Zoning board checklist complete.

The big task for the weekend was to get the zoning board checklist done.

I spent a good chunk of the weekend completing the self-survey of the land.  The map I got when I bought the property was reasonably close to accurate.  I walked both walls this weekend.  On the east side, the marker was quite clear.


No sign of a wall for the back of the lot though.


I walked the west side tonight, and while there was no pin, the stone wall abruptly turns out towards the field, and it was approximately the right area to be the end of my lot.


When I was up there yesterday, I saw a small black bear too (on all fours, he looked to be about the height of a newfoundland dog).  Unfortunately I scared him, and didn't get the camera up quick enough to get a picture.

The good news is that I have proven (more or less) that I own the game highway that is right behind my backyard, so I will have a place to hunt.  While I was walking it, I found these, so they are definitely still using it.  You can't see my house from the trail in the summer, but in the fall when the leaves fall you can.




It appears that at one point someone actually tried to have livestock or something up there.  Must have been ages ago, but I found barbed wire in several spots.





The completed maps.


Including a slightly modified version with extra info for the driveway application should it be necessary.


Here is a quick rundown of everything from the checklist:

1. The maps are complete as noted above.  I am still debating whether to bring a map to scale or not, but right now I don't think it will be necessary.
2. I have a meeting with the town tomorrow for the septic.  I technically don't have to be there, but the septic guy is presenting my septic design to the town tomorrow, so I figured I might show up.
3. The window in the living is large enough to be an egress window, but I made a note on the plans that it has to be a complete window type (like a casement window), it can't be a standard single or double hung window.  I also lowered it a little on the plans, since it was right on the edge of being too high off the ground.
4. I have started (and will complete tonight) the outline of the zoning board questions that have to be answered to the state.  
5. The abutter's list is updated with the one I missed.  
6. I have a driveway permit application and the sketch for it.  I don't think I will need it, but I have it ready to go just in case.  

I also saw Barry at Andy's birthday party yesterday, and he brought the proper fuel line length to the party, so if I have time tonight (and motivation to go out into the 90+ degree heat) I can finish that up so I can chop down the Japanese knotweed.  Apparently it is a major problem in the area.  It grows ridiculously fast (it is like bamboo), you can almost literally watch it grow.  The drainage ditch out by the road I have knocked down twice this year, and it is literally over 6 feet tall again.  I also heard from one of the people on the zoning board that if you chop it down, the stalk can reroot itself and start growing, so just chopping it down won't get rid of it.  Unfortunately, if you read this short blurb on the stuff, it looks like this might be a long term battle: http://www.gclandscape.com/quick-guide-on-invasive-species/.  Here is the excerpt on how to get rid of it:

How to get rid of it:

If you have a lot of this stuff, the most effective thing you can do it call someone with a backhoe.  Seriously.  Knotweed has a large underground network of roots and it very quickly crows out anything around it.  If you want it gone, you will need to dig it out.  All of it.  It’s going to be expensive, but its the best way to make sure its gone. If you just have a little, you actually have a lot and it’s trying to trick you.  You just can’t see it.  Start digging.

I am not as pessimistic about it as they are, since the stuff in the lawn is gone, it just takes continuous mowing to allow the rest of the grass (or weeds) to take over.  That said.  I have a lot of the stuff.  And I do mean a lot...  I think the part that will eventually become yard I will just keep mowing it, and the stuff in the ditch, I will knock it down, and spray the grass killer I got from dad on it.  I don't care if everything in the ditch dies, as long as that stuff dies too.  

For those curious, this is what it looks like: