Leveraging equity does involve some risk, so it's important to have a sound strategy to avoid overextending yourself.

Sounds like he was feeding you a line of garbage. 

. :)IN SUM: Based on what you've shared, it sounds like you won't need to rezone if you just want to build a duplex.

It sounds like a few people on this thread don't really understand how PMC's operate or why they may charge extra fees.

They made it sound like it was something easy to comply with, but if anyone who is a beneficial owner has their ID expire or they move, you have 30 days to re-submit the paperwork.  

Sounds like you are in a pretty strong financial position.

It does take 1-2 weeks to accomplish, so does require some effort and monitoring on your part, but sounds like you are a diligent self-money manager, so should be easy for you to accomplish. 

@Michael Plaks comments in this recent post on making sure the person you hire understands real estate sounds really relevant to your situation.  

Best of luck—sounds like an exciting journey ahead!

We go above and beyond when it comes to protection.. starting with insurance coverage, sings in the listing and in the property that there is no guard on duty (as silly as that sounds), putting extra locking device high enough so youngsters can't reach, an alarm/beep system to alert them that door opens for those with small children (or elderly) so they cannot wander out in the backyard with no one noticing and risk drowning.