"Feel the wrath of big brother you will. Yes. Yes."
Posted on 01/18/2007 4:58:26 AM PST by Puppage
I love the way the town granted the Zoning Board member a retroactive building permit for the neighbor's three-year-old shed. This thing is going to get more and more embarrassing for the town.
They should just imagine how it will look when the parents hire an excavator to come and crush the child's playhouse --teddy bears, storybooks and all -- on Live TV while the adorable little munchkin wails in the background and reporters are pounding on Thomasina O'Boyle's car window asking for a comment.
I won an $8000 playhouse on a $10 raffle ticket last year. It is adorable - hardwood floors, barrel ceiling, beadboard walls, three little windows, and a circle top door. Since my children are in college, we put it out by our pool as a changing room for guests. The structure is a wonderful addition to our yard, and may even increases the value of my property. Thank God I live in Alabama where this type of government interference is rarely experienced.
The fight here is whether or not it's a shed or a play structure and how the town goes about determining which is which as well as whether or not to enforce an ordinance.
There are sheds decked out to look like houses, but most don't have nice windows and a porch. People normally don't put lots of windows on sheds to deter thieves interested in their lawn tractors, tools, etc. This little (emphasis on "little") playhouse isn't a shed, it's not used as a shed, and how the town made that determination needs to be examined very closely, especially since the neighbor was given a free pass. The playhouse, however, does have a concrete foundation (makes sense structurally), which could be part of the reason the town ruled as it did.
From what I understand in the video and news report, the lot sizes have restrictions as to how large a footprint any structure can have. It appears to be an actual zoning law rather than an association requirement, which surprises me a little. In this case, however, the town needs to either rescind the neighbor's permit for her shed or reclassify the playhouse to represente what it really is.
Doesn't look MASSIVE to me . My 8x10 shed is bigger. No porch on my shed.
My "Barnlet" is 12 feet X 8 Feet.
96 Square Feet.
Your lucky, my town used to be 100sf, about three or four years ago it was reduced to 64sf.
An intrusive government oversteps its bounds again. It sticks its nose into what was formerly called "private property", tells the people who formerly were called "owners" what to do, then has the gall to send a confiscatory tax bill every year.
First of all we don't know when or what laws were in effect when the neighbors built their shed so it's irrelevant.
Secondly the word structure has a clear definition, it doesn't really matter what you use it for, it's still a structure. How it's broken down from there (living space, storage, etc.)would be regulated as current law specifies. Many laws say you are only allowed a certain percent of a lot to be covered by structures. It's meant to prevent overcrowding of densely populated areas.
Couldn't this homeowner apply the "its for the children" rule here?
You can buy those at Home Depot for about $5.4K in Texas dollars.
another wacky CT town PING! Wasn't Stonington also the town a few years back where that homeowner painted his house black in protest of the neighbors fighting to not allow him to add on to his own house?
MEMBER OF THE ZONING BOARD?!
Hmmm.... I wonder what's buried under the neighbor's shed. Why won't she answer the door? What is the neighbor hiding? Has anyone seen her husband lately? Why have the neighborhood pets been disappearing? Where have they gone? Can any of these questions be answered with the removal of the former ZONING BOARD MEMBER'S ILLEGAL-SIZED SHED?
That must be the neighbor with the huge shed. People should follow their zoning regulations, but there seems to be a neighbor feud element to this one.
I talked to the building inspector first. He actually suggested the size. What with all the McMansions going in, he had bigger fish to fry and fatter tax generators to chase than a garden shed. He told me I could build several if I needed more storage. I have an acre, half wooded.
See the video on the website.
It is a playhouse. Not a shed.
An adult would have to duck to enter the doorway.
And the neighbor's "shed" is more like a full sized barn.
OTOH - Allegedly, the town inspector did review the plans for the playhouse and gave it his approval...but this was larger than what the inspector gave approval for.
Ah now there is the real answer, Stonington, CT., no need to say more.
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