Fighting Zoning Regulations

[Chris(Guest)]

So, after a few years (and a few changes in plans) we have finally found land within 5 miles of our church where we would like to build the "Little House".

One snag - the building codes state that all new construction must be "at least 1000 square foot".  

Now in driving around this very rural county (the county seat only has about 12000 residents), I can understand why this regulation was put into effect, as there are a number of older, delapidated mobile homes, dotting the countryside.  But its not like this is the Napa Valley either.  Many of the road signs are missing or hand written.  Roads have many potholes.  And snow removal - well, lets just say that you ought to have your own snow plow if you decide to get to town in many instances.

So I'm curious to know if any of you have had difficulty in fighting zoning ordinances, and how you resolved the issue.  What's the best way to go about this?  Write letters?  Request a public hearing?  Get a petition signed?  All we want to do is build our cabin and be left alone!  

Thanks in advance.

Chris

[glenn kangiser]

You may be able to request a variance.

[Daddymem]

Variance is your best shot.  Seek out a local lawyer for advice.  We did, and for a $25 fee he told us our game plan and how good our chance were.  I took it from there and won.  Our first step was to be denied by the zoning enforcement officer so you had something to go to the Zoning Board of Appeals with.  Our State has criteria for obtaining a local variance, we had to go through those point by point to the Zoning Board of Appeals.  Good luck.

[Chris(Guest)]

Thanks for the informative response.  Now here's another question.  Must I own the deed to the property before I request a variance?  I see no point to buying a piece of property if I can't do what I want to do with it.

Chris

[MikeT]

You have to own the property first.  You might talk to the city/county and get a read on their future response.

This gives me a chance to share my thoughts, for what they are worth.  Before I bought my property I looked long and hard for a place that I could both afford and sell if needed.  I will here invoke the sage advice of a few mentors:

1. Buy property on water if you can.  
2. Always buy with an eye on selling if you need to.

If it were me building a place with a 1000 sf minimum, I would do what I could to adhere to this minimum.  Why?  I think a 1000 sf home would  be easier to sell, all things being equal.  The added cost would not be much in terms of construction costs, but the value would be larger.  That is of couse open to debate and I am sure there are folks here who would disagree.  Nevertheless, I don't think I would want to use a variance for building below the minimum.  

Best,
mt

[Billy Bob]

MikeT's thought is part of why I am now studying the VC plans rather than the Builder's Cottage, which is the set I purchased first.  I don't really need 1000'sq living room, but resale and hopefully the occasional guest are good enough reasons.  Also, as Mike said, the work is not that much more as far as the basic structure goes.  When we get to spiral staircases, etc., well, that's something else.  That may have entered into the decision too, as I have always wanted one. [smiley=rolleyes.gif]

These considerations aside, and if it were about making choices, I would probably make do with a 200'sq house, and build a 1000'sq shop. [smiley=cheesy.gif]  But why not have both?

[bartholomew]

Chris, I don't what the regs are where you live but I believe it is common to apply for a variance on a property you do not yet own. You would require the owner's written permission. And usually you would only do it with an accepted offer subject to obtaining the desired variance within x timeframe.

[Bufordt]

Last summer my Dad and I started building this.  Hope to finish it up on the outside this summer.
Simple living that's what I'm after.  Don't care much about how it looks.  We got around 2200.00 in this so far and should have less than 5000.00 when complete.

Out in the woods on 44 acres.  No permits.  No zoning laws.  It's great to have a place that you can really be somewhat free. ( With the exception of having to pay property taxes)  Like our founding Fathers intended it to be before all the lawyers, Lobbiest, and congress both state and Federal got involved and screwed it all up for us.  I never plan on selling it so it will be passed down from me to my children.  And I hope there children.

Ain't much but it's ours.







Bufordt

[glenn kangiser]

Nice project and I like your attitude.

[benevolance]

(Quick look for helicopters)

Forefathers, freedom....What the hell are you talking about?

[benevolance]

Speaking of our fabulous government and the Excellent Mr Bush ...Here is a Joke!

On his trip to Great Britain, George Bush had a meeting with Queen Elizabeth.  

He asked her, "How does one manage to run a country so smoothly?"

