Anyone here live in a place with zero zoning/land use laws?

[wetcoaster]

We live near a place that I guess is in the AR but looks like its been 50 years since anyone farmed on it from the size of the trees. The guy who owned it put about 5-6 cabins on it. No problem until he tried to sell it. I think the AR restricts on a provincal level building any more than 1 or 2 residences.

The aspect I was thinking of was minimum lot sizes - means no subdivision.

It also drives down the lot value making hobby farming more practical.

[DougW]

Anyone who says they wouldn't have a problem living next to a pig farm has never been to a pig farm.

How about a mink or was it fox. Supper stinky. i think its the fish they feed them. This place was on a point on a lake. Coming up to the place in canoe was fine. Around the point and down wind was eye watering hell.

[DougW]

The aspect I was thinking of was minimum lot sizes - means no subdivision.

tell that to my in laws , HAve 10 acres is that on island that has two houses on it. Renovated 2nd house , 350K, had to be on same foundation. So now have two nice houses on same lot that can't be subdivided as in ALR. Basicaly threw away 300K.

[wetcoaster]

Poor foresight. Sucks, though.

[ill-advised strategy]

Let me try to get a feel for where you guys are on this...
here's a bunch of potential zoning violations

bad neighbors/eyesore: yes or no?

[Tye 1on]

split window VW's are not a violation anywhere they choose to rest.

[back bowl]

Christ, I wasn't implying that the trees were structural components of the house. What I found amusing is that when they do die they are going to be a bitch to remove safely and that guy's quite unique and cool house will look like swiss cheese. The whole damn house is wood, he should have just cut them, milled them and used them as unique architectural elements in the house.

Didn't look so bad to me. Trees die, it would take an arborist a couple hours to get the trees down. And it would take a carpenter another day or so to sheath and shingle the roof so you would never know the holes were there.

[DougW]

Poor foresight. Sucks, though.

No it doesn't as I dislike my inlaws. Looks good on them.

If they hadn't wasted money on reno they would have found other ways of doing it.

[toast2266]

Let me try to get a feel for where you guys are on this...
here's a bunch of potential zoning violations

...

I'm not sure any of those look like zoning violations. Like I and others have said, you're confusing zoning (which dictates uses / setbacks / dimensions, etc.) with covenants (which dictate what kind of shit you can leave in your yard).

Having a bunch of wood stacked or a couple cars parked in the yard isn't generally going to be a zoning violation. It might violate other things (like covenants or some other local ordinance), but your dislike of zoning is, for the most part, misplaced.

[OSECS]

Let me try to get a feel for where you guys are on this...
here's a bunch of potential zoning violations

bad neighbors/eyesore: yes or no?

pics 1-5 not acceptable anywhere except agriculturally zoned land. With certain exceptions.

The rest could work in any number of areas depending on density, setback requirements and minimum lot sizes. Home businesses are tricky because of the traffic potentially brought to a residential area.

[DougW]

Let me try to get a feel for where you guys are on this...
here's a bunch of potential zoning violations

bad neighbors/eyesore: yes or no?

You would be in the top 10 - 20 % of properties in the Blaeberry. You would win the prize for the best looking chickens and a lot of people raise chickens.

don't have wolves- check- nice to be 1 mile from wolf place , to close is not good

don't run junk yard the spills onto road- check

not in 20 year old mobile home or travel trailer while taking 5-10 years building real house- check

I see no dead deer or elk hanging or dogs running around with parts of same- check

I see no heavy machinery though- no tractor, skid steer etc- kinda gay- no check

[ill-advised strategy]

I'm not sure any of those look like zoning violations. Like I and others have said, you're confusing zoning (which dictates uses / setbacks / dimensions, etc.) with covenants (which dictate what kind of shit you can leave in your yard).

Having a bunch of wood stacked or a couple cars parked in the yard isn't generally going to be a zoning violation. It might violate other things (like covenants or some other local ordinance), but your dislike of zoning is, for the most part, misplaced.

I showed shitpiles/woodpiles, inoperable vehicles, chickens, and a wood shop.

then I pulled some quick stuff from the main search of google on those...

"Residential Zoning Codes ... Storage of Debris: The accumulation of debris and trash can be detrimental to neighborhood aesthetics and may pose a health ..."

"The keeping of more than one inoperable vehicle is considered a junkyard, and is not permitted in any residential zoning district. ..."

"Under the new ordinance, no chickens are allowed on residential lots of 1/3 acre ... of the city"

"P. ARTHUR HYDE CONDITIONAL USE REQUEST - Woodworking Shop (canoe paddles): ..... "

[toast2266]

^^^ Yetiman - fair enough. I'm mostly basing what I'm saying on the zoning laws around here, which is what I'm most familiar with. To the best of my knowledge, the zoning around here generally wouldn't prohibit most of the uses in your pictures.

