County says no camping on your own land !!

[aczlan]

If my property value goes down, that's less taxes I have to pay anyway.

I don't want anyone in my business either and where I live (unless you are runnign a junkyard) you arent likley to get code enforcement stopping in, but the problem is that the assessed value doesn't change, just what someone is willing to pay for your property or you cant find someone who is willing to buy because the buyers do like irwin did and look to see what the neighbors properties are like first and crossed your property off their list.

Aaron Z

 

[jinman]

Let's not forget that the county did not deny the OP the privilege of camping. They only wanted him to pay a $1350 permit fee. How is that any different than what we pay yearly for property taxes? I pay over $4000 per year in taxes on my property for the benefit of living here in a house I paid for. I just don't see the difference. Sure, none of us like those fees, but we all end up paying one way or the other. Any structure I put on my property leads to increased taxes. The OP was not denied, but just charged for the privilege. As with all areas, some pay more and some pay less. If he had done that in Texas, then it would have cost him a bunch less until he put in a structure, septic, or drilled a well. As soon as those permanent improvements go in, the tax man will surely come for a visit. Now don't think for a second that I like it. It is what it is and we all live with similar overbearing tax laws.

 

[sjerden]

I totally agree, and I actually do have a family living in a trailer down the road that is piled up with junk all around. Doesn't bother me a bit. I'm not a-bit afraid to knock on their door and ask if he has any spare junk laying around if I see something I need. And have done so several times.
If your rich enough to afford a half-million dollar property, then you've got more money than you know what to do with; hord it? Why not try helping out the poor, deluded individual with junk on his property and rent them a dumpster. Why not actually do what you learn in church, if you listen at all to the sermon.
The county will spend all the money we send to them. Just like the federal government, a bunch of crooks. Crooks and clicks - glad handing everyone. Nothing more dangerous than a bunch of stupid people working together on a committee.

Excellent post! You don't even live here and you understand how ridiculous this is. Everybody wants to be in everyone else's business and tell them what they can and can't do because of their precious property value. I have 32 pristine acres and no junk on it but I don't give a flying rip if my neighbor has junk on their property. You do what you want on your place and I'll do what I want on mine. If my property value goes down, that's less taxes I have to pay anyway.

 

[mikehaugen]

Let's not forget that the county did not deny the OP the privilege of camping. They only wanted him to pay a $1350 permit fee. How is that any different than what we pay yearly for property taxes? I pay over $4000 per year in taxes on my property for the benefit of living here in a house I paid for. I just don't see the difference. Sure, none of us like those fees, but we all end up paying one way or the other. Any structure I put on my property leads to increased taxes. The OP was not denied, but just charged for the privilege. As with all areas, some pay more and some pay less. If he had done that in Texas, then it would have cost him a bunch less until he put in a structure, septic, or drilled a well. As soon as those permanent improvements go in, the tax man will surely come for a visit. Now don't think for a second that I like it. It is what it is and we all live with similar overbearing tax laws.

This thread has been going on for a while now, and I don't remember the specifics, but I don't think the OP was "living" on the property- just spending a couple nights there. The thread took a turn and people started bringing up people permanently living in campers on their property. $1350 for a couple nights on your property seems a little steep to me, not really in line with the property tax comparison your brought up. And I don't think he was trying to evade taxes by camping there temporarily.

 

[aczlan]

I totally agree. If your rich enough to afford a half-million dollar property, then you've got more money than you know what to do with; hord it? Why not try helping out the poor, deluded individual with junk on his property and rent them a dumpster. Why not actually do what you learn in church, if you listen at all to the sermon.

The problem being that in most cases, the person with the junk on their property wants it there and considers it to be useful stuff. As such, they would be unhappy if their rich neighbor offered to rent a dumpster for them.

Aaron Z

 

[sjerden]

I know, but I'm still never been afraid to knock on their door and talk to them. We make too many assumptions with no real experience in these situations. We just send the sheriff.

The problem being that in most cases, the person with the junk on their property wants it there and considers it to be useful stuff. As such, they would be unhappy if their rich neighbor offered to rent a dumpster for them.

