On March 3rd, 2008, we became the owners of a brand new house. Brand Spanking New.
We got a good rate, in a good neighborhood, with good schools, good road access. . .1348 sq ft, on about 13k sq ft lot.
Then the fun begins. It's our house, and our lot (sort of), and we can do whatever we want to it.
The first project to undertake was finding out about a fence. I found out about a week before the closing that my house fell under a Wetlands Protection Act waiver. The waiver basically allowed for the construction of a house on this lot because it's been designated as a residential lot for years, prior to the act.
The waiver also says that nothing can be done more than 30 feet past the foundation of the house on any side. That effectively reduces the amount of usable land to about 9000 sq ft. Needless to say I was annoyed.
Since anyone who's possibly going to read this thing has already heard this story more times than they ever wanted to (including the first time), I'll sum it up. . .the Chairman of the Commission decided he wasn't getting any help from his compatriots, and didn't see any solid reason to deny me anymore, and I had acquired all the necessary paperwork (they asked for paperwork that didn't exist, so engineers had to draw some up), so they said ok.
Now I have a nice vinyl fence surrounding my back yard. It keeps some of the weeds at bay. Next time I buy a house, I'll make sure there's no Japanese Knotweed on the lot. Apparently it's terrible to fight. As one website stated, make the fighting the growth of this plant your new hobby.
