I’m close to being sole owner of a family property. Gramps lived there from around the 50’s to the 80’s. The house is long gone but I plan on making my new home/whatever there soon. My dilemma is this, I’ve basically been locked out of it in a way by sidewalks, curb and gutter. Of course I just drive up and over the curb but....”Undeveloped lots don’t get approaches installed” is what public works told me. I categorize it as “once developed.” I haven’t priced the conversion yet but I feel like they should do the right thing. An attorney is an option I suppose but that’s not really how I’d like to introduce myself to my new home town. Any thoughts or advice would be much appreciated.
Around here, access is usually done ether during or after construction! You will need to find out who does this, ether city, or county, or...... Also need to look at the potential of easements, that mayake things difficult, or may actually help, depending on the situation! Usually, once construction is started, the access gets put in, the big question you will have to answer is if there is going to be heavy equipment brought in and when that is expected to end! When I had my place in Oregon, I had to get the city to pour an extra heavy entry due to the on going use of heavy equipment coming and going from my property( I own a monster semi truck and end dump trailer, #50000 pounds empty) so they dug it down and did the extra re-bar and then poured it in two sections!
What Ura-Ki says ,,, be careful,, if you damage their curbs and sidewalks entering or leaving,, they could stick you for the bill ,, and it will be way more expensive than what you could do the repairs for. It may be worth talking to a lawyer ( ) about this just to cover your ass ,, but if you can find the right person with the city/ county ,, they might be able to help you.
Before you sink a bunch of money into the property, consider the fact you're gonna have to deal with the same type of govt weenies that curbed and guttered the street and didn't make you an access point. Maybe selling and moving somewhere with less weenies is in order ?
I thought of this after someone gouged up the sidewalk just below where I sneak in. So far I’ve done the deed with my little commuter only. Weird situation that I’ve never encountered before.
Correct almost anywhere you go. Your contractor will make the arrangements needed to cross the curb, walkway, and gutter without damages (we hope.) That particular access MAY not be where you want your driveway. Usually after, in my experience, and will require permitting. After that, maintenance is the question, which will be locally controlled.
I think if I’d greased the squeaky wheel during the development process I might have had success. Unfortunately I was not in the area at the time. I sort of understand their side except...I once had a driveway, now I’m sort of locked out.
When your building contractor applies for the lot/building plan review, the access should be addressed. They can cut out the sidewalk and gutters, and then re pour a proper entry to your driveway. This is all part of the master property permit that is issued. I can be of a little more assistance if you are in the Pierce or King County AO, as I have resources. PM me details if you like and I can make some inquires. You can also call the AHJ (city of the lots jurisdiction) public works/planning department for questions.
It’s neither but thank you. After thinking on it and reading here I’m thinking that was the norm. For now they’ll continue to see that “crazy guy” hopping the curb. Soon I’ll go legit I think. PW did offer a free permit once, there’s that.
In New Hampshire in the areas on the roads rather than streets, you have to get a drive way permit. It requires that the slope off the road and a place to park must be in certain specs as well as line of sight from the drive way to the approaching cars, wet lands, all kinds of other rules must be followed.. Since a 50 acre piece of land in back of the major sub division, and 'cheaper" may have only a 50 ft right of way on the road, it may in fact be impossible to put in a drive way and while the town might allow it, all it takes is one call to the state and "they" will enforce the state law. Old saying is totally true in buying land, if it is too good to be true, it probably isn't and a verbal contract is as good as the paper it is written on. In Live Free or Die state in our area, of the land left to build on, about 90 % can not be built on by an individual. If you wish to put in an apartment house or a 20 unit housing and will put in the streets, power lines, underground water storage tanks for the fire plugs, etc, then you can build. It is possible to build almost any where in the USA at some price, the lawyers know the rules and donate money to the right people, the builders and construction people know the rules, the building inspector, and how to get around them, the tradesmen all know how to jump thru the hoops and how to make the real estate and bankers happy. In the end if you wish to build a small self sufficient home with some garden land and a few animals, the system will require cash up front, double the costs, prevent you from doing things your seIf and make sure you have a mortgage and property tax payments on that expensive property for the next 30 years. If you are going to buy land, in my mind the most important factor is the attitude of your neighbors, then the rules in the deed, ie, wet lands, easements, right of ways, limitations on what you can build or what you can do with the land, than the building and zoning codes. Your life will be totally structured by those factors until the system actually collapses. In a good portion of the USA at the moment, full blown prepping is impossible under the present system and only stealth prepping is allowed. Garden is part of community based agriculture, water storage is a water feature with water falls and sprayers, greenhouse has flowers as well as veggies and lots of tomatoes, they are hip now for some reason, wood stove is ok but have a big rock fire place with a lot of wood stored for it and a way to put some efficient heater in it if needed. The present social system in much of the USA reminds me of a chicken pen, if some chicken some how loses the favor of the flock, they will peck it to death. In our present mass communication society, you can be outed and destroyed at any time.
Understand that some locations/townships have in their codes that there is a distance limit of such access. So walk in with an open mind and ask very few direct questions.
It’s near the water at least. I can carry my canoe a few blocks and circle the Earth. Especially when I find that Evinrude Mate, 1.5. *subtle hint*
On a side note I cannot even park along the outside of my property. Bike lane, fire lane and no room on the west side. I once parked on the sidewalk to run up in there to check on a trouble tree, ticket. Lol. I protested that one on principle and this is how this whole can of worms was opened. Judge put me on parking probation for two years, dismissed! Lol. In reality I’ve mostly been having fun with this. I strongly feel it could be a reality show, “Meet the Meat” can’t miss! Mom would watch.
Sounds entertaining, but not really tolerable. What happens if the way you want to use your property doesn't fit in with what the neighbors think is proper? Do they allow gardens, rainwater collection, burn pits, outdoor cooking, livestock, trailer storage, sheds? I live far enough out that pretty much anything goes, although I can't shoot as far out from the back porch as I used to be able to since folks have built behind me. They let pigs wander on their deck, so we get along just fine.
Could I write an episode for "The Meet Meat" show? The neighbors might really keep an eye on the property if you start dragging big elongated bags out of the truck at night and then come back for a shovel. Make some loud digging noises behind the truck and flash your flashlight around a lot. Leave the dirt that was in the body bag in a neat, freshly dug grave looking mound. Just like in the movies. Make sure you throw the shovel in the truck loudly before you drive away. The game camera footage should be fun. You'll have the only property in town with a new flower bed that gets investigated by the police. ...Or you could get one of those cheap pop-up tents and put some cardboard cutouts in it and back light it so it looked like somebody was camping. Playing some all night talk radio in the tent would be a nice touch.
Haha. I don’t really need suggestions because I get in trouble enough but..... Those are fantastic suggestions.
It's crazy, but I'm going through something similar. The bureaucracy involved makes me want to put a drill through my eyeballs.
I keep flip-flopping my thoughts on my situation. I absolutely cannot access my property without breaking the law, cannot park in front of it either. Wtf? Lol.
