View for sale: $30,000 New owner of a lake fences it off when homeowners wouldn't pay.

St. Petersburg Times ^ | May 14, 2002 | ROBERT FARLEY

[MEGoody]

"Connolly said he offered to sell the property to the homeowners as a courtesy."

The guy does own the land, and he can do what he wants. But $30K a pop for property these people already thought they owned? Hardly a courtesy.

[Labyrinthos]

I don't think the priciples have changed as much as the application. Although I don't have the time to do the research now, I do recall reading a case in the not so distant past where the court declined to apply the priciples to structures erected soley to harrass and annoy.

[pepsionice]

Number one, you go straight down to the county tax office and demand an assessment on property value. The value just went down by 8 percent in my book. So all of these houses just lost value. And the county just lost tax revenue, which they will quickly assess that this is not a good thing and the county commission will take a look at what happened. Number two. You offer this guy precisely what he paid for it plus cost of the fence, and $2000 on top of that...and hint thats the top of any offer you will make. When he says no, you turn around to the county tax assessor and hint that this guy owns beach front property and thus he needs to have a real assessment. Let him enjoy five years of paying taxes on this property and figure out that he cannot get any more cash than what was offered. Do not give in or pay the extra cash.

[NativeNewYorker]

I read the article. Did you read my post?

[Poohbah]

He IS a lawyer, believe it or not.

[Protagoras]

The second summer we were there, a sweet policeman came up and regretfully told us that the lake had become private for the subdivision and we couldn't fish there.

I'm curious about this "sweet" policeman. Did he inform you that he was acting on a complaint? Did you ask him who you might contact to address the permission issue and the complaint? Did you try to get permission? Like I said, just curious because of the trespass issue. Were you prepared to sign a release that said that you would hold the property owner harmless in the event that you or you son was injured on the private property? Why did you automatically assume that the owers were crabby old men and not just people who were afraid of liability issues in our increasingly litigous society?

[ET(end tyranny)]

She takes it to court and loses! Seems that since his outpost was legal, she had no assumption of privacy. Fined and community service!

Thanks for your post!

[Roscoe]

In other words, she thought it was antisocial behavior with the goal of changing things to suit the misbehavers.

Maxine rationalized and attempted to justify the anti-social behavior of the rioters.

[Cultural Jihad]

If I was him, the FIRST thing I would have done was to build the fence. If one of the homeowner's kids fell in that lake and drowned how long do you think it would take for them to look for a scapegoat to sue?

Ah, but then we're facing the immutable libertarian law which states that prohibition fosters allurement. In order to discourage use of the lake, the owner needs to get rid of the fence and instead place inviting enticements, such as easy parking access and paved walkways. Then no one will use the lake.

[Protagoras]

"The Speculator" should be pushed into the lake. I hope that the aligator is not too picky.

Murder and being eaten alive as a "fix" for your perception of this person? How very conservative of you, not to mention moral.

[CharacterCounts]

Gloat on his behalf all you want

Who's gloating?

I am merely pointing out that this contest is not as one sided (good v. evil) as some here beleive. It is primarily a determination of which party is entitled to the windfall.

[Dan from Michigan]

I am mistaken. They never owned the property. We are buying into a similar situation -- we will be buying a pond-lot with a use-easement (at least) to midway into the pond. But it will be the developers property, so we will need to make sure the land is permanently a pond, and that he keeps taxes up.

I will need to take my own advice here(I don't as much as I should since I actually live in Lansing, but vote at another address). I don't know Illinois local politics, but in Michigan, I live in a "township" which is almost like a mini county. We have a township trustee by precinct and a supervisor, and a county commishioner by precinct. Some counties have executives, and others do not. Townships I believe have most zoning procedures. We don't have a neighborhood association, and the area I'm at is zoned agricultural(I always said I'm a country guy).

If I were you, I'd be on a first name basis with your township officials or city council members, and also your county commishioners and neighborhood associations, if any. If you can't beat em, join em.

Any politically oriented organization at any level even tends to listen to or at least respect those(unless they are obnoxious and contribute nothing constructive...like PETA) that are always at their meetings. I've been active in the Livingston County GOP for only about a year, and I am already been considered for executive board in the near future, because I show up and contribute my time.

When I settle down to one spot for good, I'll be an active presense at those meetings.

[Lazamataz]

Then, you must do your level-best to overturn this unjust law, this Eminent Domain monster that you despise so much.

I, of course, will fight you every step of the way. I find myself in good company, since the Founding Fathers were the ones who established the premises on which Eminent Domain law is foundationed.

[Lazamataz]

Whatever, Mr. Statist.

LOL! No problem, Mr. Anarchist.

 

 

 justshutupandtakeit, you are right. If you ever disagree with those who would see the established laws of our land overturned, out comes the statist rubberstamp. LOL!