For instance: a quick search through our local zoning regs:
"debris" - no results.
"trash" only discusses landfills (no restrictions on any other uses).
"Chickens" are somewhat restricted, but per the regs, you can have chickens on most zoned lots.
"vehicles" without tags are somewhat restricted; you can have four junkers in your yard before you have to do anything different.

So I suppose there are some mild restrictions on the types of uses you had in your pictures, but like I said before, I think most of the "strict" rules are derived from private covenants and HOA's.

[Eldo]

Where I live in the big city, appliances in your back yard are considered lawn furniture. And garages are mostly used for entertaining guests or as spare bedrooms.

None of that is against zoning. It's defiantly tacky, but mostly allowable.

However I'm sure the people who ride their snowmobiles up and down the alley are probably breaking some sort of city bylaw, but they do pack the snow down nicely for us drivers.

[bushman]

I could put 35 -75 year old combines in my front yard and nobody would say a word. they would notice but it would be OK. In NODAK. Chickens, pigs, dairy, someone would ask for a job.

[el-cid]

Just curious. We recently escaped the Bitterroot Valley which is fascinating in its backwardness. Zero zoning laws, no streamside setbacks (aside from federal floodplain regs), and no building codes (aside from septic permits and electrical inspections).

As far as I know*, Ravalli County is the only county in Montana with a complete lack of zoning. I am sure there are a limited number of places in the lower 48 with a similar lack of regulations. Does anyone live in a such a place? What do you think? Is it the the full realization of the American Dream or the worst that laissez-faire has to offer?








*edit: could be 100% wrong

Granite County doesn't have any rural zoning either. It's come a long way; it was the wild west without even much in the way of basic planning even 4 years ago. Ravalli County seems to be such a rapidly developing area I'd think they'd have some serious zoning in place; funny.

[365wp]

pics 1-5 not acceptable anywhere except agriculturally zoned land. With certain exceptions.

Our neighbors have chickens. The wife takes them for a walk around the yard.

People in the city had chickens. Nobody seemed to care. Too busy trying to get rid of the damn rats.

[OSECS]

Our neighbors have chickens. The wife takes them for a walk around the yard.

People in the city had chickens. Nobody seemed to care. Too busy trying to get rid of the damn rats.

I think you missed a pic. I didn't say chickens weren't OK.

[wetcoaster]

Uncovered wood is a bit of a sore spot with me. I had a neighbour that was too fucking stupid to season his wood so the whole block smelled like smoke constantly from his stove. It was seeping into the carpet, drapes, my clothes, etc.

That might be less of a problem in the desert than in the PNW.

[Stunt Ditch]

Let me try to get a feel for where you guys are on this...
here's a bunch of potential zoning violations

bad neighbors/eyesore: yes or no?

No.

No.

No.

Don't ever set foot on my property again.

No.

No.

No.

No.

[BSS]

I don't have a problem with any of that stuff, as long as the shop was far enough away or wasn't running machinery at all hours of the night and keeping me awake.

[wetcoaster]

tell that to my in laws , HAve 10 acres is that on island that has two houses on it. Renovated 2nd house , 350K, had to be on same foundation. So now have two nice houses on same lot that can't be subdivided as in ALR. Basicaly threw away 300K.

The inheritance has to come from somewhere.

[Todds]

With no zoning laws or building codes the Town of Telluride would look like Telluride Village.

I live in a residential zoned neighborhood and am happy knowing that a Dennys won't be opening next door to me.

Setbacks are good things.
Building safety codes are good things.
I wouldn't be happy if I was told what color to paint my house or that I couldn't have a small satellite dish.

[bagtagley]

None of that bothers me. Where I live, zoning is preventing developers from snatching up farmland and removing any remaining trees to cram in as many mcmansions as they possibly can.

The problem here was that rising property taxes were making it difficult for long-time residents to afford their land. There was a big push to limit development with zoning restrictions, among other things. However, with the state and county in the shitter financially, it's hard to say what will happen in the near future.

[iceman]

The problem here was that rising property taxes were making it difficult for long-time residents to afford their land.

Plus, if they died, the land would be so valuable that the heirs couldn't possibly afford to pay the taxes unless they sold the land to a developer.

Maryland has a lot more programs to preserve agricultural land than Virginia does (I'm in one of the programs, it's awesome), but still the constant pressure from developers never goes away. Or maybe now things will finally change, who knows?