# Odd construction near me **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 13, 2024, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-construction-near-me/1004158 "2024-07-13T20:51:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2024, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-construction-near-me/1004158/21 "2024-07-15T18:46:48Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > Building permits are public records. Are they? I woulda thought so as well. But a friend of mine in the next town over has a huge house being built behind him. He asked to see the building plans, they told him he had to file a FOIA request, and then they denied that. Not my issue so I didn’t ask for more details, but I woulda thought he coulda just waltzed into city hall… And if they didn’t ask for a variance, I’m not sure a zoning board woulda been involved. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2024, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-construction-near-me/1004158/22 "2024-07-15T18:54:28Z")
So he dug a pit and then installed this vertical pipe? To me it looks like he’s building a man-made pond. Is there a creek or something nearby that could be dammed/diverted to fill the pit? The vertical would be to send the overflow down through some underground pipes and back into the creek below the dam. That is a pretty big pipe for a pretty small pond if that’s what he’s building, though. The lake at the Boy Scout camp I went to as a kid was constructed in a manner like this – an earthen dam with a big vertical metal pipe to send the overflow under the dam and into the creek below. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2024, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-construction-near-me/1004158/23 "2024-07-15T19:46:23Z")
Our farm pond is designed like this. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2024, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-construction-near-me/1004158/24 "2024-07-16T00:03:43Z")
It would not work for an overflow as it is flush with the bottom of the pit. No streams nearby. I did think about a koi pond. A friend has a small one with a deep section for them to survive the winter. But a koi pond that takes up 90% of a normal residential front yard is odd. My son lives nearby and he and the neighbors haven’t heard anything about what it is. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2024, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-construction-near-me/1004158/25 "2024-07-16T17:01:14Z")
I was at the son’s house yesterday so I walked over to inspect it. I just stayed on the sidewalk so I couldn’t get a good look at the lowest part. The culvert pipe has some sort of large square cover over it but I couldn’t see if it had an opening in the center. It might just be a surround instead of a cover. The bottom of the excavated hole slopes down to the pipe which is near to one end. I did notice that the house on the next street over right behind this lot has a backyard pond with a fountain spraying up. I think this is the same thing. The Auditor has an up to date aerial photo: [[Album] imgur.com ![](https://i.imgur.com/P4qhmss.jpeg?fb "imgur.com") ](https://imgur.com/a/ib49sax) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-construction-near-me/1004158.md?page=1)