Log pile and the town

[Nic36]

my gut feeling is that he actually is not breaking any ordinance whatsoever.

You're probably right. Complainers will usually throw out enough buzz words to force the official to go out. The first buzz word was probably something like "logs" or "firewood". When that was said to be legal, it probably turned into "junk" and "garbage" prompting the official to go out and look, if nothing more than a CYA measure.

 

[WILDSOURDOUGH]

Thank the Great Spirit-
We don't have no stinking code enforcement officers.
I would never live in any town or area that had 'codes'--- BS !
If you 'own' the property- no one should have any say as to what you keep there, what 'color' you paint,
or what you build on it- otherwise- you don't really 'own' anything.
This can be a two-edged sword- you could end up with a 'junkpile' neighbor, but to me, that is the price of freedom.
Just my opinion.

 

[JustWood]

Thank the Great Spirit-
We don't have no stinking code enforcement officers.
I would never live in any town or area that had 'codes'--- BS !
If you 'own' the property- no one should have any say as to what you keep there, what 'color' you paint,
or what you build on it- otherwise- you don't really 'own' anything.
This can be a two-edged sword- you could end up with a 'junkpile' neighbor, but to me, that is the price of freedom.
Just my opinion.

AMEN !


I have a junkpile neighbor and he minds his own business.

I always say " You do your thing ,I'll do mine"

 

[tradergordo]

Thank the Great Spirit-
We don't have no stinking code enforcement officers.
I would never live in any town or area that had 'codes'--- BS !
If you 'own' the property- no one should have any say as to what you keep there, what 'color' you paint,
or what you build on it- otherwise- you don't really 'own' anything.
This can be a two-edged sword- you could end up with a 'junkpile' neighbor, but to me, that is the price of freedom.
Just my opinion.

AMEN !


I have a junkpile neighbor and he minds his own business.

I always say " You do your thing ,I'll do mine"

That might work for you guys, but what about when your neighbor's junk pile (or pink polka dot house with neon signs) is preventing you from being able to sell your own house? In a worst case, you could go bankrupt or lose tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars because of it. There are times when one person's freedom infringes on another person, somewhere you gotta draw some lines. We've had similar discussions before in these forums - for example does a person have a right to burn a smoke dragon outdoor wood boiler when its an obvious nuisance to a close neighbor? If my neighbor did it to me, I wouldn't be very happy. On the other hand, I think we can all agree that a person should have a right to have a woodpile (I know places where homeowner associations ban wood piles outright believe it or not) and to burn seasoned wood in an EPA approved stove.

 

[Henz]

I am a County Planner by trade. I am totally for Zoning and Code Enforcement. Trust me, the munis that do not have zoning in my County look like hell. Those that do, look nice. Unfortunatly, for those of us who take pride in our properties, dont look at it as they are regulating us, when in essence they are regulating those who could care less about what their places look like. One example, you own a beautiful, well kept house. All of your neighbors are living in trailers with junk all around. Go ahead and try to get your fair market value on your home if you try to sell. Those junk neighbors are affecting you in your POCKET!

 

[WoodMann]

Sounds like some a$$hole neighbor. At any rate, get out there and get cutting like a MOFO just to take away any slightest ammo..............

 

[DiscoInferno]

An economist would argue that whatever the highest bidder is willing to pay, is "fair market value". Do you have the "right" to expect all of your neighbors to always act so as to maximize your property value, even if it lowers the value (in terms of enjoyment and utility) of their own property to themselves? If all my neighbors would just tear down their ordinary houses and build mansions, then my property would be worth a lot more.

When we were house shopping 10 years ago, I refused to even look at houses with a HOA, because I don't want my neighbors telling me what to do on my land. The county certainly has building codes that determined what was built there before and what can be built now, and other codes that can be enforced if someone really lets things go (I believe lawns have to be less than 12", for example) but mostly one simply needs to rely on shared mutual values and financial interest when choosing a neighborhood. If you buy a house amidst trailers, then you know what you're getting into.

Reasonable regulations on things like smoke are different, because smoke won't stay on your property.

 

[tradergordo]

An economist would argue that whatever the highest bidder is willing to pay, is "fair market value".