"That's easy," she replied, "Surround yourself with intelligent ministers and advisors."

"But how can I tell whether they are intelligent or not?" he inquired.

"You ask them a riddle," she replied, and with that she pressed a button and said, "Would you please send Tony Blair in."  

When Blair arrived, the Queen said, "I have a riddle for you to answer.... Your parents had a child and it was not your sister and it was not your brother. Who was this child?"

Blair replied, "That's easy. The child was me." "Very good," said the Queen, "You may go now."

So President Bush went back to Washington and called in his chief of staff, Karl Rove. He said to him, I have a riddle for you, and the answer is very important. Your parents had a child and it was not your sister and it was not your brother. Who was this child?"

Rove replied, "Yes, it is clearly very important that we determine the answer, as no child must be left behind. Let me deliberate on this for a while?"  

"OK," said Bush, "You have four hours to come up with the answer. So Rove called a meeting of the White House Staff, and asked them the riddle. But after much discussion and many suggestions, none had a satisfactory answer. So he was quite upset, not knowing what he would tell the President.

As Rove was walking back to the Oval Office, he saw former Secretary of State Colin Powell approaching him. So he said, "Mr. Secretary, can you answer this riddle for me? Your parents had a  
child and it was not your sister and it was not your brother. Who was the child?"

"That's easy," said Powell, "The child was me."  

"Thank you," said Rove, "You may just have saved me my job!"  

So Rove went to the Oval Office and said to President Bush, "I think I know the answer to your riddle.
The child was Colin Powell!"

"No, you idiot!" shouted Bush, "The child was Tony Blair!"

[glenn kangiser]

Good one, Peter and it would be funny if it weren't true. :-/

Actually it was pretty funny.

[Bufordt]

Butch the Rooster  
John the farmer was in the fertilized-egg business. He had several hundred young layers (hens), called pullets and eight or ten roosters, whose job was to fertilize the eggs.  
The farmer kept records and any rooster that didn't perform went into the soup pot and was replaced. That took an awful lot of his time so he bought a set of tiny bells and attached them to his roosters. Each bell had a different tone so John could tell from a distance, which rooster was performing. The farmer's favorite rooster was old Butch, a very fine specimen he was, too. But on this particular morning John noticed old Butch's bell hadn't rung at all! John went to investigate. The other roosters were chasing pullets, bells-a-ringing. The pullets, hearing the roosters coming, would run for cover. But to Farmer John's amazement, Butch had his bell in his beak, so it couldn't ring. He'd sneak up on a pullet, do his job and walk on to the next one. John was so proud of Butch, he entered him in the county fair and Butch became an overnight sensation among the judges. The result ...the judges not only awarded Butch the "No Bell Piece Prize" but they also awarded him the "Pulletsurprise" as well.  
Clearly Butch was a Liberal in the making. Who else but a Liberal could figure out how to win two of the most highly coveted awards on our planet by being the best at sneaking up on the populace and screwing them when they weren't paying attention.  

Bufordt

[benevolance]

Bird Flu

Did you hear President Bush's newstrategy to fight the Avian Flu?

He is going to bomb the Canary Islands

[hunter63]

Ya'll seem to be led astray easily.

[Amanda_931]

I hate topic police!

[glenn kangiser]

You got that right Amanda, --- that is like picking on those of us who are so old and senile we can't remember what we were just talking about so every so often we wander off into the ether.  

Bufort,  I have to substitute the word Politician for liberal because they're all trying to get into my pants.  ( I guess I must look like a hot little number to those polies, eh?, Jonesy)

[Sassy]

the polies have probably been peeking at CountryPlans & got an eyeful of you guys in your pink tutus - John better especially watch out!  

[hunter63]

Just funnin'.

[glenn kangiser]

I know Amanda has a good sense of humor so I can say, Us too.

[hunter63]

I don't know how it works in other parts of the country, but arount here a "trucked in cabin" on blocks etc. is considered a "mobile home", so alot of codes don't apply.
Something to look into.

[Amanda_931]

I sent Butch the Rooster on to the local head of the Democratic Party.

He thought of a couple of changes, "Karl the Rovin' Rooster" for one.