I live in upstate NY and I want to tear down my existing home and build a new one. I am going to find an architect, but before I did that I wanted to talk to someone in the town I live it to make sure I know all the rules and restrictions as well as to get some information. My house is on a lake, so I figure there are a lot of additional rules I'll have to comply with.
My question is who do I speak with? The building inspector? Would I speak with someone in the town or county?
I'm an architect in north central MN. What you're looking to do is exactly what we do when we start working with clients, on a lake or not. First thing we recommend is that they hire a surveyor to get an accurate survey and topography of their lot. After we have that in hand, we'll research zoning regulations and make sure we have all of that information in hand before we start designing. We let our clients know of any particular things that will have a material impact (for instance a bluff condition). We don't start designing until we know what the local jurisdiction requires.
You're kind of going about this the wrong way. No offense, but I don't trust what the owner tells me about zoning rules and regulations. More often than not, they're wrong. I always do the research myself. Hire an architect you can work with and let them do this stuff. That's what you pay them for and you won't be saving yourself any money by not letting them do it because they'll have to do it anyway (if they're doing their job right).
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