Avondale condemns home: Solar, batteries insufficient

[muldoon]

tyranny. 

Avondale condemns home: Solar, batteries insufficient
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/01/27/20100127-avondale-condemned-no-electricity.html

An Avondale woman who spent 11 days sleeping in her car said the city treated her unfairly when her home was condemned in December for lack of electricity.

But city officials said Christine Stevens violated building codes, a health and safety concern because Avondale homes are required to have heating systems and a running refrigerator.


slideshow Avondale home with no electricity condemned

Stevens, 47, was trying to make ends meet by powering her home with solar panels and batteries for several months before Avondale code enforcement officials visited her on Dec. 10.

"We explained to her that the panels weren't enough to sustain a quality of life there," said Pam Altounian, code enforcement manager for Avondale.

Stevens said she was not given adequate notice before officials gave her 24 hours to contact Arizona Public Service Co. to reconnect electricity or her home would be condemned.

Avondale said a code enforcement officer, Carlena Jones, inspected the property in the 2300 block of North 123rd Lane on Oct. 21 and Nov. 4 and left a notice of violation hanging on the door. According to case reports, both notices went unanswered.

"I acknowledged that I remembered seeing something but it didn't look official, and I only saw one. It looked like something from my homeowners association," said Stevens, who lives in the Rancho Santa Fe subdivision.

But Avondale records show Stevens told officials she had received both notices, marked: "Avondale code advisory." Both hangers give a notice of complaint and instructions to call a code officer.

Case documents cite a complaint from a neighbor in October. The unidentified woman complained about the property's appearance and said she believed there was no electricity powering the home.

When Stevens failed to contact Avondale after Nov. 4, Altounian contacted Avondale police and asked for information on her home.

[pagan]

From the pictures it looks like she's using car batteries. Either way, doesn't look adequate for a whole house system, even given the sun she gets. Give her credit for trying, but it certainly appears a nosy, complaining neighbor was what got the authorities involved. I'm sure the neighbor was just trying to protect his or her property value.

[RainDog]

"Avondale officials said Stevens was in violation of the city's building codes. The city requires homes to have enough electricity to power a refrigerator, cool a residence to no higher than 88 degrees and heat a residence to at least 68 degrees."

WHAT?

[MountainDon]

I wonder what the meter tampering was really all about?

I also wonder where one finds the money to buy panels and stuff when they can't pay the electric bill?  I know our bill may not be typical but we use an average of $50 a month, 400 - 500 KwH a month. I couldn't buy much in the way of solar equipment for a years worth of electric utility bills.



As for the code requirements, they do seem to very very restrictive; carrying the heavy hand of government. But they were in place when the houses were built.

[Squirl]

I don't blame her for thumbing her nose at the power company, but her set up seems to violate the electrical code pretty severely.  And if her house has electric heat, I wouldn't blame them.  If your heating system isn't up to code in most areas of the county you would be condemned.  I would try not to purchase a house in an area like that in the first place.  A condemned house does nothing to help the neighbors property values.  It gets forclosed and property values continue to plummet.

What gets me is where did the money come from?  7 solar panels at what looks like 75 watts each would cost and eight batteries would cost at least $1500.  How much does a year of electric cost?  She could have left it connected and simply not used it.  Shut off the water heater.  Turn off the furnace.  Unplug the appliances.  Houses don't use power, people do.  A $300 energy star fridge from best buy would cost less than $50 a year to run.  I have gotten $8-9 electric bills before.  If she was running off of solar panels and batteries she could have afforded to be in compliance with the laws.  

So much just doesn't add up.  They shut off her electric in January 2009.  She was laid off in January 2009.  Normally they don't shut off any utility for a few months without payment.  Even with all the payments to get her power turned back on it was only $1300.  Probably far less than her solar set up cost.   Also, she had neighbors complaining, notices left on her door, and a home owner association and she didn't know there where building codes?

Do I think the law is stupid?  Absolutely.  I now know to stay away from Avondale.

[pagan]

The tampering probably comes from either disconnecting the meter, or allowing it to run backwards without a proper solar grid tied connection.

[MushCreek]

Lots of places have a minimum heat requirement. IBC 2006 calls for a 68 degree minimum. I read about a zero energy house that was so efficient, they didn't need ANY heat, but still had to install a (useless) furnace to meet code. I guess now we have the heat police, and the A/C police, and the electricity police.....

[glenn kangiser]

I think a key thing here is that she pissed off the neighbors.  It then becomes a problem that the government will likely act on. 

Here the building inspector said he wished a couple feuding guys - one a friend, would just leave each other alone so he would not have to go hassle them.  Bad neighbors get the law called on them.  Death by inspector.  I don't like gov. interference but would not live in an HOA area either.

[pagan]

Similar thing happened a few towns over from me. A woman my wife knows had lived in a small cabin with an outhouse for almost twenty years. One fine day one of her neighbors asked her to give him an easement so he could build a logging road through her land so he could log his land without having to drive around everybody else's properties. She said no, that she didn't want him driving his logging truck through her back yard, which was where he wanted the right of way. He said he wouldn't be driving his truck, it would be his skidder. She again said no. He asked her why. She stated her reason again. The next day the town septic inspector showed up with two state officials asking her if she had a septic system. She said she used the outhouse. They asked her if this was her summer camp. She stated this was her primary residence and that she lived there year round. They handed her a cease and desist letter giving her ninety days to install a state approved septic system or she'd be forcibly removed from her property. In Vermont you can only use an outhouse for no longer than 6 months duration per year. When she was having her septic plans approved by the town the clerk told her a "concerned neighbor" had called to report her violation of state septic regulations. She later heard from another neighbor that it was the logger who had reported her, he was bragging about how she had to pay over $20,000 to have a septic installed, all ledge and clay, so she needed a mound system, and that maybe next time she'd think twice about giving him a right of way through her land. Word got out and he isn't welcome with any of his neighbors anymore.
Point is, neighbors who now the law can really cause trouble for you if you're skirting the law.

[RainDog]

It's really scary, the trouble that people can send your way if they want to. For instance, someone could make an anonymous call to Human Services alleging child abuse, and Human Services is then obliged to come into your home and investigate, needing no warrant. Whatever their findings are, they still put the incident on record. All because of whatever. The neighbor doesn't like you for some reason.

My wife has a client that this has happened to, and they live in fear of another anonymous report because each additional report ramps up the investigation.

There's no action you can take against the person responsible, because the system is set up to encourage reporting anonymously so that people won't be afraid of repercussions if they see and report child abuse.

You'd have to be a pretty damn mean person to do that to someone, but hey, some people are.

[pagan]

And like you said, each subsequent report causes the ensuing investigation to be in greater depth until there may simply not be an investigation, just a presumption of guilt.

[eddiescabin]

She deserved the RED TAG, she ignored the notices, she may deny it but BS!  Nobody wants a freak living next door, I'd call the cops too!