run-ins with the law

[Fubar411]

I've got some neighbors that don't care for my woodpile. For the second year in a row, they've called the city on me. The code enforcement officer has told me, but has not produced, an ordinance that my wood must be 12" OFF the ground. I think the ordinance says minimum 12" high, to be sure it is a wood pile and not scattered wood. They're going to look it up and get back to me, but I'm sick of getting in trouble for processing my own wood.

And to make matters worse, the same neighbors called the city on me for having a small burn pile. I had three fire trucks and an ambulance show up with two police officers. They were right, my county doesn't allow open burns, so I'm going to get the biggest fire pit I can so I can legally burn what doesn't fit in my fireplace insert.

A little other history, they tried to get us in trouble for keeping chickens, but our city allows them. So they just wrote letters to the editor targeting us as making the street look like a third world country.

I'm wondering why it is such a big concern that people doing things "the old way" ie where nobody profits like the supermarket or the gas company seems so barbaric and out of place in civilized society. Is this what drives people to live out in the country? Cause I'm sure feeling like doing that.

 

[Butch(OH)]

Welcome to life in this USA is all I can say. Nobody owns a "home" anymore they live in an investment and that causes them to have grave concerns about everything they can see or smell from their investment. It doesn't get much better in the country my friend. They are dividing up my area 5 acres at a whack as fast as they can get the lots surveyed and every city slicker that invades us thinks he/she has a say in everything they can see. I just hope I am still alive when the shooting war starts, hate to leave it all up to my sons, they cant shoot fer nutten.

 

[user 19670]

A little other history, they tried to get us in trouble for keeping chickens, but our city allows them. So they just wrote letters to the editor targeting us as making the street look like a third world country.

I'm wondering why it is such a big concern that people doing things "the old way" ie where nobody profits like the supermarket or the gas company seems so barbaric and out of place in civilized society. Is this what drives people to live out in the country? Cause I'm sure feeling like doing that.

Yes, it is. Some people have nothing to do with their lives than to try and force others to conform or else and being packed closely together in the city seems to make them even crazier.
We live in the county and I cannot even begin to describe the freedom

 

[kevin j]

Is this what drives people to live out in the country? Cause I'm sure feeling like doing that.
__________________


We build a house on 10 acres in the 'country'. I came from a farm. years later, the city yuppies wanted to move the the 'country' also. after a year there wre all sorts of complaints about the dairy farm smell, or the machinery sitting around. We went to city hall meetings in support of the guy because he was here 30 years before any of us. Our attitude was if you move to the country, the country was here first and animals and smells are part of that. If not, stay in the city. So he got to keep his farm the way it was.

I live in city now, and keep the woodpile surrounded with nice lattice work on the neighbors side, don't saw or split after dark or before 9 on the weekends, etc. The guy that posted here with an electric motor in parallel to his gas engine was great idea. I hope to do that someday. I try to be considerate of the neighbors and think how it would look from their side also.

also helps to be known as the one to help or loan tools, weld up their boat trailers, etc.

k

 

[iCreek]

City dwelling suucks ..

Just a few weeks ago, in your neck of the woods, the Kirkwood shooting.. A quote from the shooter's brother as he felt his brother was being harrassed and targeted by the City staff.

The gunmans' brother, Gerald Thornton, reiterated today that his brother believed he was "going to war" with a city that did not respect his rights.

Makes you kind of understand how these things can happen. Not that shooting your neighbor or the City staff that gets called to your house is warranted, but explains how these things could happen, specially if someone is not real stable, how they could be pushed to do something crazy and as drastic as this.

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/DF9F175C2F225844862573E9001BDB9A?OpenDocument

 

[Haywire Haywood]

A neighbor like that might start having his tires go flat at night. I could seriously watch someone like that have a heart attack mowing his lawn and go pop some popcorn and enjoy a movie before I called the paramedics... "911 what is your emergency? My neighbor has been checking the blades on his mower for 2 hours now and I think he might need some assistance." :angry2:

Ian

 

[Mad Professor]

I was hunting on my own land (posted) I lived on for > 45 years and new neighbor (never seen her in my life before this....) comes by with dog on cross country skis:

"This land is posted, what are you doing hunting here?".

"Yes it's posted, thats my name on the signs, I'm the one that posted it, you are trespassing." With that she became a bit flustered............

P.S. My favorite bumper sticker: I was hunting for 40 years before you moved here

 

[Fubar411]

Just a few weeks ago, in your neck of the woods, the Kirkwood shooting.. A quote from the shooter's brother as he felt his brother was being harrassed and targeted by the City staff.

The gunmans' brother, Gerald Thornton, reiterated today that his brother believed he was "going to war" with a city that did not respect his rights.

Makes you kind of understand how these things can happen. Not that shooting your neighbor or the City staff that gets called to your house is warranted, but explains how these things could happen, specially if someone is not real stable, how they could be pushed to do something crazy and as drastic as this.

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/DF9F175C2F225844862573E9001BDB9A?OpenDocument

Actually, I live in Kirkwood, about five blocks from where the murders occurred. "Cookie" was a dishonest crook that refused to work with City Hall in any way. He had a paving and demolition business that never got permits and he parked several dual axle work trucks up and down his street. He was given the opportunity to erase over a hundred tickets, but he chose not to. He then decided interrupting city hall proceedings and acting like a child was the way to deal with it. So he's a crook, child, and murderer, yet somehow he became a martyr to some (but not many) in our neighborhood.

