Janitor's path to a dream: Pave it, Seattle says

[Miss Mia]

Janitor's path to a dream: Pave it, Seattle says

Jesus Barajas wanted granite countertops and hardwood floors but is settling for Formica and carpet. Instead of hiring professional house painters and landscapers, he now plans to do the work himself.

The soured economy is part of the reason Barajas is downsizing his dreams for the new, 2,400-square-foot home he's building on property he's owned for nearly 30 years. Mostly, though, he's cutting back on amenities to pay for construction of a sidewalk outside his front door.

The price tag: nearly $15,000 for a 60-foot strip of asphalt.

Seattle officials admit Barajas is an unintended target of a year-old city ordinance meant to force developers to provide infrastructure improvements in the city's 22 designated urban villages. Although the ordinance was directed at developers and not a private homeowner tearing down an existing house to build anew — and the sidewalk likely will be the only one on Barajas' street for years, if not decades — they say there's nothing they can do to waive the requirement.

-snip-

Barajas, a janitor for King County Metro since 1990, and his wife, Maria, a housekeeper at a downtown hotel, have saved for 12 years to afford the down payment on their $250,000 construction loan.

"I just want something to live comfortable after I retire," said Barajas, 61, adding that the new house will be his teenage daughter's inheritance.

The financial sting of building a sidewalk is all the more painful because Barajas wouldn't need one if he lived on the west side of 32nd Avenue South, instead of the east side. That's because the western boundary of the MLK at Holly Street urban village is the center line of Barajas' narrow residential street.

-snip-

 

[RightCoast]

Don't worry folks, we're from the Government and we're here to help.

[Duke Nukum]

Liberalism is nothing but unintended targets and unintended consequences.  The only people who are ever helped by it are liberal politicians such as Fat Teddy and their cronies.

And, of course, when liberals cause a problem, there is nothing they can do to fix it, except look for someone to scapegoat and I guess in Seattle they don't even do that much.

[NHSparky]

$15K for 60 feet of sidewalk?  WTF???

I had a 200 foot driveway paved (and about triple the average sidewalk width) for less than 1/3 of that price!

What's in that asphalt?  Gold flakes?

[thundley4]

$15K for 60 feet of sidewalk?  WTF???

I had a 200 foot driveway paved (and about triple the average sidewalk width) for less than 1/3 of that price!

What's in that asphalt?  Gold flakes?

Maybe Seattle is taking a cue from California and legislating what color the sidewalk is.  It can't be black, because that would absorb and radiate heat .

[NHSparky]

Maybe Seattle is taking a cue from California and legislating what color the sidewalk is.  It can't be black, because that would absorb and radiate heat .

Or maybe having a blacktop would be racist.

[RightCoast]

$15K for 60 feet of sidewalk?  WTF???

I had a 200 foot driveway paved (and about triple the average sidewalk width) for less than 1/3 of that price!

What's in that asphalt?  Gold flakes?

You're forgeting union crews, removal of the ground that is there now, retaining walls if needed, police traffic detail, drainage, and formed or granite curbs.

A lot more involved then just repaving a driveway.

[thundley4]

You're forgeting union crews, removal of the ground that is there now, retaining walls if needed, police traffic detail, drainage, and formed or granite curbs.

A lot more involved then just repaving a driveway.

Then there are the environmental impact statements, and the required permits from city, county and state. 

[NHSparky]

You're forgeting union crews, removal of the ground that is there now, retaining walls if needed, police traffic detail, drainage, and formed or granite curbs.

A lot more involved then just repaving a driveway.

Uh, dude...mine was done FROM SCRATCH.  And granite curbs ain't that expensive.  Formed concrete is even cheaper.  And drainage?  Not a problem.