[Cob] Process for buying land/building cob

[Joel]

Hi Scott
         I see you have done your homework and know that El Dorado County 
has water supply concerns, so you know that you either need EID hookups or 
assured ground water (both expensive), and an adequate perc test. And you 
also need to assure yourself about the title to make sure there are no 
restrictions against building, e.g easements, etc. And don't overlook the 
very sizable school fees you'll have to pay whether you have kids or not.
         This county is not very open to experimental building, and I would 
think getting any type of construction that includes cob would be very 
difficult indeed, but I could be wrong. Some folks right down the road got 
mold in their frame walls and when trying to fix it discovered so many code 
violations that they had to tear down half of their house to bring it up to 
code. Hard nosed inspectors, but probably justified to prevent a 
reoccurrence of the mold and other potential problems. I think you would 
need to be very flexible in your building plans and realize that the final 
result may end up being pretty much "ordinary looking" after pleasing the 
inspectors, or done without a permit.
         I believe that the building department in Placerville would talk 
with you in general terms, but they would want to have a specific parcel 
number for more than that. They are in the same budget crisis as everyone 
else and think they don't have time for a lot of "extra" things like 
advice. But it would certainly be worth an ask since it might just depend 
upon the particular person you see.

good luck,

joel
E D County

At 03:22 PM 12/24/2003 -0800, Scott Race wrote:
>Hello,
>   Wanted to clarify this for myself and see if anyone had some better ways
>to go about what I'm trying to do...
>
>I'm looking at buying land in El Dorado County, California.  The land would
>be zoned residential and possibly have electric and water hookups.  I would
>make sure to get a perc test done before making an offer on the land to
>ensure I could install septic.
>
>If all that passed, I bought the land and my building permits were not
>approved, I'd be stuck with the land.  Is there any way to find out if
>you're building plan would be approved before actually buying the land, or
>is that the chance you take?  Any ideas would be appreciated!
>
>Scott
>
>
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