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What I woke up to...
What I woke up to...
Before I bought my house, someone bought a piece of land diagonally across from my house, it came with a restriction that he could only build one house on the 17 acres. It only has a narrow strip of land facing the street. After he bought the land, he approached the neighbors with a sob story that he wanted to get the restriction removed so he could build two houses, one for him, and one for his son (who we later found out was 5 years old). The neighbors and the town agreed to his request. But soon afterwards he was asking the town for permission to build an 11 house subdivision.
I joined a couple of neighbors who were challenging the project. Eventually we ended up in court and he lost. A few years later, he tried again. This time for a 6 house subdivision (while we were waiting for the judge to make a decision, a couple of beavers dammed a stream running through the property and created a large pond and reduced the amount of land available for building (not that it really was buildable before the beavers got involved).
After 13 years and many appeals, he finally got permission to build, and yesterday they began cutting down the trees. This morning someone dropped off a large load of hay bales, partially blocking the road. It's in a really bad location, because in a curve in the road, so cars can't easily see past the pile. A few minutes ago, I peeked out the door and saw that there were two police cars out there, presumably to tell the guys to get their hay bales off the road.
I'm not looking forward to the ~500 dump truck loads of dirt they said they'll need bring in so they can put in septic systems (we're on a huge ridge of clay that makes drainage difficult).
At this point, Ann thinks the developer is crazy because the housing market has crashed and there probably won't be anyone who can afford to buy his houses.
Before I bought my house, someone bought a piece of land diagonally across from my house, it came with a restriction that he could only build one house on the 17 acres. It only has a narrow strip of land facing the street. After he bought the land, he approached the neighbors with a sob story that he wanted to get the restriction removed so he could build two houses, one for him, and one for his son (who we later found out was 5 years old). The neighbors and the town agreed to his request. But soon afterwards he was asking the town for permission to build an 11 house subdivision.
I joined a couple of neighbors who were challenging the project. Eventually we ended up in court and he lost. A few years later, he tried again. This time for a 6 house subdivision (while we were waiting for the judge to make a decision, a couple of beavers dammed a stream running through the property and created a large pond and reduced the amount of land available for building (not that it really was buildable before the beavers got involved).
After 13 years and many appeals, he finally got permission to build, and yesterday they began cutting down the trees. This morning someone dropped off a large load of hay bales, partially blocking the road. It's in a really bad location, because in a curve in the road, so cars can't easily see past the pile. A few minutes ago, I peeked out the door and saw that there were two police cars out there, presumably to tell the guys to get their hay bales off the road.
I'm not looking forward to the ~500 dump truck loads of dirt they said they'll need bring in so they can put in septic systems (we're on a huge ridge of clay that makes drainage difficult).
At this point, Ann thinks the developer is crazy because the housing market has crashed and there probably won't be anyone who can afford to buy his houses.
no subject
I believe this particular tract was at least partially open--remember, 100 years ago this area was all farmland, barring the swamps. It's the blind corner that's most of the problem.
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Plus there's the fact that your lawnmower and snowblowers have almost no environmental controls.** According to the California Air Resources Board, a 2006 lawnmower engine produced 93 times more smog-forming emissions than a 2006 automobile. The EPA has stated that "one old gas powered lawn mower running for an hour emits as much pollution as driving 650 miles in a 1992 model automobile."
**Catalytic converters are now being required by California on new lawnmower engines under 50 horsepower.
http://www.mindfully.org/Air/Lawn-Mower-Pollution.htm
no subject