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In my previous post I said I received the same letter. I went to City Hall today to get copies of any documentation, specifically COs, the town had on file.
Before continuing further, I have lived in this house my entire life. My parents were the previous owners but my dad passed away last year and my mother has had dementia since 2011. Fortunately, we didnt lose the house to pay for her care. But in the interest of not being crucified by others on this thread, I had no involvement in taking care of or maintaining this house until late 2017.
I got my CO today at town hall. While waiting to be called up to the research department, every person that walked in had the same question - I received this letter from you regarding an accessory department. The employee from the building dept basically said to each person - "do you have an accessory apartment?". Obviously, noone wants to incriminate themselves but thats why they are there, so the employee said they have 3 options.
1. Remove all traces of a kitchen. Tuck gas or water lines into the wall or build a wall in front of them (obviously remove any cabinets).
2. Apply for the accessory apartment. (you may be forced to obtain building permits for anything not legal on your property because of all the documents required to submit for this).
3. Apply for a variance to allow your house to have multiple kitchens - the employee basically said this would be your worst option and nearly all request for this are denied.
For me, I have a finished basement with a kitchen. I will be removing it. However, I am also going to be recruiting an expeditor to update all the documentation for my house, which I discovered was wildly inaccurate. Just to be safe and to make it easier to sell, I find this to be an important investment. Mind you, this will probably cost me thousands of dollars but in my opinion, its worth it.
An ironic note, the accessory apartment that was licensed in the past which is currently expired is my second story which I have a CO for as a dormer addition. At some point, someone must have licensed it but now it is a free flow part of my house that I actively use, WITH NO KITCHEN. Literally, my bedroom is upstairs. However, because it was once listed, it opens this can of worms and allows an inspector in to check out my entire house which would enable them to see the kitchen downstairs.
My recommendation thus far: 1. Find out what is legal and what is illegal about your house. 2. If you feel okay with letting an inspector in any other area other than the apartment and if your basement is finished, just rip out the cabinets and build a wall against the existing wall to cover any gas or water lines coming from the wall (the town official LITERALLY said this to me when I asked).
To all the people crucifying others on this thread, thank you for your self-righteous service but your advice and perspective isnt a know-all, end-all. Some of us in this situation are trying to be proactive and do things the right way.
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