I am pleased to see the candidates running for office are discussing reforms for the Town of North Hempstead Building Department.
Making the department more “user friendly” is just the tip of the iceberg.
An applicant advocate would be helpful since the plans examiners and inspectors are rude and condescending. On at least four occasions my paperwork was lost or “misplaced on purpose.”
Three times I was given the wrong fees for filing, and a plumbing inspector told me that all issues were resolved when they were not.
Phone calls and e-mails are rarely answered. I called several architects before I found one willing to take my case and deal with the mountains of red tape.
I am somewhat confused as to what Dina De Giorgio is proposing since she is a current councilwoman and part of problems in the current administration.
I don’t know why this is a Democrat or Republican issue. The building department is suppose to insure the safety of structures and the residents should be treated with respect.
Most people are under the assumption that there is grandfathering if a law is changed. There is no such thing.
Every homeowner will have to pay $35 for a piece of paper stating their home was hooked up to the sewer in 1952. All appliances and plumbing fixtures must be certified at $50 each. Most people have water heaters, boilers, stoves, toilets, sinks and tubs, this alone is several hundred dollars.
I just paid $100 to certify my door bell!
Inspectors were in my home on many occasions.
I have certificates of completions that I am now being told are incomplete. These issues go back decades before I was the homeowner.
The building department states that it was not their job to check historical files. It was not their job to check the piping if they were looking at the boiler.
Isn’t that what they are being paid for?
I was told that it is my fault and my responsibility to know all the codes and laws. If you ate in a restaurant would you expect to pay the bill for every diner that ate at your table before you because the waiter forgot to hand them a bill?
This is what the current homeowners are faced with. It is not about legalizing these issues, it is about money.
I was promised by the commissioner in Lee Seeman’s office that I would not be under time restraints because my husband was very sick and in the hospital.
Several months later, inspectors were knocking on my door with a summons.
Public officials are suppose to serve the residents, not lie to them and treat them like criminals.
J. Zacarese
New Hyde Park
