A Humbling Mistake

On today’s show we’re talking about a mistake we made in a site plan development. It’s an opportunity to learn from our mistake.

We thought we had done everything correctly. We had designed a subdivision that we thought complied perfectly with the zoning requirements with zero variances. I can tell you that it is pretty rare to have a project of any size that has zero variances. But our goal was and still is to have zero variances. When you are complying 100% with the stated rules, then you eliminate reasons for a politician or a bureaucrat from saying no to your proposed development plan.

It happens that you sometimes get an answer to a question from a public official that can lead you down an incorrect path. I’m not blaming that public official. Maybe we misunderstood the guidance.

I actually don’t think we misunderstood. But I have to assume full responsibility for the project. I can blame them for telling me something incorrect. But it doesn’t help.