We thought final approval was going to be easy after getting preliminary approval so quickly. We were wrong.

Our plans had the house built on the same setback as the rest of the homes on the street. When the county planners reviewed our plans for construction they identified that the plans did not meet the setback requirements. Our rebuttal was that all the other houses on the street had the same or similar setback. The county admitted that we were correct but if we wanted to build with this plan we would have to file for a variance and that would take about 3 months.

Based on their preliminary approval we have already secured construction funds with a secure timeline and corresponding penalties for delays. A variance isn't going to work.

We are now reworking our plans and pushing the house farther down the slope, which is going to mean more engineering, more design changes, and more money.

We are regrouping and will resubmit our new plans to the county next week.