After a Long Break

I haven't been keeping up with the blog for the last couple months.  And I know, people have been wondering: what is up?

As readers of the 62nd Street Blog will recall, much of the early part of the blog contained rants about how horrible it was working with the City of Berkeley on obtaining permits.  The process has changed in the intervening years.  It is not necessarily better - in fact, getting permits now takes longer than it did back in 2011.

But I decided I didn't want to write rant after rant about City staff.  And the staff we have been working with, unlike last time, have all been pleasant and tried to help us, despite the difficult situation we all found ourselves in.

So I waited.  And now, I'm happy to announce, we have finally been given our Use Permit!  We went to the Zoning Adjustments Board meeting on Thursday, May 12th, and there was no discussion of the project at all. The ZAB moved our item to the Consent Calendar, and voted for it.  This is real progress!

ZAB Notice of Decision

We aren't out of the woods yet: we now have to apply for the Building Permit, and then the Move Permit.  This will also take time, but we're hoping to get the Permit center to expedite the permits and get this thing done, so we can move the house.  Everyone wants to see it moved, so we;re hoping there will be the will to get it done.

What have we been doing in the meantime?  There has been a lot to do, and we've been slowly plugging through it.  Getting the house ready to move has included lots of cleaning up, removing weird "improvements" (such as plywood nailed over plaster walls), and planning for the work to be done.

I have also been scouring free stuff online, and finding some great deals for the house.  In particular, one person was giving away an entire kitchen of solid wood cabinets, as well as two beautiful built in cabinets.  All are now waiting to be installed in the Walnut Street house.

Bookcase

Built in cabinet, ready to be installed

One of the many kitchen cabinets

So now we're working on the submittals for the building permit, and planning for the move.  We're hoping to move the house in August - stay tuned.  And for those who may have lost track of which house we're moving, here's a picture: