More Plans Sent for Approval Today

Today's submission was to the Historical Society of Porto.  This is a unique requirement that is placed on our property (and others in the center of the city).  The historic district of Porto has been designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO and because of this, there are additional requirements when renovating buildings in this area.

The requirements are not overburdensome, unless you have a plan to drastically change the appearance of the building, and since we don't, it appears that approval should be a reasonably simple process.  Given the unique beauty of Porto, it's nice to know that it is being perserved and protected.  There are also programs to give assistance (both technical and financial) for renovation.

The unfortunate aspect for us is time.  It is expected that we will wait about a month for official approval from the Historical Society.  One month is not too egregious by itself, but there's a catch.   We also need to apply for approval from the municipality, and their process is quite in-depth (and multi-stage).  All together, the municipal approval will take something like 2-3 months.  However, we can't even start the process with the municipality until we have approval from the Historical Society.

This is a ridiculously long time to wait for approval, and it really shouldn't be this way.  If we could at least apply concurrently  that could save a month.  Then there's the simple fact the approval itself does not appear to be more then an afternoon's work for a person...  What are they checking anyway?

Anyway for all of you waiting for a nice pizza and a good drink in our sunny garden...  We are sorry for the delay, normal service will commence as soon as the guy behind the desk says so.