Mr. Pratt's Potty Protest

NewsMax ^ | 8/30/02 | Limbacher

[Tumbleweed_Connection]

The State of Maryland told land owner Gene Pratt he could not build a small office building on his property unless he coughed up about $2,000 for a certified architect's drawing of the project, so he erected an outhouse on the roadside site to protest the costly government red tape.

"When you get to be 67 years old you just don't need the aggravation," Pratt told the Associated Press. "I'm definitely not going to build anything there now."

It seems that a landowner does not need an expensive drawing of a two holer to build it, so Pratt, who appears to be privy to state regulations, put up his non-working outhouse where drivers on U.S 220 outside Cresaptown Md. can appreciate his potty protest.

[Mr. K]

I like this guy ...

[Lysander]

Georgia actually has Dept of Health guidelines for $hit houses. I know a guy that wanted to put up a mailbox at his property. He was told no, since there was no residence there. So he built a shed. Still no. He had to have a toilet. So he built an out-house. Still no. It did not comply with Department of health regulations for depth of hole, lining, and diameter of the seat holes!

You don't own your land anymore.

[Illbay]

This is just asinine. I know of no civilized jurisdiction where you can build an office building without compliance with building codes.

This old fart's ready for the bone yard.

[Illbay]

You don't own your land anymore.

Yeah, too bad we're not like, say, India, where after a nice hefty earthquake, it turned out 40,000 people had lost their lives because there are no building codes.

But the people were FREE TO DIE without restraint.

[Salgak]

So, what you're saying is, "it's for the children". . . .

Sorry, but if it's my land, and I build it to the standard builders' code (because no bank will fund it, and no insurer will write a policy for it if it isn't. . . ), why does a local or state bureaucrat need to get involved ???

[Timm]

Well, I'm usually no fan of regulation, but in this case the point of submitting the drawings is to ensure that the building is, in fact, compliant with the code.

The expense the article mentions is in hiring an architect or engineer to inspect and certify the plans.

More modern building codes, and yes, regulation, are a great but untold success story. Home fires are much rarer now than ever, with the subsequent reduction in deaths, injury, and property destruction. These benefits are not limited to houses in which ignition begins, by the way, but confer to surrounding structures as well.

[Norman Conquest]

Unlike the government, an outhouse gives the same relief to rich and poor alike.

[Illbay]

No, I'm saying this is the standard operating procedure for those who are not criminally anti-social.

[meyer]

Sorry, but if it's my land, and I build it to the standard builders' code (because no bank will fund it, and no insurer will write a policy for it if it isn't. . . ), why does a local or state bureaucrat need to get involved ???

Fees.

[maxwell]

Unlike the government, an outhouse gives the same relief to rich and poor alike.

[snortle]

[secretagent]

More modern building codes, and yes, regulation, are a great but untold success story. Home fires are much rarer now than ever, with the subsequent reduction in deaths, injury, and property destruction.

Hard to separate that from the market, though. Smoke alarms, the decline in smoking, and new building materials come to mind.

And to the extent that regulations have added to safety, we don't know to what extent the market would have done the same job or better.

[thepitts]

Considering what a socialist idiot you are, why are you at FR?

[Illbay]

Considering the fact that dopes like you insist on equating a local building code with "socialism", I'm here to attempt--however fruitless that attempt might be--to straighten you out.