17. More Trials of Bureaucracy

Before we began this project, we visited the Chianti region and attended a really excellent dinner at Macellaria Cecchini, a restaurant where every single course was made of meat. The wine was flowing, and we were seated family-style with people from all over, including some Swedes who had embarked on a hotel project in Italy. When we talked about our own desire to open a hotel in Italy, they asked if they could give us some advice, which of course we accepted.

“Don’t do it,” they said. “The bureaucracy and the red tape will kill you.”

There was enough wine and good food that we laughed, because how bad could it be? But the woman shook her head.

“I am serious, run away.”

I think about her a lot these days, especially as we head into six months of waiting for our permits to be approved, after having been stymied time and time again by bureaucracy and red tape.

But when you have a dream, no amount of bureaucracy can deter you. We love our vision and the land that we have become stewards of, and while we wait for our permits, we have been getting to know the trees and the flowers, have been watching the seasons change and falling more in love every day. There is a particular beauty found in the Val di Merse, an untapped and wild quality that is balanced with the calm persistence of life. In this valley, everything takes time, so I suppose it is no surprise that our permits are no different.

Even so, as our design team has informed us, this permit process has been one of the most difficult they have ever faced. Before the holidays, the main person in charge of reviewing our documents and spearheading our permit application approval was transferred to a new post, and the position remains vacant even now. Which means effectively there is no project manager for permit approvals, and therefore we are personally working alongside our design team to coordinate the approval.

We have spoken to many Italians, and they sympathize endlessly. Even for Italians, Italian bureaucracy can be opaque and confusing, and laws shift like sand in an hourglass. Something that was true on Tuesday might not be true on Thursday, and information is not even certain between agencies—Agency A might believe a law that Agency B thinks is no longer valid.

Having experts on your side becomes invaluable. I believe our Swedish friends completely, as without the help of Anna and our design team, I am not sure we would be navigating the system half as well as we are. And even with that help, we are still six months waiting for our permits, and yet to cross the finish line in breaking real ground.

That said, we have overcome what once seemed like an insurmountable piece of bureaucracy—for months, there was a question of a fine that needed to be paid to Agency A. Agency A knew a fine needed to be paid, but they didn’t know how much. And they required a document from Agency B in order to organize a visit to decide how much the fine would be. Of course, we hoped that there would be no need for a site visit, as anyone who has embarked on a construction project with government agencies knows it is always in your best interest to keep them off your property as much as possible. Agency A felt confident no visit was necessary, they only needed the document from Agency B.

Agency B was unclear themselves what document needed to be submitted. Their understanding was the ball was in the court of Agency A. Meanwhile, there was also Agency C waiting in the wings, muddying the waters with the need for the same document in order to proceed with approving our permits. It took us months to untangle what was going on, and months before we realized that we had fallen into the famous pitfall of Italian bureaucracy—everything had stalled because no one was communicating with one another, and therefore assumed someone else needed to do something before they could do their part.

Once we had it all straightened out, the fruit trees had already started budding and the first crocuses of spring were raising their violet heads from the winter ground. Finally, Agency A understood that the ball was in their court, and they needed to issue a fine in order to move the permit approval process to Agency C, and once they had both signed off on a particular issue, we could proceed with the permits once more.

The issue? A defunct electrical panel belonging to a solar array that hadn’t worked in nearly a decade needed to be inspected.

We asked if we could just remove the panel, but by this time, documents had been filed, and once a process has started in Italy, it is nearly impossible to stop it. Agency A implied that they just needed to hear from our design team that the panel didn’t work, and therefore could issue the fine without coming. That sounded good to us, and for two weeks we waited to hear about how much we needed to pay.

Until the conversation changed, and suddenly Agency A needed to come inspect the panel—and the rest of the outside of the property—in person.

Our intention with this project is to always pay attention to the details. This happens at the farm, from knowing the proper pH of the soil for each vegetable, to making sure there isn’t a single light switch that will confuse our guests in their guest room. To us, taking care of the little details shows our guests that we really care, that the small things matter as much as the big things. Our back office endeavors are no different. We have been militant about making sure all of our documents are in order, that we file correctly and precisely, and that everything is permitted appropriately.

Even so, hearing that Agency A needed to come to the property made us feel like you do when you see a bomb-sniffing dog at the airport. You know you don’t have any explosives, you know you’ve never even seen any in person, but all of a sudden you’re nervous that maybe you accidentally packed some C4 you forgot about.

Agency A needed only to come inspect the electrical panel and issue us our fine, but as it goes with government agencies, we didn’t know what we didn’t know, and the thought of being held up any longer was a maudlin one. As it goes with agencies, we had an idea of when they would arrive, but nothing confirmed. We prepared as best as we could, made sure as many documents that could be in order were in order, and then we waited for Agency A to visit.

Last Thursday, Agency A arrived, and immediately began finding issues with our property. It was the nightmare we had been hoping wouldn’t occur. But our wonderful geometra from our design team, Gionny, and Anna, all-around Borgo Santolina rockstar/manager, were on site, and when Anna realized that Agency A was looking for issues (in Italian, they call this cercare il pelo dell’uovo or searching for the hair on the egg, someone who looks for any little problem or defect they can find), she called in Gionny, who is incredibly knowledgeable and also incredibly warm and kind. Agency A pointed to something they believed was illegal, Gionny showed them that we had filed every document. Again, they pointed to something they believed was unpermitted, and Gionny showed them that it was.

After a few of these, Agency A realized that we were doing everything by the book, and, satisfied, they left.

The next day, it was a whirlwind of activity. Agency A issued the fine, and Anna ran to pick it up in person and also coordinate with Agency C to sign off on it, so that Agency B could receive it and get back to approving our permits. We were absolutely elated.

Agency A told Anna when she picked up the fine that it was the first time in the history of the agency that anyone had ever been excited to receive a fine.

But how could we not be excited? After six months, we had successfully navigated an incredibly complex piece of Italian red tape. And now we are one step closer to having our permits signed and beginning our renovation in earnest.

Oh, and the fine that we waited so long to pay?

$553.

Of course, while all of that was going on, we weren’t idle. Whatever we could work on, we did.

Digging out the natural pond that will be home to wildlife and stabilize the water table in our orchard.

Testing the pond’s ability to hold water. So far so good!

Building out the roads that connect the villa to the olive groves and lavender fields.

Adding the liner to the pool.

Laying the first of the travertine around the pool. Our pool builder, Spinelli, measured the height and installed the first layer in order to create the level for the rest of the deck, which will be laid in the coming days.

And so the project continues. While navigating bureaucracy is not necessarily our favorite activity, we know it is a part of the project, and so we take it as we take everything else, with the understanding that the best grapes grow in tough conditions, and that one day these will all be stories to tell around the fire on the terrazza as we sip amaro beneath the stars.