My foundation plan approval took 11 months, not 6 weeks

We bought a sloped lot in Asheville and the engineer drew up a standard pier and beam design. The county flagged it for a 'geotechnical review' which they said would add maybe a month. That turned into a back and forth nightmare with a third party reviewer who wanted a full soil report we didn't have. Our builder had to hire a new geo firm to drill test pits, which took 3 months alone waiting for their schedule. Then the reviewer came back with 12 pages of comments asking for a completely different foundation type. From signing the lot contract to having stamped plans in hand was 11 months. We lost a whole building season. Has anyone else been through a geotech review hell with a custom build? How did you push it forward?

3 comments

3 Comments

elizabeth4383mo ago

Sounds like your county hates fun, lmao.

riverperry3mo ago

Oh man, you have no idea... They banned public skateboarding last year, and the one decent food truck festival got shut down for being "too loud." My friends tried to start a weekly board game night at the park, and the county said they needed a permit for "organized recreation." It's like they have a checklist for removing any possible joy.

taylor_fox1mo ago

Moved to a county that actually lets people have hobbies, and it was the best thing I ever did. Where I live now, there's a weekly open mic night at the old firehouse and nobody bothers anyone about it. Took my nephew skateboarding downtown last weekend and the cops just waved at us. It's wild how much your mental health improves when you're not constantly worrying about some random rule. Sometimes you gotta just pack up and go somewhere that doesn't treat fun like a crime.