My problem is more the neighbor that chooses to call in everything. I don't call in my one neighbor that sometimes parks his truck on his front lawn piss ass drunk. And I don't call in the neighbor that has his kids running 2-cycle bikes up and down the sidewalk at all hours.

There are laws against those things, just like there are laws against me having a big ass pile of wood. But you don't sit there and call the law without talking to your neighbor first.

I am frustrated that the city/police won't tell me exactly who it is that is calling this stuff in, because they don't want a feud. And I can't claim harassment because technically I am breaking the law.

 

[Log Splitter]

I was hunting on my own land (posted) I lived on for > 45 years and new neighbor (never seen her in my life before this....) comes by with dog on cross country skis:

"This land is posted, what are you doing hunting here?".

"Yes it's posted, thats my name on the signs, I'm the one that posted it, you are trespassing." With that she became a bit flustered............

P.S. My favorite bumper sticker: I was hunting for 40 years before you moved here

LOL! I've had deer hunters try to run me off my own land too. It's a great feeling to put them in their place, but a bit dangerous when there are 3 of them with their rifles to 1 of you with yours.

 

[streeter]

I've got some neighbors that don't care for my woodpile. For the second year in a row, they've called the city on me. The code enforcement officer has told me, but has not produced, an ordinance that my wood must be 12" OFF the ground. I think the ordinance says minimum 12" high, to be sure it is a wood pile and not scattered wood. They're going to look it up and get back to me, but I'm sick of getting in trouble for processing my own wood.

And to make matters worse, the same neighbors called the city on me for having a small burn pile. I had three fire trucks and an ambulance show up with two police officers. They were right, my county doesn't allow open burns, so I'm going to get the biggest fire pit I can so I can legally burn what doesn't fit in my fireplace insert.

A little other history, they tried to get us in trouble for keeping chickens, but our city allows them. So they just wrote letters to the editor targeting us as making the street look like a third world country.

I'm wondering why it is such a big concern that people doing things "the old way" ie where nobody profits like the supermarket or the gas company seems so barbaric and out of place in civilized society. Is this what drives people to live out in the country? Cause I'm sure feeling like doing that.

^^^^^^^^^^

Sorry have to laugh at this one........I went thru this with my Brother and Mother a few years ago. (A little side note...I went to school with the judges son, my best friend. I plowed out 2 state troopers during winter time and another best friend (consider him my brother) is on the town board!) Let's just say my brother used the laws in his favor Word of advise....(atleast what I would do) use the laws against them, they will move

Doug

 

[Fubar411]

also helps to be known as the one to help or loan tools, weld up their boat trailers, etc.

k

Tell me about it. I'm the crazy guy with more than one chainsaw! if you can believe it. We've had plenty of downed trees from the last few years of ice storms. I've even loaned out saws and a generator, only to be reminded why you don't loan out a saw or a generator.

We are supposed to get 6 - 8 inches of snow tonight. I've got my saws sharpened up (thanks Mike M!) and 5 gallons of fuel.

 

[HUSKYMAN]

I had the opposite problem. My last house was on a dead end road with neighbors I got along with for the most part. I used to get up for work at 4am, so sleep was at a premium for me. Between the unemployed assclown behind me that liked to go mudbogging at midnight on Wednesday nights, the guy to the West shooting off 3" fireworks every other night, and the guy to the East having bonfires long enough for me to say Hi on my way TO work, I had enough of neighbors.

Now I am on 18 acres and the neighbors are 600 feet away on either side, and I am in heaven. Everyone keeps to themselves for the most part, just the way I like it

 

[acer saccharum]

The code enforcement officer has told me, but has not produced, an ordinance that my wood must be 12" OFF the ground. I think the ordinance says minimum 12" high, to be sure it is a wood pile and not scattered wood. They're going to look it up and get back to me, but I'm sick of getting in trouble for processing my own wood.

My town has all of its ordinances on line so they can be searched. Possibly yours are also. In my town chickens are mentioned, firewood is not.

 

[jerry wayne]

Dam yankees

Hadda couple that are school teachers move in "the Kountry",and the first thing he did was to start some :censored: over property lines and right of way......ended up on the losing side when he had found out via his paid for survey,that he accually lost an acre and a half.Tried to get me goin too...just dont have time to waste on stupid people yaknow!

 

[Mike Van]

We used to have some bumper stickers that read "Welcome to Kent - Now go Home"

 

[Wood Scrounge]

Well if you have lived in the country all your life you will just ruin the land. Know nothing know it alls have to save it, you are their burden.

 

[reaperman]

I still like the segment I saw on the "Learning Channel" once about the worst neighbor in the world. I can't recall everything he has done in the past. But I remember him making a rather large statue of a hand "giving the finger" which faced the main road. The city has tried over and over to stop the guy. But he is a very intelligent, fanatic who uses the law in his favor, and always comes out on top.

 

[iCreek]

We used to have some bumper stickers that read "Welcome to Kent - Now go Home"

Reminds me of a place my buddies hunt at in Montana... They have been going there for 30+ years, and every year when they leave the little town the locals mention "tell everyone you know this was the worst place you stayed, the people are terrible, the town stinks, didn't shoot anything, and you would never go back".... .Kind of their little secret.

 

[retired redneck]

I have lived in the country 31yrs , what i dont like is city people moveing out here, buying 1 or 2 acers and posting 200......................

 

[hornett224]

i'm not much on city folk.

if they're so smart,why does the city suck so muchand why did they leave.they just bring big city BS with them.