by Jack Lee
When Bunky went to build his house on the coast near Mendicino, on his 2 acre parcel with an ocean view, he was stopped cold. The contractor said before he can even stick a shovel in the ground, he had to ask permission from some people. These people didn’t own any part of this land, but anyone of them could have said no and he wouldn’t be able to build his little house until they said yes. Now here are the people Bunky had to ask on bended knee for permission, in this democacy, where we value freedom, where a man’s home is his castle, where you can own land, but before you do anything to the land you must ask…
- County Planning & Building Inspector must approve house plans
- Coastal Commission must approve permit
- Department of Transportation must approve your driveway
- CDF must give their blessing
- Army Corps of Engineers must approve of the design and location
- Archaeological Committee with complete On-Site study must be done and it’s expensive!
- Native American replies must be done before construction.
- Environmental Health must be approved.
- Wetlands study needed by a licensed professional.
- Riparian study completed by a licensed professional.
- Endangered Species study completed by a licensed professional.
- Botanicals study completed by a licensed professional.
And if you get all of this done, you still have more fees in the way of a school bond assessment, a park district assessment, a highway improvement bond, a certified well & septic with costly permits, you need a Caltrans plans & permits and approved flagging plan and a completion bond and a building permit. Now if you are lucky you will get these things and it comes at a cost of $203,476.21 and you haven’t even begun construction!