Chapter 16 - Five Votes
Five board members sat behind the long table when the final meeting began. Celia was at the center. Evan had the revised drawings in front of him. The other three members had written notes in the margins of their packets.
I had spent so many evenings rehearsing a speech that I almost felt cheated when Celia opened by asking Nia a practical question about drainage.
Nia answered. Sam's signed letter was in the package. The town would still perform its own reviews before construction, she reminded the board.
Peter asked whether the visible roof edge meant the house would dominate the road. Evan requested that everyone look at the photographs taken from the same marked position. He held up the original image and the revised one side by side.
“The sightline is smaller,” he said. “Not invisible.”
“Nothing on this road is invisible,” Ruth said from the audience, without raising her voice.
Celia called for order. Then she summarized the work session, the adopted guidance, and the conditions the committee had discussed.
Evan moved to approve the revised design, subject to the specified siding sample, retention of the marked trees unless replacement was approved, and the submitted driveway drainage plan. The motion did not replace town permits or authorize construction before they were obtained.
Peter opposed it. He said the board was being pushed toward a decision by our financial difficulties and publicity.
“No,” Evan replied. “We're voting on a complete application. If we think a specific criterion isn't met, we should say which one.”
Another member, Julie Mercer, spoke about the threat of setting a precedent. She wanted future applicants to know exactly what was expected before they bought land and paid architects.
Celia voted no. Peter voted no.
Evan voted yes. Julie voted yes. The fifth member, Daniel Marsh, studied the drawings and voted yes.
The motion carried, three to two.
I didn't cheer. My hands went numb around the edge of my binder. Owen stood so suddenly that his chair scraped the floor. He turned to me with tears in his eyes and a question on his face, as though he needed to confirm he'd heard correctly.
“We can build?” he whispered.
“We can move to the next steps,” I said, because we'd learned the difference.
After the meeting, Celia approached us. She still believed the valley would have been better without another roof on the hillside. She said so plainly. But she handed Owen the written conditions and wished us a sound construction process.
“Thank you,” he told her.
Outside, in the parking lot, I called my mother to tell her.
She started crying. Then she asked when we could move in.
I looked at the estimate in my binder. For the first time, I knew the answer wasn't controlled only by an HOA.
May you like
“I don't know yet,” I said. “But we'll decide what we can really afford.”
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