Posted on 03/20/2012 8:59:56 AM PDT by george76
A Burnsville man on his way to work was arrested and thrown in jail without bond, and then subjected to electronic home monitoring.
But it wasn’t for drugs or a DWI or some other major crime.
Burnsville city leaders say Mitch Faber’s dealings with the law all stem from his failure to properly put up siding on his house.
Yep, siding.
Faber says he had every intention of completing the stucco and decorative rock project on his home but he ran into money troubles when the economy soured. Burnsville leaders say they had no choice to enforce the law.
...
The Fabers point to what they call far more glaring code violations outside other houses in their neighborhood. They’d like to know why they were targeted and others weren’t.
“It’s selective enforcement,” said Jean.
Most importantly, though, the Fabers say Burnsville made a mockery of an otherwise law-abiding man.
Asked Mitch, “What did you accomplish other than wasting the city's money, the county's money, our money, and then all the mental and emotional anguish? What did you accomplish?”
(Excerpt) Read more at kstp.com ...
You are part of the problem.All the people demanding others maintain property in a manner acceptable to the complainer ,at the core ,are petty tyrants themselves,excepting only when the property is a real and actual hazard to health and safety due to harboring of disease,rats,Democrat politicians, or similar hazards.
It is a source of irritation to me that so many “freedom-loving” Americans actually in their hearts simply want to be the petty tyrant dictating what kind of home other people may live in,what color it should be,how many windows,what kind of roof,what and how many cars,and an enormous number of “dod and don’ts” all put into place at the behest or approval of these fearing “lower property values”.
Would it make you upset enough to support the issuance of an arrest warrant for this individual, for a goddamn code violation?
Absurd and Tyrannical.
He was arrested and jailed for failure to appear in court as so ordered by the court.
Thumb your nose if you like but there will be consequences.
The man did not show up for his court date.
Miss a court date, get a warrant.
If this was my neighbors house, I'd be raising hell too.
Selective enforcement indeed. Why arrest the male Faber and not his wife?
This is a polarizing subject among Freepers.
I’m sure some of us have a project car in our driveway or yard that is an eyesore to others.
In some parts of the country, many homes are in wooded locations; where these kinds of activities have little visibility. I can sympathize with the “leave me alone” crowd.
In many parts of the country, your yard is your neighbor’s yard; your siding is your neighbor’s view. I can see why it is objectionable. Lots are small, tall vegetation does not exist.
If this guy failed to appear in court, I can see why he’s in jail.
The couple's neigbhbors have been trying to get something done since 2007.
Go see the pictures of the house in the video.
The neighbors are the ones that are sick of this eye-sore!
The man missed his court date and a warrant was issued.
Misleading headline alert! The homeowner was jailed for disobeying a court order. The order did trace back to the code violation but he had his day in court on the violation and plead guilty. He then failed to comply with the sentencing requirements.
Been ongoing since 2007.
The man missed his court date. Anyone that misses a court date can expect a warrant.
What is this house was next to your 250-300K house?
Especially for southerners. If they can be that stupid about siding, can you imagine what they would do with a 4 wheel drive pick up truck with a rifle on the rack? That's a town in desperate of a new/intelligent town leader.
The man missed his court date, a warrant was issued.
Watch the video and then tell us how you'd like this house next to yours. ...since 2007.
I feel sorry for the couples neighbors, not them.
You should pack your things and head there were you will fit in nicely. I guess you have never had finacial difficulties, or you wouldn’t be so judgemental of an other’s plight-—an elitist statement to a man’s troubles; not so kind at best, and at worse, a heathenistic attitude for condeming an idividual for not having money.
The man did not show up for his court date.
Reading post #13 (http://kstp.com/article/stories/s2544340.shtml:
...At this court appearance, the District Judge assigned to the case ordered that the work was to be completed by a specified date. The judge also ordered that – if the deadline was missed – the homeowner was to report to the court to begin serving a 30-day jail sentence...
The judge was going to throw him in the slammer, regardless of whether he met or missed his court date.
Nice.
This comment is from the property owner.
“Thank you for all the comments (good and bad!). Thanks to Mark Saxenmeyer and his staff for telling this bizarre story. Not sure if it got across, but this was a MAJOR renovation with a large addition. Not finishing the siding was like running 26 miles of a marathon, and being unable to complete the final 385 yards due to a blown Achilles’ heel. The siding was not completed due to catastrophic financial complications brought on by divorce and the the collapse of the housing economy. Ultimately, we finished the stucco siding nearly 2 weeks in advance of the date the court had given us. The jail/confinement time was because a small ribbon of finishing work between the stucco and the stone was not done to Burnsville’s satisfaction (something they failed to tell us). Our purpose in going public is so this never again happens to law-abiding, well-intentioned homeowners (BTW: the renovation increased the property value by well over $200,000). We sent personalized letters to the Mayor and each Council member in January and did not receive the courtesy of a reply.”
Having worked in city government before and seeing how code enforcement departments work I have no doubt that her version is correct. Also never use the number of complaints received about a property to determine if those complaints are valid. It can be a few people making multiple complaints. It can be a neighbor with a personal grudge.
The city most likely had other remedies beside wasting tax payer money by jailing this guy.
I watched the video. I still think the city code enforcement was heavy-handed.
I just watched the video and I still can't believe that someone would be imprisoned for the ascetics of their personal property. There was no safety issue alleged or implied at any time. Fines are understandable, jail is insane.
I feel sorry for the couples neighbors, not them.
I do too. Anyone who thinks they should be able to control their neighbor's property to this extent under the threat of taking all their freedoms away are unworthy of life in a constitutional republic. These statist busy-bodies deserve to live in a dictatorship.
I watched the video and IMHO, the stucco job looked pretty good. But 2 days in jail, no bond, then house arrest over the opinion of a building inspector that his fix was not adequate? This was not right.
I realized he did miss a court date. You just don’t do that. Missing a court date that he wasn’t informed of was what got Randy Weaver’s son and wife gunned down (executed) in Idaho by heroic snipers of the federal government.
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