So, I got to pick up my permit this morning. After a considerable wait, someone ushers me in. He pulls up my address on the system and gets that look. That look everyone that looks at my file gets. Sort of confusion mixed with disgust. He then walks over somewhere else and gets a bunch of paper. He then looks at me and says "this won't work". The rest of the conversation goes something like this.
Me: "what won't work"
Him: "your permit"
Me: "Sue emailed me and said it was approved and I should pick it up"
Him: "I see that. I have it right here. But, it isn't right"
Me: "what isn't right?"
Him: "your garage permit is expired"
Me: "yes, I know this. They told me to get a Life Safety for Expired Permit permit to take care of that"
Him: "well, that won't work"
Me: "why not?"
Him:
At this time I'm somewhere between suicidal and homicidal. I explained my plight so far and he agreed to go talk to Sue.
After about 20 minutes, he returns with Sue. Sue, unlike the guy, seemed somewhat sympathetic. She said that I would have to request a brand new permit for the garage. Along with this I would be required to get that elevation something or other from an engineer. And, I would have to submit a detailed framing plan. Even though the garage was already approved, built, and the framing inspection passed. The bigger issue, I fear here, is that I believe under the current flood plain rules the garage would not be approved. Even Sue seemed to recognize the idiocy here. She then suggested I go talk to................. Tony. I explained to her that the first time I did that did not turn out so well. I then suggested that maybe we could unexpire the permit and then have someone come out and inspect the current garage. Both Sue and the guy seemed perplexed by this suggestion but Sue said "well, let me see what I can do".
Meanwhile, the guy handed me that dreaded form that has a lot of threatening "we could sue you" language in it. I told them that this made me uncomfortable but they both said if I signed it I could move on with my repair work and work on the garage permit. I felt like I was in one of those movies where a bunch of people are all leaning over me, filmed through a fish eye lense, saying "it's fine, just sign the form".
So, I signed the form. He then explained that I needed a layout inspection before I could proceed. More on this in the next installment.