Could this happen to you?

Links and discussion to broaden our horizons

Moderator: matt walker

Could this happen to you?

Postby pa_friendly_guy » Tue Jan 07, 2014 12:51 am

We have joked on here about my Zoning issues from time to time, but here is a guy practicing Permaculture that really does have a zoning issue. He could lose his house over the fines.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/oddnews/man ... .html?vp=1

I would love to hear what people think about this, what we can do, and how we can change how people think. My Township does not have zoning of any kind, you bought the Land, you can do what you want with it [ Other than you do need a sewage permit and a building permit ] but all in all pretty open here where I am. Others are not so lucky.
Never doubt that a small group of dedicated people can change the world, indeed it is the only thing that ever has.
User avatar
pa_friendly_guy
 
Posts: 1502
Joined: Sun Jan 08, 2012 9:24 pm
Location: SW Pa They changed me to zone 6a what ever that is. I still figure zone 5

Re: Could this happen to you?

Postby GrahamB » Tue Jan 07, 2014 2:25 am

I think in this case I would be siding with his neighbors. You can have a productive garden and still have something that is a pleasure to look at. That wasn't. There have been a couple of these in the news lately and the ones I've seen have all been pleasant to look at as well as providing the owners with fruit and vegetables.
I think if someone is going to do this, then they have to take the neighbors into consideration. If he had been a little more considerate, he might have even converted his neighbors to the cause.
No matter how many mistakes you make or how slow you progress, you are still way ahead of everyone who isn’t trying.
User avatar
GrahamB
 
Posts: 234
Joined: Wed Mar 21, 2012 2:48 am
Location: SW Missouri

Re: Could this happen to you?

Postby pa_friendly_guy » Tue Jan 07, 2014 2:46 pm

I agree Graham, there is a right way to get things done, and then there is this guys way. I think I would have been talking to the City before I let the fines build up to $130,000. I would have tried to work with them, and the neighbors to find a compromise. He is however practicing permaculture the way it is envisioned to be practiced. Permaculture gardens are not manicured, they are not neat, they are not well kept in our traditional sense. They are productive, they are beautiful is a natural free flowing sort of way. The beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder. I agree that this young man did not help himself by blowing off the City, blowing off his neighbors, and letting the fines build up to $130,000 sum. That just makes him look like a Law Breaker, it gives many people a negative 1st impression before they read the facts. It makes him easy to dismiss as one of those Hippy Type Pinko Fags that we hear tell about, a crazy person who lives on the edge, someone who does not look like us, does not think like us, does not act like us. There fore he must not have any good idea, his thoughts must be loony, and we should dismiss everything he says. Many people, including that guys neighbors, think just like that, their minds are not open to new ideas, they are very comfortable with the status quo. The question remains, Could this happen to you?
Never doubt that a small group of dedicated people can change the world, indeed it is the only thing that ever has.
User avatar
pa_friendly_guy
 
Posts: 1502
Joined: Sun Jan 08, 2012 9:24 pm
Location: SW Pa They changed me to zone 6a what ever that is. I still figure zone 5

Re: Could this happen to you?

Postby DevilsBrew » Wed Jan 08, 2014 1:10 pm

He lost me at "no tp". Ha ha.

I have plenty of experience living with rules and regulations. I plan on being a urban homesteader/gardener/whatever in the near future. The fun is finding ways around those rules. :twisted:
EatPrayLaugh
DevilsBrew
 
Posts: 375
Joined: Tue Sep 17, 2013 4:55 pm
Location: Lover of The Freakshows of Flaming Death

Re: Could this happen to you?

Postby GrahamB » Wed Jan 08, 2014 7:05 pm

We live just outside city limits here, and since we moved in three years ago, people ask which one our house is. We tell them and they always reply "Oh yeah, the one set back with the really neat front yard. They don't say this because we have made the neat front yard, but the former owners were neat freaks when it came to the yards. They even laid concrete around the three oak trees so weeds would not grow around them. I have merely maintained it since we have been here, although one of my least favorite chores is cutting grass.
I plan to 'develop' it into a neat productive front yard as the years pass. I already have grape vines growing down the side chainlink fence. I plan to replace the numerous Rose of Sharron bushes with fruit, with herbs growing under them. One of the oak trees had to be removed, but I had a fairly tall stump left. The top of it is used as a bird feeder platform and the sides are producing bracket fungus.
We have an elderly couple living directly opposite us. We both live on opposite sides of a valley with the road leading into town between us. So we have a perfect view of each others property. They are a sweet couple but are nearly as fanatic about their yards as our previous owners were.
So in answer to the question... I don't think I would have too many problems with the city as we are outside their jurisdiction, but I would have a moral problem with the neighbors and the community in general. But with a little planning I can make that front yard a productive and yet pleasant looking patch of land.
No matter how many mistakes you make or how slow you progress, you are still way ahead of everyone who isn’t trying.
User avatar
GrahamB
 
Posts: 234
Joined: Wed Mar 21, 2012 2:48 am
Location: SW Missouri


Return to Educational Resources

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 0 guests

cron