Update on the state of the temple!
Apr. 6th, 2013 07:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
icarusUpdate on the state of the temple!
FAQ: Would it be more cost effective to just move?
Jetsunma: We have paid the land off. The Temple needs mandatory remodeling within a short amount of time. Stinks, our county won't give us a break.
(I'll add -- this is over 65 acres of land that's paid in full, including the wildlife refuge. And, it's a little hard to move 35' concrete stupas):
My dad: The building sounds decrepit.
Me: Actually, it's beautiful. We've just put in new windows and reframed the 17th century stained glass. As per the update link, most of the costs have to do with meeting the Use & Occupancy codes. So the costs and changes are things like determining the water table (it costs $115 to dig a hole? And the county might require a lot of holes for this test? Can't diggers just volunteer?).
The details:
Update on Temple Renovation
Posted on April 5, 2013 by holly
It’s been a month since the Temple was closed for public assembly. We wanted to update everyone on the Kunzang Palyul Choling Temple Renovation plan so far.
Short term plan: between now and April 15:
We are working on separating the prayer room from the rest of the building in order to create a mini assembly space (up to 49 people). For this we hired David Bagnoli to do the design at a cost not to exceed $6,800 and the lawyers at Linowes & Blocher at an hourly rate from $175 up to $485. They are scheduling a meeting with the appropriate Montgomery County Department of Permitting Services staff, their lawyers, our architect and us. At this time we will present the plan to separate the prayer room and they will give us assurance that we will be able to retain the religious assembly and residential use for the building after we obtain a certificate of Use and Occupancy. We could have a meeting with the county as early as next week.
The cost for this option is unknown. At a minimum it will involve pouring footings, building a wall on the outside north wall in the prayer room, putting a fire door as a continuation of that wall and transforming the library into 2 bathrooms. We can be required to do more, let’s pray we are not.
We are looking at our options for developing the 65 acres and the lawyers have started to do a title search to determine if any of the Transferable Development Rights attached to the 65 acres have been sold and recorded. If they were sold, the zoning is specific and we will not be allowed to have a Temple on the 65 acres.
At this time it is not known if the wetlands will be big enough for our renovation plans and are exploring if building sand mounts across the street could work. The county is open to let us dig under River Rd for the needed pipes.
Many steps are involved. First the county wants to know how high the water table is. If it is too high, the septic will leak into the Potomac River. There is a very short window during the year when the test can be performed. If we miss it we will be penalized two feet in the measurement. We have until April 15 to conduct them. Reise Enterprises, Inc has been selected to dig holes, get the county to look at them, then dig more if the county needs more holes. Some holes have already been identified from an uncompleted test that we performed in 2006. The cost is $115 per hole, and an unknown number of holes will be needed, and could be as many as three dozen.
Next steps
If the county approves our design we will start building the fire separation.
If the water table test is conclusive, we will continue with a percolation test. Even if it doesn’t percolate enough for a septic field, it could percolate enough for a sand mound. There is no time limit to perform this test. If the water table is too high or the terrain obviously unsuitable the test will not be performed and septic system on the 65 acres will not be an option. Jim Reise is advising us to wait until it dries up before we move forward, it will give the clay time to dry and be “more absorbent.” If suitable for testing, each hole will cost $75 or $150 depending on the depth. There might be an additional charge of $115 per hole if one of the holes is questionable. If the water table and perk tests are good, then we need to test whether sand mounds are appropriate, and what size and location would be best. This will cost $120 per test site. Usually one mound serves a single family house.
We work with the county to determine what we can do on the 65 acres and on the seven acres. We need to see what the lawyers find and how the county interprets the current zoning. This process can be very long depending on whether we need a zoning code change or not.
At this moment, we do not know if we can only renovate or if we can tear down and rebuild a new temple.
FAQ: Would it be more cost effective to just move?
Jetsunma: We have paid the land off. The Temple needs mandatory remodeling within a short amount of time. Stinks, our county won't give us a break.
(I'll add -- this is over 65 acres of land that's paid in full, including the wildlife refuge. And, it's a little hard to move 35' concrete stupas):
My dad: The building sounds decrepit.
Me: Actually, it's beautiful. We've just put in new windows and reframed the 17th century stained glass. As per the update link, most of the costs have to do with meeting the Use & Occupancy codes. So the costs and changes are things like determining the water table (it costs $115 to dig a hole? And the county might require a lot of holes for this test? Can't diggers just volunteer?).
The details:
Update on Temple Renovation
Posted on April 5, 2013 by holly
It’s been a month since the Temple was closed for public assembly. We wanted to update everyone on the Kunzang Palyul Choling Temple Renovation plan so far.
Short term plan: between now and April 15:
We are working on separating the prayer room from the rest of the building in order to create a mini assembly space (up to 49 people). For this we hired David Bagnoli to do the design at a cost not to exceed $6,800 and the lawyers at Linowes & Blocher at an hourly rate from $175 up to $485. They are scheduling a meeting with the appropriate Montgomery County Department of Permitting Services staff, their lawyers, our architect and us. At this time we will present the plan to separate the prayer room and they will give us assurance that we will be able to retain the religious assembly and residential use for the building after we obtain a certificate of Use and Occupancy. We could have a meeting with the county as early as next week.
The cost for this option is unknown. At a minimum it will involve pouring footings, building a wall on the outside north wall in the prayer room, putting a fire door as a continuation of that wall and transforming the library into 2 bathrooms. We can be required to do more, let’s pray we are not.
We are looking at our options for developing the 65 acres and the lawyers have started to do a title search to determine if any of the Transferable Development Rights attached to the 65 acres have been sold and recorded. If they were sold, the zoning is specific and we will not be allowed to have a Temple on the 65 acres.
At this time it is not known if the wetlands will be big enough for our renovation plans and are exploring if building sand mounts across the street could work. The county is open to let us dig under River Rd for the needed pipes.
Many steps are involved. First the county wants to know how high the water table is. If it is too high, the septic will leak into the Potomac River. There is a very short window during the year when the test can be performed. If we miss it we will be penalized two feet in the measurement. We have until April 15 to conduct them. Reise Enterprises, Inc has been selected to dig holes, get the county to look at them, then dig more if the county needs more holes. Some holes have already been identified from an uncompleted test that we performed in 2006. The cost is $115 per hole, and an unknown number of holes will be needed, and could be as many as three dozen.
Next steps
If the county approves our design we will start building the fire separation.
If the water table test is conclusive, we will continue with a percolation test. Even if it doesn’t percolate enough for a septic field, it could percolate enough for a sand mound. There is no time limit to perform this test. If the water table is too high or the terrain obviously unsuitable the test will not be performed and septic system on the 65 acres will not be an option. Jim Reise is advising us to wait until it dries up before we move forward, it will give the clay time to dry and be “more absorbent.” If suitable for testing, each hole will cost $75 or $150 depending on the depth. There might be an additional charge of $115 per hole if one of the holes is questionable. If the water table and perk tests are good, then we need to test whether sand mounds are appropriate, and what size and location would be best. This will cost $120 per test site. Usually one mound serves a single family house.
We work with the county to determine what we can do on the 65 acres and on the seven acres. We need to see what the lawyers find and how the county interprets the current zoning. This process can be very long depending on whether we need a zoning code change or not.
At this moment, we do not know if we can only renovate or if we can tear down and rebuild a new temple.