On Aug 15, 1:15*pm, chaniarts wrote:

it doesn't say anything about expansion. homeowner claimed it was 8.5'
from property line, but was really 3'. was granted a permit without
verification, which wasn't discovered until 5 years later. that's when
it all started.

This is kind of in my field and I know of exactly no building
department that checks to see if a survey is accurate. They rely on
the engineer's seal. If the engineer signs off on it, then it's good
as far as they are concerned. Same with the structure - if the
engineer says it'll stand and signs off on it, the building department
won't run the numbers to see if the engineer made a mistake in his
calculations.

That being said, there's no way in hell that the owner, being a zoning
pro consultant, didn't realize the survey was off by 5'. He knew. He
took advantage of it, and it's paid off handsomely.

in my area, as long as you leave 1 wall intact, you can raze the entire
rest of the building and expand the footprint to whatever you want, as
long as it meets zoning codes.

Right, and even if you're not planning on adding on. If the existing
house doesn't meet zoning setbacks and such, keeping that one wall
allows you to keep the structure where it is. That's a really big
deal with a lot of waterfront properties.

R