The Church Elders were very clear when I bought the Chapel, I had to rezone it from Institutional to Residential. I was obliviously naive in thinking this would be easy. I realised very quickly in the process that I had made my first mistake.

 

It started with a meeting at City Hall. They required a long list of reports including drawings, planning rational, survey, permits, something called hydrogeological and terrain study, and more meetings. This was way above my paid grade. In the mean time I had moved all my stuff into the front of the Chapel thinking this would be quick. I did some demo while I waited and worked on developing the floor plan. I wanted 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, dedicated laundry room, lots of storage and open concept living room, dining room and kitchen.

Fall came and with it the cold weather. I had to throw in the towel and accept that I had to move back to my parents house because I had no water, no insulation and a frozen furnace.

The report took almost a year to complete but I was finally able to submit it to City Council for approval. Here’s the catch that I also didn’t really understand initially, the rezoning application could be denied and then I would be sunk; no approval, no home for me. Fortunately by spring time I had the permission to proceed; yeahhh lets make this my home. But spring also brought with it a flood in the Chapel. Oh no, foundation issues already!