department. This is a rendering of my original plan that I learned would be to expensive to build with modular. I wish they had told me earlier but I will get to that later.
The initial design that was submitted to the city. Features such as the protruding wall an even floor heights on the first floor made this design cost prohibitive.
We submitted our plans to the city before Christmas 2014 and got on the calendar for the Planning Commission hearing on March 3 and the City Council hearing on March 14. The day came and went according to plan. Approval from each member of the board. It was fun speaking in front of a public audience and pleading my case on why I should be able to build this home. Now the project was to go in front of the City Council.
-View video of the Planning Commission hearing here. We start around the hour mark and I begin to speak around the 74 minute.
-View video of the City Council hearing here. They start our hearing around the 60th minute and I start speaking around the 70th minute. As you can see Daniela made me get a haircut and shave. I looked much better than the white man afro I was styling at the Planning Commission.
Immediately following the approval from the City Council we hoped on a plan and headed to our Caribbean Cruise. I figured I would either be ecstatic or bummed on the trip. Either way I would be snorkeling in clear water. However, I was confident on the outcome as the zoning department was always on my side and that makes a big difference. Also the opposing neighbors only argument was that they just want it to stay vacant. All signs were good and as you can see on the city videos above my presentations went great. Our home approved as a Special Use Permit! The main fact was that the property was created legally before the change to a R20 zone and this was just a formality. Time to get the building plans started but first I was off to relax in the sun and water!