The Local Town

[Joeyd6]

This communist state of NJ fined me $1000 today. I had three tress, planted by the town between the sidewalk and curb in 1965 as little trees. Guess nobody thought about the trees growing into power lines above or the roots rasing the sidewalks causing a tripping hazard. I live on a corner whihc was eesignated this year as a bus stop for kids and "special needs" pick-up which has wheelchair kids. Under town law, we own and are responsible from the crub to the house. Town has curb out.

My corner has no "ramp." I, along with the parents, school bus company and school requsted the town make the curb handicap friendly on my corner since it is a bus stop for handicapped. Denied as the town has no DPW and contracts out all work and there is no funding for such. I also had three areas by the tress where the roost destroyed the sidewalk.

The power company came through last week and cut down two of the trees saying they were diseased. No hard feelings here as less leaves to rake. I had a guy come out, remove the stumps, remove the broken sidewalks, remove the roots under and pour a new sidewalk. While here I told him about the town and handicap ramp issue on the corner curb and asked how much more it would cost me to fix it. He offered....I pay for increased concrete PSI and volume for entire pour of panels, and he would cover the labor and re-do the curb to town standards that was ADA compliant. I gladly paid the $400 and told everyone I was fixing the issue so no need to kepe bringing a wood ramp or bothering town hall with calls. The school chipped in a $100, bus company $100, parents $100 and gave it to me Monday. I tried to refuse but they insisted.

Work was done Monday. Today, fine from the township for $1,000. $500 for the "sidewalk obstruction" which was a orance plastic construction fence around the two freshly poured areas (4' x 15') to prevent them from getting ruined for the first 48 hours and $500 for altering township property (aka the curb) without permission from the town council.

I called the town and I found I can pour concrete but can't block the are to prevent folks from walking on it while wet. Additionally, I realized for the curb issue it required a application, presentation at the next town hall meeting, public notice for two weeks in the newspaper at my cost, read at the next town meeting, referred to the planning board for 30 days, who then returns the answer to the next town council meting who then send it to code enforcement for 30 day review and then back to the council for a public hearing and then I get approved for a permit. So 120+ days just to get approval. I was not the MORON twon official who put the handicap bus stop on a corner with no handicap ramp! And I cost the town nothing!

The wife and I discussed it...fight it and make a big deal or pay it and make a point. We chose the later. I wrote the check and called the local TV and newspaper. They stopped by my house and with the parents we walked to the mayors house.......a few block away with their children in wheelchairs. The mayor has no idea who I am, but if I am paying the town for a screw up on my part, I wanted to give it to the mayor. With the unannounced visit, media attention and my payment, he refused it and said he would fix it. I told him "No sir, we will fix come election time in November" and demanded he take the check. He did. We left and the media was there doing an interview of him. That was 6 pm.

Ironically I just got a call there was a "emergencyy town meeting" scheduled for Monday morning, and they are going to address my issue. They asked if I would be willing to sign a application, permits and a variance request with all fees waived. After such was done, they would reverse the fine and return my check, uncashed.

So how did the town find out the work was just done? A mason, from a different town who I did not use but bid on the work (and was charging me $1200 for the curb transformation) complained to the town. Bunus? he is not a licensed mason...karma will be fun for him Monday when I call the State and file a complaint with his estimate.

[retdetsgt]

Portland is worse. You own the parkway (sidewalk to curb), but the city has all the rights to it. They tell you what kinds of trees to plant, but you are responsible to take care of them.

A friend of mine had a hawthorn tree there and the roots were tearing up the sidewalk. He called the city and found out that as he suspected, he's responsible to fix the sidewalk, but has no right to touch the tree. He called around and found the fine for cutting down the tree was less than it would cost to fix the sidewalk so he did. Sure as hell, the city was out there immediately and fined him a couple of hundred bucks and came out the next day and planted flowering plums. Which drops tons of leaves in the fall that he's responsible for.

[Andrew G.]

Good lord. I have a story about the local building inspector & our state/town's obscene regulations... but I don't think I could say it in an appropriate manner.

I feel your pain.

