Progress

What a good day!

Before the trailer can be brought to camp, I need to get a permit from the county. It was a long application and I wasn't sure if it was entirely complete, but I finished it and was ready to put it in the mail and hope for the best. When I called the county, they told me it would be at least 2 weeks before an inspector could come out and issue the permit. I was hoping it would be sooner and I started worrying that if the application was in the mail, it would take even longer for it to get processed.

So I decided to drive 45 minutes to the courthouse and drop it off. I'm not a cool person who knows how to sweet talk or charm people, but I was hoping if I dropped it off, at least I could ask some questions and maybe get it to the person in charge quicker than the mail.

I am so glad I decided to make the drive! When I arrived, the man at the window said, "2 weeks or more, no exceptions" and when I said, "it's sort of an emergency" he said, "every application is". I didn't think I was going to get very far, but then the inspector who conducted the visit to the kitchen last week walked in and said hello to me by name. He was happy to hear my whole story and the other guy got a lot more helpful as well.

I ended up being there for over an hour. They pulled up zoning maps, gave me tons of information, helped me fill out the application so it was more complete, checked the inspector's schedule (and told me he could be out by next Wednesday) and even let me know that if the trailer was already there when the inspector arrived, we might have to move it if it isn't in the right place, but we wouldn't get fined (so basically a "go-ahead" with the project).

When it was time to pay the fee for the permit, they gave me the private resident fee, rather than the commercial fee (which I was supposed to pay since camp is a business).

I still haven't gotten this approved by the board, but this afternoon, I emailed Board President J to ask him if he would be willing to come up and look at the trailer and he agreed, so on Saturday, we are going to look at the trailer. I am not letting myself get excited yet, but I am making progress!