From the category archives:

permits and code

Feedback from Building Plans Examiner

June 25, 2008

Yesterday I received an email and a letter from the building plans examination engineer assigned to review our plans by the city of Philadelphia. I was encouraged to get a response so quickly from the city and thankful that our expediting fee is obviously paying off. The notes from the examiner included a couple of [...]

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Plans Submitted to Philly for Building Permits

June 17, 2008

This morning we officially submitted our building plans to the city of Philadelphia and applied for building permits for both homes. We are expediting the permitting process and it will most likely take us 3-4 weeks to receive our permits from the city as long as there is nothing major wrong with our plans. The [...]

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Zoning is Approved!

March 14, 2008

I received official zoning approval for both homes today, stamped and signed by the zoning department from the City of Philadelphia. This is a huge step in the development process as zoning in Philadelphia can be very difficult and sometimes delays projects months and even years. The zoning examiner for our case had made a [...]

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Zoning Error?

March 12, 2008

We received the letter from Philadelphia’s Department of Licenses and Inspections that we had been waiting for since last week. At first glance, it was bad news as we were rejected for “over the counter” zoning approvals that we were hoping for. I sent a copy to Brian from ISA and he quickly returned an [...]

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Plans Submitted to City of Philadelphia Zoning Department

March 4, 2008

It took a day and a half, but our plans have now officially been submitted to the City of Philadelphia for zoning approval. We filed for an accelerated review of the plans in order to get an answer within 5 days so if all goes well we will have zoning approval for both homes from [...]

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Soil Testing and Next Steps

February 8, 2008

Today I ordered an estimate for soil and environmental testing for the lots from Ambric Tech Corp. Ambric is an engineering firm recommended to me by Brian at Interface Studios. The testing basically consists of drilling a few holes at least 10′ deep in each lot to determine the content and quality of the soil. [...]

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Feedback from Local Neighborhood Zoning Committee

January 25, 2008

Last night I met with the zoning committee from the East Kensington Neighbors Association which is the local neighborhood group for the area our project is in. In Philly, each neighborhood is represented by an association of neighbors that appoints a zoning committee from its members to assist developers and homeowners who require zoning variances [...]

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