How to get a building permit in Monterey

Today's lesson in Monterey government: Building Permits.

If you're doing any sort of renovation project, or replacing any major systems like the furnace or roof, you're going to need a building permit. A permit is required for pretty much anything you might need to do, which I suppose is the same everywhere. You can have your contractor pull the permit for you, or, as the homeowner, you can do it yourself.

I'm in need of a furnace replacement permit, and my contractor wants $90 per hour for his time to pull the permit, so I decided it might be interesting to do it myself. Here's what I learned.

Trees away

This week I learned about tree removal.  There's a very large, very tall eucalyptus right next to the house that gets blown about like crazy when it's windy and makes us really nervous.  It didn't help when the arborist we had out said "I see you have a couple of 'widow makers' up there. "  Widow makers being large branches that get brittle, break off, but get caught up in the tree, ready to fall without warning and spear someone.

So I set out to find out Monterey's tree regulations.