Yea, the problem is that the highest bid is usually a lot lower for a property surrounded by eyesores. Its all about compromises. Personally I think some zoning and code enforcement is a good thing, other times it goes too far, there has to be a good balance. I don't want someone telling me how many dandelions I can have in my lawn, but I also don't want a neighbor who thinks junker cars make excellent lawn ornaments. There has to be some reasonable middle ground.

 

[Henz]

Plus, who is to say that at the time that you were buying a house and your thought was that the neighborhood was decent, who is to say that all of your neighbors dont end up selling to those who are not as interesting in maintaining their properties.?

 

[JustWood]

Thank the Great Spirit-
We don't have no stinking code enforcement officers.
I would never live in any town or area that had 'codes'--- BS !
If you 'own' the property- no one should have any say as to what you keep there, what 'color' you paint,
or what you build on it- otherwise- you don't really 'own' anything.
This can be a two-edged sword- you could end up with a 'junkpile' neighbor, but to me, that is the price of freedom.
Just my opinion.

AMEN !


I have a junkpile neighbor and he minds his own business.

I always say " You do your thing ,I'll do mine"

That might work for you guys, but what about when your neighbor's junk pile (or pink polka dot house with neon signs) is preventing you from being able to sell your own house? In a worst case, you could go bankrupt or lose tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars because of it. There are times when one person's freedom infringes on another person, somewhere you gotta draw some lines. We've had similar discussions before in these forums - for example does a person have a right to burn a smoke dragon outdoor wood boiler when its an obvious nuisance to a close neighbor? If my neighbor did it to me, I wouldn't be very happy. On the other hand, I think we can all agree that a person should have a right to have a woodpile (I know places where homeowner associations ban wood piles outright believe it or not) and to burn seasoned wood in an EPA approved stove.

Any investor worth his salt would take into consideration neighbors and condition of neighboring properties before buying. The fact that many people didn't factor these things in is part of the reason for the mortgage crisis we are experiencing right now.

I bought my property 18 years ago with the intention of living my life out here . Not a short term investment. What my neighbor does on his property is none of my business. With 10 acres no one is very close anyway.

With the price of scrap metal so high there shouldn't be a pile of junk anywhere in the country.

 

[Jay H]

OK, I never got a call or anything from the town, so if they don't seem to think it's that important, I will treat it the same way.

In any case, I bucked up about 2 full logs today. Very nice in NJ today, didn't get over 70degs here, was a bit overcast so it was fairly cool, unlike last friday when it was 80 degs at 11am. Now I have about 10 big rounds I will split when I get the chance... I still got about 5 honky huge logs and 1 fairly small one to buck but it's beginning to shrink! Bought a new chain too...

Jay

 

[Jay H]

Finally got a call from the code guy, he seemed friendly enough and said he was on an unrelated complaint in the area and noticed the log pile and that I just had to show progress on bucking them. I told him that the date of the letter, I was actually out there cutting and this past saturday made another dent in the wood pile.

So we chatted a bit after that and then we disconnected...

I have another 2 or 3 cords of wood in that pile I think but I'm more than set for this upcoming winter... but I have some rounds to split now and will be hitting the wood pile as the weather permits in any case.

Jay

 

[Nic36]

There is a good chance he was probably keeping the complainant anonymous by telling you he was working another complaint.

If he was telling the truth, it sounds like he has too much time on his hands. You should have asked him for some help. I wonder how his regulations define "progress"? I doubt there is any such definition.

 

[Jay H]

Don't want to piss off the code guy though and frankly, I don't care if one of my neighbors complained, as I stated above, I was already working on my pile the day the letter was dated and the way the article was worded, it never stated anything other than "wood pile" and I talked to the code guy explaining what a wood pile is and that my actual split wood is behind my house... I now have a record of our conversation and I'll save the letter for future use but I'm not trying to push any buttons unless mine get pushed. I rather not get the courts involved as I have better things to do in my spare time.

In any case, if the guy is anything like the fire inspector who inspected my wood stove when I had it installed, I'm not sure if I'd want his help.

Jay

 

[Nic36]

No, you did the right thing. I was just doing some speculating since I have to work complaints from time to time. I find it hard to believe he went through the trouble of stopping at your woodpile. Most people would not go above and beyond for something like that. Maybe he's new or has a quota to meet, who knows.