Sounds like you're lucky enough to rub shoulders with a lot of "Mother Theresas" wearing polo shirts!!

Need enough for the width of the door, about 30", and someone had suggested regular bricks.

I feel that sometimes in certain communities it could definitely help an agent attract buyers/sellers.I will never do it; at least not in the generic shoulders-up way that all other agents do it.

For example, if the required front setback is 25 feet, and the required width of the lot is 50 feet, but the existing home has a setback of 23 feet and the lot is 40 feet wide, these are "existing conditions" that wouldn't be an issue for the city.

Recommend you also join a local real estate investment club and rub shoulders with other savvy & experienced investors.

Therefore if the owner owns the land but someone else has a property on it, I would say the taxes fall on the shoulders of the actual land owner but that's a debate to be had by the home owner and land owner.I've never heard of a situation like this but would guarantee you would need to get a vetted lawyer to draw up a contract saying that the land owner has to abide by some rules when they decide they want to use their land again for whatever purpose.

It really is a national business and you probably want someone with enough band width and experience to anticipate issues and avoid them rather an have an "oops" moment down the road.

The devil (greed) on my left shoulder was overruled by the angel (BP) on my right. 

Now a secret storage space a few inches deep the entire width of a wall can certainly exist unknown.

If this contractor is known as being reliable, or was referred to you by a reliable source, then you've already taken a load off your shoulders.