A permit for this, a permit for that . . .

Q. I don't understand why I have to get so many permits for things on my property, and why the town wanted plans of my entire house when I was just finishing my basement. I read your column on finished basements, and even though I followed your advice to file the plans and do the right thing, I now have to file for a portable hot tub, a gazebo, my pool and the roof over my front porch. Please tell me why I am stuck in this situation. It just doesn't seem right.

A. The reason for the extra filings is that people before you were deceptive, lying about what they were doing, hiding bedrooms in attics and basements, rentals, improper wiring, unvented bathrooms — the list goes on and on. The people who review plans see so much deception and complete ignoring of safety that they constantly have to re-evaluate how to address community issues so as not to single out one property owner. Bedrooms in attics, for example, are something I've written about many times over the 20 years I've done this column. You have a 5 percent chance of survival sleeping in an attic. In other words, you have a 95 percent chance of dying of smoke inhalation or succumbing to burns. With a hot tub there are inherent safety issues and, sadly, it takes a fatality of a child to impress upon all of us the need to enforce the regulations in our own yards. I am broken-hearted for a friend who just lost a 3-year-old who wandered away for "just a few moments," and hearing about so many deaths that could be prevented makes most of us stop and ask, Could this kind of accident be prevented from happening again to someone else?

The answer is maybe. Maybe if we told the truth, filed for the whole house to show that we really don't have an illegal rental, that our homes have proper means of escape through properly sized windows, that we have pool alarms, that the amateur who was doing our plumbing work wasn't able to continue subjecting people to shoddy work and bringing shame to real professionals who take pride in their work.

Maybe we can finally change to a land value two-tier tax system to stop penalizing people for property improvement. By only taxing the land and allowing the building to be improved to highest and best use, we all will benefit with safer, better-constructed homes and buildings. My belief, from client discussions, is that you would be glad to file for all the items you mentioned if you didn't have to fear pricing yourself out of the market because of tax increases. Your situation is about doing the right thing. Get plans, file for permits and let your elected officials know that you don't want to be penalized for property improvement. Good luck!