People's Republic of Michigan

[Kyle_in_Tex]

How close are you to the road? There are some people that live on the main highway going into town. The place looks like a low budget compound. Burned down shed still barely standing. 2 or 3 old trailer homes and a travel trailer piled into a couple acres, crap everywhere. I actually wish the county could/would make them clean up the place. It is an eyesore for the whole town. But they are technically out of the city limits. One of the neighbors next to them has constructed a tall wall using tall tin even though there home is about a 1/2 mile further back on their road.

 

[MacLawn]

We've got the same thing going on in Mississippi. It seems the "church ladies" don't like the mess.

Now hold on there, newbury, Mississippi? Hey, I live here, Mississippi, that is. You mean you have a situation similar and as bad as old tlm up in Michigan? I can understand if someone has a real junque yard mess in their front yard or some such foolishness, but for kids to just build a hut, etc., and some knuckleheads saying they might need a permit for that, to me seems a bit crazy.

 

[3930dave]

We've got the same thing going on in Mississippi. It seems the "church ladies" don't like the mess.

I take it you don't have the "cool" type of Church Lady down your way ?

Dana Carvey Drum Solo - YouTube

OP - I thought it was only Canada that was polluted with bureaucrats.....

Once they exist, they have to justify their existence.

I had one minor situation come up where I live, but fortunately it faded away. If it had persisted, I was going to pursue a Safety strategy on another matter. The sidewalks are in bad shape, and are a trip hazard to walk on. I was going to prepare a well documented and pictured report, and stop by the Town Office. I would have very politely commented that since an inspector was spending a lot of time around my property, that had reminded me of this ongoing public safety issue.

I don't normally play games, unless provoked. Without actually saying so, I would have gotten the message across that if my minor "issue" didn't disappear, then I would make it my mission to make sure that every local elderly person that tripped and fell on the sidewalk had a copy of the dated report I submitted, after I had helped them with their injuries. Same goes for the weekend Lake People (lawyers typically), when their "precious" little offspring trip and ruin a pair of $200 pants.

Most people want less pain, vs. more pain. I don't like picking fights with City Hall, for the reasons already cited. But, if there is another local issue (that they have responsibility for, and don't want highlighted), that can be a negotiating angle to play, to at least buy some time.

If it's going to scrap, best to just get it there soon. I do like the artist exhibit approach though !

These laws were drafted for the really bad properties. I was told of one in a town south of me that had the yard forcibly cleaned up. It was really bad, think Hoarders, but outdoors. Not a big property, but it took something like 6 full size rolloffs to clear. Heard that not many months later, it was pretty well filled back up. Those are the folks these laws are for. Field officials with not enough to do take these laws and go find a "problem" to fix.

Good luck, and if you go that route, post Pics of your Artiste Exhibite !

Rgds, D.

 

[tlm720]

Small pile of scrap aluminum, copper, and steel probably 150 to 200 feet off the road and behind the house. I have 1/4 mile of road frontage and it is visible from the road as you drive by. I downloaded a copy of the local ordinances and for agricultural zoning I can find nothing about screening or having salvage material hidden from view. Unless I have a home based occupation, which I don't, then there are stipulations about storing materials. If they could classify me as a scrap or salvage yard the same would apply. I do have one unregistered vehicle that is also destined for the salvage yard. It takes two or more before they can call my place a junk yard. Of course 2 of my registered vehicles look like they are junk!

I would be surprised if a neighbor complained. I'm the one who plows everyone's snow, mows their overgrown areas, grades their driveways, plows their gardens, digs out rocks, and other things.

The zoning enforcement officer said that she drove by about a month ago and then came by again and noticed the stuff still there.

My biggest problem is not that it needs to be cleaned up. My biggest problem is that the zoning ordinances have become about one thing and one thing only, especially since the Headlee Amendment passed in Michigan that restricts the rate our assessments can rise to the rate of inflation (in exchange for going from a 4% sales tax to a 6% sales tax). That is the almighty dollar. The only way they can raise our assessment higher and get around the Headlee Amendment is if we have to pull a permit for everything because we are "improving" our property. This has created the almighty and not directly elected planning and zoning department that justifies the existence of zoning enforcement officers by catching and fining or collecting permit fees from anyone they can.

If a neighbor had an issue with it then they should be man (or woman) enough to come over and discuss it. I would gladly deal with that. In fact in not to distant of past, the neighbors would probably be over helping to clean it up and haul it away because that's what neighbors do.

 

[Tomtint]

Where I live, if I welded up a pile of scrap and called it art. The town would love it. They would send out the assessor the next day to tally up how much I have added to my property value so they can bump my taxes.

