Living Tigard - Your guide to everything Tigard

By Todd Clark (Broker/Sales Coach) 503-524-9494

Recently, one of my clients got real lucky when they went to buy some kitchen cabinets.  Instead of making a huge commission and keeping their mouth shut, the salesman advised my clients that they should talk to another department at the county.

You see, what had happened was my clients were looking to have a daycare in their basement and was given the green light on that as long as it had its own kitchen since there was going to be more than 5 children in this daycare. They were given the green light to do all this from the business department, but wasn’t done was getting the permission from the building department.

It seems that despite the business department saying it is alright and it’s is done all the time, the code says otherwise and this person at the cabinet shop knew it. The cabinets were alright, but the stove and the sink they were planning to put in would have been not ok with the building and code department.

So, my clients saved thousands by not putting in a kitchen that would have had to be taken out. It seems even though my clients had a legit reason for putting the second kitchen in, it seems the county sees it as a duplex or a second living quarter which is not allowed.

So, before you make major changes to your home for a home business, make you talk to all departments involved or it could cost you thousands. 

Todd Clark - Broker / Sales Coach
All Brokers Real Estate
Phone: (503)524-9494
Fax: (503)622-8739

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©2009 Todd Clark - Originally posted at When asking questions on remodeling your property, you may want to talk to more than one department

Why do I feel fighting the city isn’t always easy or in some cases worth it? My new neighbor is doing some landscaping and repairs to his home that he just bought from a bank at the court house steps.

He got a great deal, but the house was in need of some major repairs and the yard hasn’t been worked on in probably 20 years. He did everything right. He checked his title for easements, went to the city, got permits, got the surveyor to come out mark the lines, and the county to come out and put in the lines where he could dig.

Now, this guy was wonderful about the whole thing. He had a tree that hung on to our side of the property and he actually asked if he could take it down. If we said “No” he said he was willing to leave it, but I said go for it, it is his tree and to be honest, I hated cleaning up after it every fall.

But, even after doing this, within two days of starting his landscaping, the city came out and fined him $1,000 for digging up where there was a clean water easement. This easement isn’t recorded anywhere, no one told him about it and none of the neighbors even knew of it and some of them were here since the houses were built in 1977. (Nobody knew what a clean water easement was in 1977.)

So, no recorded easement and nothing about it when they came out and told him where he could and couldn’t dig, but as soon as he did… $1,000 fine! To me this was a set up from the beginning. He could take it to court, but his lawyer says it would cost over $10,000 to fight and he could still lose, rather than pay the $1,000 and put in the new clean water easement to the code of today’s standards. Of course you need another permit for that and it will come to about $3,000 to finish it to the city standards.

So, though I disagree with the city on this one, sometimes it is just easier to go along with the government rather than fight them. But, if you have unlimited funds, then please, by all means, fight the government, because this is ridiculous!

Todd Clark - Broker / Sales Coach
Palazzo Realty Group
Phone: (503)524-9494
Fax: (503)622-8739

©2009 Todd Clark - Fighting the city isn’t always easy or in some cases even worth it!

Todd Clark and the Friendly Home Team
Knipe Realty
Todd@IFoundYourNewHome.com
Phone: (503)524-9494
Fax: (503)746-9573

 

 

 

 

 I am a licensed Realtor who specializes in Washington County, Oregon and also work in both Clackamas and Multnomah Counties including the cities of Aloha, Beaverton, Canby, Clackamas, Gladstone, Gresham, Happy Valley, Hillsboro, Milwaukie, Oregon City, Sherwood and Tigard. All information contained in these posts are copyrighted and cannot be used without prior written approval authorization from the author me Todd Clark. If you are looking for an outstanding agent please give me a call I would love to help you with all your real estate needs.

 

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