Posted on 07/30/2018 6:43:31 AM PDT by george76
LAUREL, Md. Prince Georges 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 couples 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 had not heard that rule before. Maybe in your state or locale?
At all of the local agencies I’ve worked fo its customary to charge double the permit cost and issue a permit if the person did the work without obtaining the initial permit.
Depends on the grade of the property from the exit door to the final landing. If its fairly steep it may have required several turn backs and landings.
I’ve ratted out my Mexican neighbors before. Of course they were remodeling their garage to be able to rent out rooms (typically $500/month) for illegal aliens migrant workers. They stack them in like cord wood in their converted rooms/garages. The give away were all the new satellite dishes so they could watch telemundo and soccer.
I did another neighbor because he was adding on to his garage and laid his roof trusses on their side instead of on edge. They were Mexican too...
Bureaucracy at its finest. Always causing problems.
You did right. My beef is with busybodies without a cause. I was picking up small pieces of fieldstone in a recently bulldozed housing development area a couple of years ago, enough to hold in my hands (4 or 5 stones) to put in a garden wall. Some person in a house abutting the developer’s field called the police. That was so ridiculous even the police rolled their eyes.
Been thru this before, with the same
task. If the ramp is not attached
to the home, there’s nothing to get
a permit for. (not modifying the
existing structure).
Forgot to add:
If these people live in a historical
neighborhood, then anything they do
that changes the outward appearance
of the home requires a permit.
” Maybe in your state or locale”
Could be! Summit County, Ohio.
Too bad they didn’t have an attached garage, so they could have built the ramp inside the house. My nephew, who is also in the building trades, did this for my dad years ago when he became wheelchair bound. Just kept the car parked outside, then we could wheel him into the garage, open the door and into the car.
Nobody could see the ramp when driving by, so nobody could rat us out. Amazing, since we had Mrs. Kravitz (see “Bewitched”) living across the street from us at the time.
Can you tell I'm a bit bitter? And I haven't actually experienced these pleasures for myself!
I don’t know their history, but if they’re typical NIMBY’s it serves them right. If not, I apologize for my comment.
Agreed.
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