That Sinking Feeling

Moral Dilemma.

We bought this new house specifically for the purpose of becoming a three generation household. You can read about that in the “3 Generation Household” post way below.

As soon as we settled on this house we began plans to make an addition for my parents. We wanted to give them an apartment where they could live independently but be close so we can help them when they get old and need it.

Making a separate “single family dwelling” would require a variance with the township. This would entail several thousands of dollars in fees and studies and whatnot; not a single nail hammered. We decided to do as much as we could without requiring the variance. The area in question would be a food area. We don’t want to call it a kitchen or kitchenette. So we had that area designed with cabinets and a utility sink, and called it a laundry room. Mistake.

The cabinets installed were kitchen grade cabinets. The sink was upgraded to a kitchen sink. The plans were approved with cabinets and a sink, just not kitchen cabinets and a kitchen sink.

After tens of thousands of dollars and months of hard work and inconvenience, the time came for the zoning officer to do a walk-though and issue an occupancy permit. For those of you who don’t know, an occupancy permit is a slip of paper that says the government will let you live in your house, so long as you continue to pay your rent (I mean taxes).

The zoning officer was upset. Although the plans approved for the building permit showed cabinets and a sink, the cabinets weren’t supposed to be that nice! The sink wasn’t supposed to be a stainless steel, double bowl sink! And that looks like a place for a refrigerator! “No permit for you!”

The zoning officer went back to the township building and told the sewage management officer what she had seen. He said that he wouldn’t have approved those plans if he had seen them in the first place. “Too bad for you,” I say. But it doesn’t work that way. If you want authority over property, ownership is not the way to go. You need to become a government official. That’s where it’s at.

After appealing to the township, they were very nice and said, “Okay you can have a refrigerator.” I guess I should have asked them for permission before I put that refrigerator in my garage over the summer. Who knew? The township still maintained that the sink had to go, however. That made it okay.
Common sense time. I will try not to use the word “government” in this section so as not to confuse anyone.
· The previous owners of this house were a family of eight; just like we are with my folks living here. There were no sewage management issues when they lived here. That is without mentioning that we added a 1,000gallon septic tank to our system, as required by the township. Furthermore the previous owners were a family of eight all the time. We will only be a family of eight on the property when my folks are in town.
· The township is upset over having a separate single family dwelling on the property. They know that we built this for my parents. We really are one happy family.
· Is removing a sink from that counter going to make a difference in the amount of sewage we deal with on the property? Don’t they think that my dear old Dad and Mom will simply rinse their tea cups in one of the bathroom sinks?
· If the township approved a room with cabinets and a sink, should it make a difference if the cabinets are oak and the sink is stainless steel?

I guess this is a pretty lengthy post. Obviously I am still emotionally dealing with all of this. Here is how the issue stands at this point. I had the sink removed and put a cutting board in its place (see the pictures on the BuecheNet picture pages). We were given a permit and a stern talking-to. My intent was to wave bye-bye to the zoning officer and reinstall the sink. On the permit, however, is a paragraph that says something to the effect of, “Just because we gave you this permit now doesn’t mean we can’t come back and make you change things that don’t comply.” Underneath that the zoning officer specifically wrote in, “No kitchen sink.”

“Is Daddy going to put that sink back in even though they said we can’t? Aren’t we Christians?” Yes dear. We are Christians. No Daddy is not going to put the sink back in. I definitely feel that the township is wrong to place this restriction on what I do with my property. But we can’t just flagrantly disobey the law just because we don’t agree. Then we might as well have no laws at all. After a while, we will try to see what we need to do to legally install a sink (he types with gritted teeth).

Most people, including my contractor, have asked, “Well if it says ‘no kitchen sink’ can you put in a utility sink?” To that I reply, much of my stress through this ordeal came because I was playing fast and loose with the truth. No more semantics. No more wink-wink-nod-nod. No more looking over my shoulder. We will do it right. Could you imagine if I went through with reinstalling the sink after the permit came but before my parents came home? “Hi Dad and Mom! Here is your new home. Isn’t it beautiful? Just make sure you keep all of the shades drawn and always enter through the back door…What’s that? Oh no reason.”