The Files Are In!

We finally got our zoning certificate (PAL Review) back on Tuesday.  Mr. B.S. (the examiner) was the most rudest and crankiest man we ever had to deal with and we are so glad that we are done with him (for now)!  It wasn't a surprise that we have seven variances and so as expected, we are applying for Committee of Adjustment.  It takes about three months to get a hearing date so more waiting!  :(

Most of the variances were very minor and no one should have any objections.  The only variance that Daniel thought someone might have a problem with is our second story balcony.  He had a client in Oakville who had to fight for this feature in his house.  A neighbour didn't want them to have the balcony because they didn't want someone sitting out in their balcony and looking (spying) into their yard.  Some people will have the craziest excuse to stop you from building.

A couple of months ago, a lady in our neighbourhood knocked on our door to ask us to sign a petition to stop someone from building next to her.  At first I thought she was a grumpy old lady who just didn't want any sort of construction in the neighbourhood.  It was one of the coldest night of the winter and we were in the middle of a storm and she goes knocking door-to-door.  As she was going through the list of variances with me, my mind was drifting elsewhere.  What if we get a neighbour like her when we go to Committee?  Will they budge?  What if they make us change our entire plan?  Should I sign it or not?  But I don't want to be a BAD neighbour and stop that someone from building their dream house when I don't want someone to do the same to me.  Oh, I have such mixed feelings!  When she asked me if I own the house, I said that we were renters.  She then said that we couldn't sign the petition on our landlord's behalf.  Phew!!  I got off the hook! 

Well, I found out from my neighbour that the lady was really angry because the builders wanted to maximize the lot size and wanted to build two houses onto the lot.  These greedy developers wanted to put two townhouse looking houses onto a nice 60 ft lot so that they can make more money.  One of the houses was very close to her house and would block the sunlight coming into her house.  OK, I would be angry too.  If I had own this house, I would've sign the petition too!

It's not what you know but WHO you know.

So Scott and I have been quite anxious about what's happening to our zoning application.  Did someone lose it?  Is it sitting on a cart collecting dust or it is at the bottom of a huge pile of other applications.  After several phone calls to 'The City' with no straight answer, Scott decided to call the friend from the forestry department (the one who helped us with the tree situation) hoping that perhaps she may know someone in the building permit department.  This was a long shot but who knows, it's worth a try.

We don't know if it was a coincidence that the friend was able to do some 'magic' or perhaps it was finally our turn to get our application reviewed.  Anyhow, we got a call some an examiner this morning regarding our plans.  It seems that some numbers didn't add up regarding the maximum square footage of our house and a few other numbers that didn't match the original survey.  While Scott was busy getting this problem rectified, he got an email from a friend of the friend from the forestry department.  She was the one who got someone to look at our application right away.  On top of that, she's going to follow up to see that the little problem that we have will be handled appropriately.  So it really helps to have connections!!

A little flood but a lot of damage.

We normally go out on Saturdays but we decided to stay in to relax a bit this weekend.  Plus, it was a rainy, yucky day out.  The boys were getting a little rowdy around dinner time so Scott asked them to go downstairs to play while we fixed their dinner.  When Scott went to get them for dinner, this is what I heard: "OMIGOSH!!!  YOU GUYS CAN'T PLAY DOWN HERE!!  GO UP NOW!!!"  I thought Scott had overreacted to the state of their playroom so I went to see what was the matter.  There they were, Cameron and Kaiden coming up the stairs soaked to their waist.  That's when Scott said that the basement was flooded.  My rascal boys!  They have been playing in 3 inches of water for the last 30 minutes and didn't bother to tell us that something is NOT right about this!!  Their answer to my inquiry about why they didn't inform us of the water was that they were trying to save their toys and 'fix' the problem.  Yes, indeed they were trying to save their wet puzzle pieces by sticking them to the wall.

So because we did not think to buy content insurance, all the damages to our 'stuff' could not be compensated for.  What really angers me is not the loss of monetary value but the sentimental value. 

This is a piece of art work that I did in grade 9 art class.  I had kept it because I remember spending hours and hours putting thousands of dots to produce this picture.  When I was finished, I really couldn't believe that I had done it and remember feeling so proud of myself for my accomplishment.  I'm really sad that this got destroyed :(

If you know me, you will know that I LOVE books.  I bought these books for my kids even before I had kids.  I remember lining up for an hour at a book warehouse and picking out the books that I think my kids will enjoy.

More beloved books...

We have yet to open these boxes to see the extend of the damages...

Still waiting...

When dealing with the City of Toronto, you've got to be patient.  We HAVE been very patient but come on!  The PAL Review was supposed to take only 2 weeks, maybe 2 1/2 weeks but it's been 6 weeks.  SIX WEEKS!!!  As of today, it is still sitting on the examiner's desk (who I may add, is currently away on sick leave).  Scott has called several times to find out the status of our application just to get snapped at and hung up on.  Our building schedule is pretty much out the window!  Since we are going to be here longer than expected, we invested in some child-safety gates.  Well, we kinda need them now that Charley is mobile.   

Yes, her teeth are coming in!