 

[the old grind]

One problem is that the OP is awfully close to Lansing's ultra-hip do-gooder culture of solutionism, where all problems will be solved by a person sitting at a desk/keyboard with little or no field experience to cloud their judgment. California and Colorado have nurtured this mind-set for over a generation and it's sure to spread Eastward.

btw: Michigan is basically a 'conservative' state by county and where every other governor has been a Republican, well since G Mennen Williams. It's just never so obvious when electoral votes are counted in Presidential elections.

Anyway, most anywhere here in the State a building permit is required if a structure is fixed to the ground and/or must have some sort of foundation. If not (something of a 'shed' then) and with some leniency in defining how/whether it can be moved, it should only have to be the proper distance from property lines. Whether it's an eyesore is mostly an emotional assessment, but it only takes one itchy neighbor to complain about something. Good luck with the etiquette police. :thumbsup:

 

[dave1949]

I understand the OP's gathering scrap from everywhere, scattered and buried for generations likely. I've done my share of that here. Like others said, if you accumulated it out of sight, nobody would even notice.

From the inspector's perspective, he doesn't know if you are an "entry-level hoarder" , or someone with good intentions and a busy life. It is his job to stay on top of those things. Apparently enough area voters and residents think it's necessary to protect their own property values and so forth to have some control over blight.

Nipping blight in the bud is a lot easier than filling numerous roll-offs and adding the cost of that to your property tax bill. As mentioned above, that can go on for years.

Philosophically, it is one of those majority-minority issues. To what extent does a majority have the right to dictate to a minority? I would say, in the case of property blight, that if no health threats are involved like rats and mosquitoes, etc., then it becomes a gray area as to what control a majority can expect to exert.

I don't think there are any easy or clear cut answers. I wouldn't want to live near an eyesore, or have my property devalued because of that. The reality for neighbors is that a junker nearby can cost them money. I wouldn't expect them to not look after their own interests.

 

[tlm720]

Higher property values only benefit you if you are trying to sell or get a loan. I'll take lower the property values any day. Big brother gets enough of my money as it is.

The whole housing system is broken. Can't start small and build what you can afford. Have to meet someone elses requirements and go into debt up to your ears. Who does that benefit? The bank who gets your interest, the county who gets the higher taxes, the insurance companies who make a profit covering the risk.

Sorry, I do everything I can to avoid playing by THEIR rules. I owe no money on my home, just a small amount on the land that will be paid off shortly and have no other debts. I have no insurance on either of the two homes I own. I'd rather take the risk.

I heat only with wood and have no backup. Insurance companies love that! I also have extensively modified my woodstove to both heat water and have a big enough blower for central heating, another thing insurance companies love. Again, I'd rather take the risk because then I get the reward.

We've done so much in this country to protect people from their own mistakes that we have a population that has lost all common sense. When someone else isn't there to tell them what to do they are clueless (obviously that does not apply to members here!).

The Bible makes it clear, the borrower is slave to the lender. It also says to owe no one anything. If only people understood those truths! That's part of what it means to be free.

And neighbors means you know each other, help each other, and talk to each other, not that you live nearby!

 

[Larry Caldwell]

I sure wish somebody would do that to some of my neighbors. They have every junker they have ever owned, and they never fix anything. If something breaks down, instead of spending $2500 for a new transmission, they go out and spend $25,000 for a new rig, then don't maintain it. Some of the junk they have sitting around was there when I bought this place 20 years ago. One piece of yard art has the hood up and a 20' tree growing up through the engine well. The county has a code enforcement officer, but they won't let him write a citation without approval of the commissioners, which they rarely give.

 

[dave1949]

Higher property values only benefit you if you are trying to sell or get a loan. I'll take lower the property values any day. Big brother gets enough of my money as it is.

The whole housing system is broken. Can't start small and build what you can afford. Have to meet someone else's requirements and go into debt up to your ears. Who does that benefit? The bank who gets your interest, the county who gets the higher taxes, the insurance companies who make a profit covering the risk.

Sorry, I do everything I can to avoid playing by THEIR rules. I owe no money on my home, just a small amount on the land that will be paid off shortly. I have no insurance on either of the two homes I own. I'd rather take the risk.

Higher property values in general isn't the point. Let's say relative to surrounding homes, my home is worth less (on the market, not to the assessor) because there is an eyesore nearby. I don't think assessors lower values unless the nearby blighted property is in really poor condition. That will cost me money if I sell, and most folks sell eventually.

The issue of "fairness" comes into play. Why should I lose money just because I was lucky enough to have Junker Joe move in next door, while others, paying the same tax rates do not? Life may not be fair, but people will try to make it so.

Anyways, good on you for cleaning up your land. That's commendable.