Well, we had our day in court yesterday. The big-city tax-paid opposing counsel hired from Richmond failed to show up. At all. About eight minutes after nine, the judge told the county he was about to throw it our way since they were late, and he was not going to wait longer, but he convinced the county attorney to step up and take over, so he did, reluctantly. County attorney admitted the zoning office failed to provide us notice of the appeal process in the written notice of violation as required, and despite a code requirement to do so, and a state attorney general's opinion confirming that duty of the county to provide written notice of the appeal process available to the citizen, judge decided that it is still not too late for them to provide me notice NOW, so that is how he ruled. County, go back and do what you should have done exactly THREE YEARS ago, (county gets a do-over!), and we will have to pay hundreds more in fees to go through the board-of-zoning-appeals process now, and ask for a "priviledge" to use my own land for camping. All the eight months of attending county board and commission meetings to plead this case are now a waste, my 3 kids and I are three years older, being denied our rights, and my camping/hunting buddy is dead, waiting on this to be resolved.