Aaron Z

 

[TheGoose]

Agreed. If you want that kind of experience, choose an area that is a gated type community or a HOA. When you live in the country you should be able to do a whole lot with your land without anybody telling you otherwise.

Excellent post! You don't even live here and you understand how ridiculous this is. Everybody wants to be in everyone else's business and tell them what they can and can't do because of their precious property value. I have 32 pristine acres and no junk on it but I don't give a flying rip if my neighbor has junk on their property. You do what you want on your place and I'll do what I want on mine. If my property value goes down, that's less taxes I have to pay anyway.

 

[NorTracNY]

I totally agree, and I actually do have a family living in a trailer down the road that is piled up with junk all around. Doesn't bother me a bit. I'm not a-bit afraid to knock on their door and ask if he has any spare junk laying around if I see something I need. And have done so several times.
If your rich enough to afford a half-million dollar property, then you've got more money than you know what to do with; hord it? Why not try helping out the poor, deluded individual with junk on his property and rent them a dumpster. Why not actually do what you learn in church, if you listen at all to the sermon.
The county will spend all the money we send to them. Just like the federal government, a bunch of crooks. Crooks and clicks - glad handing everyone. Nothing more dangerous than a bunch of stupid people working together on a committee.

Thanks for the great posts. It's nice to hear I'm not alone in believing people should be free to do what they want. Since the decline in church goers in this country, we don't seem to help out our communities. We just pay a bloated government to inefficiently spend our money and help everyone.

 

[jinman]

This thread has been going on for a while now, and I don't remember the specifics, but I don't think the OP was "living" on the property- just spending a couple nights there. The thread took a turn and people started bringing up people permanently living in campers on their property. $1350 for a couple nights on your property seems a little steep to me, not really in line with the property tax comparison your brought up. And I don't think he was trying to evade taxes by camping there temporarily.

Mike, you are right that it's a bunch different living on a property or spending a couple of nights per month. However, if you leave your camper parked on the site and it's hooked to the permanent well and septic left over from the mobile home parked there before, what is a county inspector to think? They do their job 9-5 Mon-Fri. If you are there only on weekends, then they probably don't see you there. Sure, they could write you a letter or call you, but they probably don't have time to listen to all the 'yada-yada' they'd get if they call. They are doing a job in line with county statutes. It's not their job to inform the public of the county ordinances. Try to tell a cop that he can't give you a ticket because you didn't know you had to have a license, insurance, and registration. I got the idea that the OP was upset that they had the audacity to come onto his property without his permission. I think most of us know how futile that line of thinking is against the local tax collector and health code inspectors. If that were a viable line of defense, everyone of us would have big posted signs and sit safely behind them doing whatever we please. The meth cookers would celebrate a law that allows that.

I sympathize with the OP and others. I think taxes are too high and rules too restrictive. What I'd like to see is a fair set of rules that can be enforced rather than spotty enforcement to please somebody with political influence. I'll surely sign up for the march on city hall about unfair enforcement practices and laws that waste taxpayers' money because they cannot be enforced.

 

[dave1949]

Whew, hot topic.

Regulations tend very much to be reactive in that they attempt to prevent, or provide a remedy for, unwanted, unsafe, or unhealthy actions taken by others in the past.

In the OP's case, without oversight it is easy to foresee that someone would end up running a de-facto campground using an open lagoon for sewage disposal. I'm not saying that is what the OP has done or would do, but you can bet someone has or would if allowed, while claiming nobody "lives" there. People play games with regulations all the time. Blame them, not the rest of the world.

Did the OP's county get the regulations right? Maybe not, maybe so but there are accepted methods of righting mistakes. Ranting here isn't known to be one of them.

I think Jim got it right several pages back, we all pay for the actions of a few. Theoretically, there is no purpose to having a code enforcement officer, or approved septic designs and such because everyone would use best practices and seek professional input where they lack knowledge. Right. That's not the real world.

Land ownership is a temporary legal construct. The land was there before us and will be there long after we are gone. There is only one earth and it has a finite amount of habitable land and clean water. It needs to be respected by all temporary owners.

We all have a vested interest in how individuals treat the land during their temporary ownership. Why anyone would assume they should be free to abuse it as they see fit while they temporarily own it is beyond me and a denial of the fact of finite resources.