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Well it was inevitable

F

frenchblueC2

amusé par les flatulences
Joined
May 14, 2001
Messages
14,442
Location
Youngstown, OH
Things were going too well for us, so I was waiting for the bad to come.

We got a letter yesterday from the city stating there was a complaint about our trailer. (considering we have good relationships with most of our neighbors, I can only think of maybe two houses that woulda done this, and I'm sad that they didn't feel comfortable enough to approach us first)

So a city person apparently came to inspect our property and found the placement of the shed and trailer are in violation of city ordinances.
The letter is confusing as hell though. It bounces between shed and trailer that I'm still not sure if they're talking about both being in violation or if they are merely referring to the trailer as a shed sometimes.

We've owned the house for almost 5 years now. The shed was in the middle of the yard when we bought it (not that we've ever liked its placement). We have no idea how it got there or if it's in violation. You'd think this issue would have been raised already, especially when we had a property assessment done for tax purposes.
The property assessment clearly states there is a shed on the property. But this letter makes it sound like the city had no prior knowlege of the shed.
So that's what makes me wonder if they're not talking about the shed at all, but only the trailer.

They want us to pull a bunch of paperwork and file for permits.
My stomache is in knots because this is all so very confusing.
I'm going to try to call their office today and get more clarification. I'm nervous as heck though. I just hope I can maintain composure and that they can actually help answery my questions.

There's a guy in my office that holds a couple town council positions, so I may go ask him to read the letter and help me decipher it. He's a really strange guy though, so I'm kinda hesitant to go ask for his help.

ugh stress!
 
I would be to scared to approach you too..... :D.

Good luck, I hate neighbors that can't just let you know something is bothering them....
 
My dad used to own his own painting company for 27 years or something ridiculous.

Anyways, pulling permits isn't really that bad. Just go in prepared to jump through hoops. You can also visit your county's website and see if they have any details about the permit office and the process. Take a deep breath and realize this isnt that bad of a problem, it's easily rectified, and you'll come out on top.
 
You have to pull a permit to park a trailer on a gravel area of your yard that is essentially a makeshift extension of the driveway?
 
the more I read it, the more it looks like we need a permit for the shed. It appears whoever put the shed there before did not research zoning or pull the proper permits.
So we have to submit plans for the shed (no idea if that means I gotta measure and draw a diagram yet), and apply for a permit.
The thing is, we don't even want the stinkin shed there, we just haven't had the opportunity to get rid of it and put in a shed that we want at the rear of the property (and most likely would need a permit for).

I'm waiting for a callback to get more clarificatin on the whole issue.
But it does seem things might be simpler than I expected. And the permit fees seem pretty cheap (but who knows if they'll grant us a permit, that's what I'm still not sure about - shed might be too big or located incorrectly)
Frankly, I'm at a point right now where I just want to tear that danged shed down and temporarily store everything under the deck.
The stupid thing has been an eyesore since we moved in.
 
I don't get how it got overlooked when you took over ownership of the house...Stupid city. Tell them to shove it :D
 
funny thing is one of Mike's coworkers a couple years ago asked if he could have the shed (since Mike mentioned we wanted to get a different style for the back of the yard).
I really don't want to pay to have that thing removed.
I'd rather disassemble it and stand on the remains triumphant. :laugh:
 
zorrex said:
I don't get how it got overlooked when you took over ownership of the house...Stupid city. Tell them to shove it :D
Click to expand...

This.

The complaint should have been raised when the house was sold. If it was in violation of zoning laws, it would have been brought up then, and the house would not have been sold legally. We ran into the exact same problem with our house when we bought it. A shed was right on the lot line, and had to be moved or removed. Fortunately, our neighbor paid for it to be picked up, spun around, and put on his property.

As far as the trailer goes... I'm not surprised someone complained about it. People always have to ••••• about something.
 
can't say I'm proud of where we have the trailer parked, but until we're ready to move, that's what we've done.
We've had it for over a year now. People have had plenty of time to gripe about it. Not sure why they waited this long, especially now that we've put in the extra money to do better landscaping down there.
oh well

The issue of the shed not being brought up when the house changed hands a few times also makes me wonder.

One point my boss made - for all anyone knows, the shed could have been there before 1998 when they started developing the rest of the neighborhood. For 20 years, our house was the last one at a dead end. It was all trees adjacent to the property before then. So if the shed has been there since before 1998 (not sure how to prove it), then back then it wasn't in violation of anything.
 
Pull a burn permit if your town requires one. Or pull out the roasting forks and hot dogs. When the fire trucks pull up tell them you are having a campfire and how do they like their weiners.
 
I spoke to my buddy, who is an attorney [and a fellow SVT owner :) ]. Told me this was a common legal problem, called RESTRICTIVE COVENANTS. You would have to take a look at the papers you signed when you bought your house. If it specifically mentions that you CANNOT have it in those papers, then you have to remove it, or apply for the permit.

If there is no mention, you have a good cause to dispute this.
 
The guy called me back around 3. He was really nice and helpful, he even kept giving me advice on how to delay the whole process (and even how to trick the system and have them close our case then put our stuff back the way it was lol!)
We have a few options, some cheap, some not.
We can file for a permit to move the trailer or put up a new one and park the trailer on a different part of the property. The issue is that the trailer is parked too close to the street and the shed is not far enough back.
Being on a corner lot screws us because we essentially have two "front" yards and there are rules about where the front yard ends and where the rear begins.
There are also rules about how close to your property line you can put a shed or park a vehicle.
I'm not going to type out all the details.
So we are going to figure out what we're willing to do.

He told me that it was good I called him right away, and as long as we keep in contact and show that we're trying to rectify the violations, they'll be very lenient with us.
If we file for a permit for the shed and to move it and move the trailer to a different spot, once approved, they'll give us a full year to make the changes.
So that is a relief.
Or if we want things the same, we can try to appeal to the zoning board, but that costs a little more and takes a little longer to go through. Not sure if we're willing to go that route, especially if they deny us, then we'll be out all that time and money.

He also offered to come by and help us measure things and give suggestions on different routes we could take.

Mike and I are pretty convinced that we're going to do the bare minimum and start looking for a new house. We never expected to live here more than 10 years anyway, and we're already at the halfway point.
 
Oh! I forgot to talk about something else.
He said that they have had a couple zoning violations that they've been investigating in the area. So you wanna know how ours got reported? One of the people that was being investigated started lashing out and tattling - "well if THEY can do it down there, why can't I?" bleh

So I guess it's good to know that it wasn't one of our close neighbors being complainy-pants. None of them are in violation of anything from what I can see. It may be some houses a few blocks away.
 
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