Date: Mon, 8 Aug 2016 12:55:32 -0400
From: “stinmar1”
Subject: Sum of our fears about zoning
This is a learning experience for me . I have learned my anger as well as many others comes from fear . Its the fear I grew from many years dealing with misrepresentations and down right lies from County government . We are not afraid of zoning we are afraid of how it will implemented and policed .We cant trust this ( zoning R1 is whats right for the county now ) It will give far to much power to the county to run over us and reduce our property rights to that of someone living in an expensive development with a home owners association .
This is a letter I received , one of many from my chatlist post that drives that fear home . It shows how many of us feel even the folks trapped by encroaching developments that there will be hell to pay if the zoning is policed to an extreme just to passify certain people living in developments with all the voting power . Read the letter below and see whats coming to the rest of the county thanks to far left progressive democratic overreach . Not all democrats are bad just like everyone in the northeastern corner isn’t pro zoning either . That’s for another post .
I hear your frustration.
I live on land that was my grand daddy’s. He was a farmer and when I used to visit him 50 years ago, I would go with him to the chicken coop to collect eggs. My brother and cousin would try to ride the pigs out in the pasture. The area is “zoned” RA. When I built my house on part of the property 26 years ago I could roam up to 2 miles in some directions with out seeing any other dwellings. I am grateful for the 8 acres I have been given charge over, but there are subdivisions on almost every side of me. There is a house about a hundred feet in front of me. When I was undergoing cancer treatment and trying to get rest and sleep, their dog would constantly bark. My wife went to talk with them about it, but no one was home. She left a note on their door. The next day she saw the neighbor and he said, “that is what dogs do.”
A little while ago, with help from a friend,I built a small chicken coup where one of my grand daddy’s had been. After hatching out some eggs, we had a few extra roosters. One day I found a notice on my front door from animal control. There had been a complaint about my chickens. When I called the officer, she told me that she had sat at the top of my driveway and had heard fowl and chicken noises, and that, although it was Rural/Agricultural land and had been farmed for hundreds of years, I could still be taken to court. When I asked her what I could do, she said, “you don’t need roosters to get eggs.” If you get up early in the morning you can hear roosters crowing in almost any direction. At night you can hear coyotes howling almost everywhere. During the day, especially on Saturdays, you can hear leaf blowers and lawn mowers in every direction. I called the agricultural extension agency to ask if they had ever run into a situation like this. They told me,,,,,,,,,,,” You don’t need roosters to get eggs.” I wondered if I had sounded stupid when I spoke to them on the phone in order to get a response like that.
I realized that progress is closing in on us and the tighter things get the greater the odds of stepping on someone’s toes. Each time someone gets their little piece of the country, they feel that they have an acre or two to control,but so often their idea of utopia abuts someone else’s idea of utopia, and they don’t coincide. I wish I had a thousand acres, but I only have eight. I like most of my neighbors, but like any relationship their are compromises that have to take place. We ate most of our roosters, which was our original intent. They were tasty, but a little tough. You can still hear roosters in the morning and coyotes at night. The leaf blowers are getting closer and louder.
I live in North Chatham, the land of development. I consider myself conservative and register independent. I hope my friends south and west of here can hold onto their privacy, openness, and independence for as long as they can. I am on your side in keeping one or two individuals from trying to dictate what you can or can not do with what has been yours for a long time. When there are a few who believe that they are smarter and wiser than any one else, and succeed in being in control of what anyone does, then it is no longer a free state or a democracy. Let’s keep Chatham county free.
J