Build on an Old Gas Station Site?
[{"id": "eal2tth", "text": "Do you know if there are monitoring wells on site? \nYou will need to order a Phase I &amp; Phase II environmental reports to determine the levels of contamination.  Depending on who your lender is, they may have require stricter cleanup so check on that early on.  You should be ok with the tanks due to the letter from California, but it is possible there has been more contamination over the years.   You should also order a Geotechnical report which will tell you the composition of the soils and give recommendations on how to proceed.  You may need to replace the soil or perform some type of mitigation which could very well cost you upwards of $50K. I would try and negotiate with the seller to have some sort of clause where the seller will escrow money in the event a more serious cleanup is required.    ", "replies": [{"id": "eal52ew", "text": "&gt;monitoring wells on site? You will need to order a Phase I &amp; Phase II environmental reports to determine the levels of contamination.  Depending on who your lender is, they may have require stricter cleanup so check on that early on.  You should be ok with the tanks due to the letter from California, but it is possible there has been more contamination over the years.   You should also order a Geotechnical report which will tell you the composition of the soils and give recommendations on how to proceed.  You may need to replace the soil or perfor\n\nThere were monitoring wells on site and they were removed recently (June 2018). There is an analysis report associated with the monitoring wells removal and I am trying to figure out what it says now. Thanks.", "replies": [{"id": "eal54ut", "text": "Definitely a good sign the wells were removed recently ", "replies": [{"id": "eamcgr9", "text": "The monitoring well was not monitored for a while now and they just now removed them. ", "replies": [], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}, {"id": "ealehw7", "text": "Make sure you have NFA\u2019s (no further action) letters from the appropriate agencies.", "replies": [{"id": "ealqwyq", "text": "I only got \"Closure Letter\" and \"Site Closure Summary\" from regional water board. In the Closure Letter, it says \"... no further action related to the petroleum release(s) at the site is required.\". Do I need a different letter? If so, who should I talk to to get it? Thanks", "replies": [{"id": "eamalav", "text": "That sounds pretty good. Anything from epa?", "replies": [{"id": "eamceuc", "text": "No. I have not heard anything about EPA. It seems considered part of UST (underground storage tank) removal project.  ", "replies": [], "depth": 6}], "depth": 5}], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "eal3abt", "text": "i would not buy without doing a phase 1 environmental report, and that may lead to the need to do a phase 2. the issue is if there is an issue, it will probably be too expensive to fix and not make it worth it, and it would suck to pay all that money to find out you can't build there (too expensive or just can't because of environmental reasons). \n\n&amp;#x200B;\n\nThat's really it. If you really love it and a phase 1 shows no issues, than you should be good....but if there are issues you may be going down the rabbit hole", "replies": [{"id": "eal4tgl", "text": "This.", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "eal8ic3", "text": "First, CAN you build on the site? Get current enviro determination. Check that zoning would allow residential. If not, are you willing to go through the year-plus process of rezoning. \n\nSecond, do you WANT to build on the site? If it was a gas station, it's probable that it is a relatively shallow lot with a lot of frontage along a relatively well-trafficked street. You should consider this question for yourself and for the resale value (i.e., would anyone else want to live there).", "replies": [], "depth": 1}]