Some developers are swine.

[Snobdds]

NIMBY

The motto of the boomer.

 

[EscapedSuburbia]

While I sympathize with the OP, what he states ls little more than NIMBYism.

I don't know how the OP's area is zoned but it's no more NIMBYism to not want high density development in an Ag or rural area than it is to not want a pig farm to start up in the 'burbs. Of course, if you buy acreage near town and adjacent to large subdivisions you should expect growth to surround you eventually.

 

[BravoXray]

Unfortunate we are at a point in my county where some farmers and long timers can no longer afford their own property.

There is a huge uproar about a generational farmer that has sold his property to a data center developer. He also sits on the county BOS.

Another approach for the OP @BravoXray may be to enter discussions with the developer for his property. Use could be greenspace? Park? Fire station? Additional housing developments?

We have seen in this area property owners trying to sell their property that abuts future developments.

There was a proposal for a data center a few miles north of me, coincidentally, on the same county road. It would have covered a couple of hundred acres, would have required the town to upgrade their water system to supply the increased demand, and the electric utility to upgrade several miles of power lines. They public reaction was not good. Planning commission meetings was packed with protesters and angry adjacent land owners. As far as I know the request has been withdrawn or denied, thank goodness.
As far as selling out and moving, it ain't going to happen. I'm 75, this has been my home for 51 years, and they're going to have to bury me here. Until this is settled, I plan on being as big of a pain in their ass as I can possibly be.
I went to the first public commission hearing on the development this morning and there was a lot of opposition and a lot of issues raised pertaining to the load on the aquifer, as a couple of adjoining owners have had their well go dry recently. Also is an issue with drainage, as for as long as I have lived here, to the north of me is a portion of road that regularly floods when we get a fair amount of rain and especially in the winter when snow melts, floods the road and freezes, causing several accidents in recent years. Another issue raised was that there are a couple of protected species that are resident in the area that would be loose a portion of their habitat.
I was able to speak for a couple of minutes, ending with the statement that the developer has no interest in the area whatsoever other than making a bunch of money off the destruction of more farmland. I got a round of applause when I sat down.

 

[BravoXray]

How is it greed? People have to live somewhere, and much of the country is experiencing a housing shortage. Old, defunct farms have been parceled out to build housing on for a very long time.
While I sympathize with the OP, what he states ls little more than NIMBYism.

There is no housing shortage in this county. A quick search on Zillow showed over 700 houses for sale in this county, spanning every price range, so that an invalid argument.
One can only criticize the NIMBY argument until it's coming to your front yard.

 

[BravoXray]

BravoXray, not sure how much experience you have had over the years with hiring lawyers, but be very careful about hiring lawyers. From discussions I have had with several friends, and my past experiences with them, they verbally promise you the moon, time drags on, and all you get is delays and frustration. Then they eventually loose the case, and you still have to pay them huge amounts of money, for supposed work that was mainly done by a clerk, at lawyers wages !
The only way I would hire a lawyer any more is, they only get paid IF they win the case.

We're going to look for a lawyer that has a track record of fighting and winning cases against developers.

 

[BravoXray]

LOL.

We hear something like that a lot. BLANK will add xxx dollars to the counties revenue stream.

And yet after development our property taxes continue to climb.

At the meeting, one of the commission members had the temerity to state that the development would in fact lower property taxes on adjoining properties. He got loudly booed for that.

 

[deezler]

We hear something like that a lot. BLANK will add xxx dollars to the counties revenue stream.

And yet after development our property taxes continue to climb.

Indeed. The additional tax revenue to the county or township is not intended to help lower your existing property taxes - it is to add responsibilities and value at the township government offices, and thus their own importance and justifiable salary. The more residents and tax base a regional government attains, the more important all the elected and appointed officials are. They care not about the existing constituents or impact upon the land, generally speaking.

 

[deezler]

We're going to look for a lawyer that has a track record of fighting and winning cases against developers.

My only suggestion would to carefully read your townships master plan. Find all the ways that this proposed development is a poor fit for the master plan (preserving farming, nature, avoiding negative impacts on ground water table, stream quality (septic fields), road traffic concerns, etc. You can generate a list of very real impacts that are negative for the township quality of life, and put their own master plan's document's words in their own faces as proof of what should guide them. They'll likely use some word salad to talk around your concerns, but if a room full of 100+ people is angry enough, they have to at least listen.

 

[Runner]

We're going to look for a lawyer that has a track record of fighting and winning cases against developers.

Problem is, they are going to lunch and cocktails with the lawyers for the developers....

 

[BravoXray]

Seems to be quite a bit of development up there. Sucks, but that is the next little 'hot spot' it seems.

This county is unrecognizable from what it was 20-30 years ago. Dozens of industrial parks, hundreds of factories, that majority of which are recreational vehicle related. More RVs are built in Elkhart County that in the rest of the country. Then huge tracts of land are filled with houses to house all the people working for or owning all those businesses. Unfortunately, when the economy has a turn down, LOTS of people are laid off and some leave the area. Then when things pick back up, LOTS of people move back to the area, and more factories are built. Traffic has become a nightmare here. All the traffic has led to many roads having to be widened or completely rebuilt to withstand the traffic. Spring, Summer and Fall are always filled with road closings and detours because of all the construction. We have a saying around here, we have two seasons, Winter and construction.