Posted on 07/30/2018 6:43:31 AM PDT by george76
LAUREL, Md. — Prince George’s County filed a legal case against a Laurel couple in their 90s over a wheelchair ramp in their own home. To avoid legal trouble, the elderly couple’s son tore down the ramp, trapping the woman in her own home. The county permitting department said the family had no permit to build a wheelchair ramp in front of their own home.
"I don't want my husband trying to lift me now," said 91 year old Evelyn Strahle.
Evelyn Strahle's husband David is 94 years old. "Two people had to put her in a wheelchair and lift her down those steps before we had it,” said David.
A pile of lumber is all that remains of the wheelchair ramp that gave Evelyn freedom to leave her Laurel home.
“It clips my wings. I can't do anything," said Evelyn.
Evelyn's son Bob built the ramp. He's in the construction trades. He didn't want his parents to pay the $5,000 they priced a ramp of this size. Bob bought $1,700 of lumber and built it himself.
"Very well built and I felt very safe on it always,” explained Evelyn.
Then, a Prince George's County inspector came.
“There was an inspector that showed up here twice when I was here and I asked him why couldn't he just inspect it and tell me if there was anything I needed to do to make any improvements on it so that it would fit permitting requirements but he said that wasn't the process and I had to go through the long route,” explained son Bob Strahle.
Bob submitted plans and tried to file for a permit but was denied because he built the ramp before asking county government.
(Excerpt) Read more at wjla.com ...
I’m from the government and I’m here to help..........................
Respect my authority.
Who squealed?
We got rules about our rules.
Snitches get stitches.
There is absolutely no situation, crisis or disaster a liberal government bureaucrat cannot make even worse..............
Not a satisfactory response.
Always get a permit before beginning any construction project. Its for safety reasons.
We have to follow the rules in this country, and we don’t, we pay the price.
Improving one’s home is commendable but procedures have to be followed.
Damn tax hungry, power drunk idiots!!!!
oh be quiet.
Government run amuck. One can’t help but wonder if they aren’t breaking some law by having that lady in the house without handicap access.
Sorry, you were wrong to build it without a permit. They would have helped you with design/compliance and you could still build it yourself.
Let me guess. The officials who did this are compassionate democRATS, right? Any other municipality would demand the Permit fee, or tear down the ramp. Did there happen to be a Trump 2016 sign still in the front yard? That whole area is solid “yellow dog democRAT”.
Is there any limit beyond which the government cannot go to protect us from ourselves?
We “The Government) can not have people think that they own property just because the paid for it.
Why,
the next thing you know they might start thinking that they own themselves. And who knows where that could lead?
Ripping the ramp out may have saved them a lot of trouble down the road. Their insurance carrier would not have looked kindly on even a minor improvement like this if it was done without a required building permit.
We need a lot of Regulatory Decapture / Release.
The shake down that is permits and licenses needs to be curtailed and rolled back.
Could have been worse I guess. The snitches could have called the police.
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