[retdetsgt]

The socialist city of Portland technically requires you to buy a $200 permit to change the light fixture on your front porch. I had to replace the water line from the meter to my house when I lived in the city and did it over the weekend when building inspectors were off. Otherwise, it could have cost me over 200 bucks in 1976 for the permit. That would be close to a grand in today's dollars. I sold that house and never lived in the city limits again.

[JoetheGI]

Work was done Monday. Today, fine from the township for $1,000.

120+ days for city government to do the right thing, but only 72 hours to process and serve a fine.

That seems about right...



Between the throngs of people, liberalism, and ridiculous tax rates, I don't see how y'all can live up there in those northern cities. Pretty country, with all the hardwood trees, though.

[greg72982]

120+ days for city government to do the right thing, but only 72 hours to process and serve a fine.

That seems about right...



Between the throngs of people, liberalism, and ridiculous tax rates, I don't see how y'all can live up there in those northern cities. Pretty country, with all the hardwood trees, though.

The they complain they don't have any money. Bull****, they have it, they just spend it on wasteful things. NJ is alot like PA but I think it may be worse.

Good to hear using the media for good though...

[Joeyd6]

120+ days for city government to do the right thing, but only 72 hours to process and serve a fine.

That seems about right...



Between the throngs of people, liberalism, and ridiculous tax rates, I don't see how y'all can live up there in those northern cities. Pretty country, with all the hardwood trees, though.

Never thought about that joe.....and now that you mention it...it pisses me off even more!

A permit to change a porch light on the house? Sound like as carazy as here!

[McNulty]

The homeowner's association came along and planted two trees in front of every house on the block in the small grass strip between the sidewalk and the curb. Much like your town, apparently no one realized that this will completely destroy the sidewalks. I already have a hairline crack in one and it's only been about two years since the trees went in.

We don't maintain the sidewalk per se, but the HOA does. I've got a feeling if the whole neighborhood needs sidewalks re-poured, the HOA dues that year will be outrageous. They're already outrageous at $500/yr.

[retdetsgt]

I won't live where there is a HOA. The people that run them tend to be little Nazi's with clipboards.

I planted miniature crabapple trees, they don't get big enough to do any damage and the roots don't come to the surface.

[ChesCopPodz]

Y'all make me happier and happier that I live in the sticks each time you post this stuff.

I don't live in an incorporated town. I have a loose HOA that only will get on a resident about 3 things. Junk cars, way too tall grass (and I mean WAY too tall before they say anything), and a requirement that outbuildings either have to be A) traditional red barns or B) are painted to match the house.

The county doesn't have code enforcement, so the HOA is all I have to worry about.

[basher52]

So glad to hear it worked out for you in the end . Sour grapes by the mason, well, he will get his in the end.

Good seeing you last Thurs, let's get together soon.

[MikeG]

I won't live where there is a HOA. The people that run them tend to be little Nazi's with clipboards.

I planted miniature crabapple trees, they don't get big enough to do any damage and the roots don't come to the surface.

Actually, my HOA when the bubble burst is what held the banks feet to the fire. They forced the note holders to keep landscaping and pools from becoming nuisances. It all depends on the priorities. If there weren't so many foreclosures to watch, it would pro bably be a lot worse.

Good for you Joey. Remind me never to piss you off. I used to live on long island and I had never seen a sidewalk next to houses that didn't have tree roots lifting them up or power lines that didn't have trees growing into them. Then again, I never saw a house without a brick stoop so ramps didn't help much either.

[McNulty]

I won't live where there is a HOA. The people that run them tend to be little Nazi's with clipboards.

I planted miniature crabapple trees, they don't get big enough to do any damage and the roots don't come to the surface.

Any decent neighborhood around here has one. There isn't much choice, besides living way out in the country and I'm not interested in paying the fuel surcharge for living that far away.

[retdetsgt]

There harder to find here. I built in a neighborhood of all custom homes, not built by a developer. We found an architect, bought some plans from him, found a builder and then located and bought a lot. It took some effort, but I bypassed all the developer created neighborhoods. Besides, I didn't want my house necessarily looking like everyone else's either.