3 ms·

People do this. A friend works with permitting and theough him I hear some stuff. There's this one developer that regularly sells houses before the permits have

by tormeh 3y ago

People do this. A friend works with permitting and theough him I hear some stuff. There's this one developer that regularly sells houses before the permits have been granted. Really puts pressure on the municipality to approve, now that there are specific people that will be impacted if they don't.

delfinom 3y ago
That works until the developer finally fucks up and the municipality gets sued for approving it. There's a town where I live in NY that is on the hook for basically spending millions on pumping the water table yearly because back in the 70s they idiotically approved development of a few neighborhoods when the water table was at a record low due to a drought and the entire area is up against a water table connected lake. No surprise post-drought, all those houses were getting permanently flooded since the area simply cannot sustain houses with basements. Last news in recent years is the flooding is shifting so they are on the hook to build yet another pump station as long as those original houses still exist.
cdchn 3y ago
Where does he live? I'd like to move there. I've never met a planning department that gave two shits about the people their recalcitrant approval processes would impact.
- bombcar 3y ago
  Go hang out at bars in more rural areas, you'll find the ones that are lax and look the other way. Also note that this stuff may work for "people who are known" and not newbies - the inspector knows this builder is "good for it" and it's "all just paperwork that gets resolved". Or go to Wyoming, I hear they basically don't have building permits lol.
  - cdchn 3y ago
    >Or go to Wyoming, I hear they basically don't have building permits lol. I mean, they practically don't have _buildings_ there.
- LegitShady 3y ago
  When I hear stories like the above I usually assume bribery and corruption are involved.
  - tormeh 3y ago
    Sounds like it’s mostly insults. He’s banned from a municipality for punching a planner in the face. I mean, he’s not a nice guy, but he's a niche celebrity.
bluGill 3y ago
This is normal. It isn't about the permits as much as the banks. The banks like to know that many of the lots are sold before lending you money to start putting in the roads: it ensures that much of the loan will be paid off. In turn the builders buying those lots like to have some of the lots sold. Municipalities generally will approve this as they will get the tax money from the development. (and frankly they shouldn't generally have the power to stop development in their limits - YIMBY and all that)

by tormeh 3y ago

delfinom 3y ago

That works until the developer finally fucks up and the municipality gets sued for approving it. There's a town where I live in NY that is on the hook for basically spending millions on pumping the water table yearly because back in the 70s they idiotically approved development of a few neighborhoods when the water table was at a record low due to a drought and the entire area is up against a water table connected lake. No surprise post-drought, all those houses were getting permanently flooded since the area simply cannot sustain houses with basements. Last news in recent years is the flooding is shifting so they are on the hook to build yet another pump station as long as those original houses still exist.

cdchn 3y ago

Where does he live? I'd like to move there. I've never met a planning department that gave two shits about the people their recalcitrant approval processes would impact.

bombcar 3y ago
Go hang out at bars in more rural areas, you'll find the ones that are lax and look the other way. Also note that this stuff may work for "people who are known" and not newbies - the inspector knows this builder is "good for it" and it's "all just paperwork that gets resolved". Or go to Wyoming, I hear they basically don't have building permits lol.
- cdchn 3y ago
  >Or go to Wyoming, I hear they basically don't have building permits lol. I mean, they practically don't have _buildings_ there.
LegitShady 3y ago
When I hear stories like the above I usually assume bribery and corruption are involved.
- tormeh 3y ago
  Sounds like it’s mostly insults. He’s banned from a municipality for punching a planner in the face. I mean, he’s not a nice guy, but he's a niche celebrity.

bluGill 3y ago

This is normal. It isn't about the permits as much as the banks. The banks like to know that many of the lots are sold before lending you money to start putting in the roads: it ensures that much of the loan will be paid off. In turn the builders buying those lots like to have some of the lots sold. Municipalities generally will approve this as they will get the tax money from the development. (and frankly they shouldn't generally have the power to stop development in their limits - YIMBY and all that)