Only in America!

I went with our civil engineer last week to submit our grading and drainage plan for review by the City of Phoenix planning department. We also submitted what is called an "inventory and salvage" plan which is also required in order to move forward. This is basically a summary of all plants, cactus, or trees on our property, each one listed by species, and then a blueprint of the entire property showing where each of them is on the property. Of course, an officially certified landscape architect must do this, and it isn't cheap.

But we did submit them for review and paid almost $1,700.00 in fees for them to be reviewed! Unbelievable. By the time we get this 2 and a half acres ready to just plant vegetables, we will have spent $50,000.00 And this doesn't include the cost of the water hook-up which was donated by the water utility company. Try explaining this whole process and how much it cost to refugees that are just learning what life is like in this great country. Only in America!!!