Dec 21, 2009

Red Tape

I would very, very much like to move back to Boise after my PhD is completed. Between that and my increasing interest in backyard gardening (and an accompanying growth of foodie-ness), I spent a little time today browsing the files on the city government’s website. I was curious as to what sort of rigamarole one had to go through in order to put a real greenhouse in one’s backyard.

Basic answer: so long as the square footage of the backyard construction is less than 120, no permit shall be required. This exemption also applies to other unsurprising construction like fences under 6 feet tall, relatively small water tanks, and playground equipment.

However, when I read the file I also noticed that the city of Boise also specifically exempts oil derricks from needing a construction permit.

That’s the sort of thing that you want to test just to see if one of the city clerks slipped that in on a dare.