small town shenanigans

i chose to move to this town 2 years ago,
after losing damm near everything in a nasty splitup with my ex.
her son /a teenager/decided to rob the shop one night as well as the storage and my neighbors garage.
he took it all to a local scrapyard for a couple of hundred dollars,where he signed his own name.
the local police couldnt be bothered to investigate even tho there was a solid case.
the financial fallout from that cost me dearly,
well over 4 grand in customers parts and inventory,not to mention the huge blow to my Rep.
moving forwards in time,ive been up here on the hill for 2 years and managed to build back up.
this year i got a 40k metal building up,with help from the local code guy.
he was ever so helpful,hooked me up with a great builder and so forth.
he knew what i do for a living and asked me to clean up the property.
there was a lot of campers and an abandoned mobile home from prior people.
i did manage to get all the campers,but not the mobile home finished before winter.
then this month hit,and i got a Ten Day notice to remove all Vehicles on my property.
All....of them.
this pissed me off because i have a lot of them Registered and he clearly didnt even bother looking.
so i made an appt and went to see him.
thats when i found out whats really going on.

he told me in no uncertain terms i can no longer work from my property.
because the entire town,even Way out here in the boonies,has been zoned residential.
keep in mind,he never said a word to me thruout the whole time knowing what i do for a living.

so i come home and tell a few neighbors,
only to find out the local bar talk has it as the town plans on Seizing my property and reselling Now that i have a 40k building on it.
apparently im not the only one they have done this to before,as i got some horror stories about houses being condemned and then sold to the Code guy!! or his friends for dirt cheap pirces and then resold for mega profit.

so,Eds post about what we want for christmas hit me hard.
thats the reason i made this topic,
so the context of the comment i made on his topic could be understood.
ive sunk every penny into this place,and brought all my equipment and bought Tractor trailers too.
i dont have anything to find and buy a new place.
now i cant even bring anything home,or work from here.
im totally screwed.

if anyone has any ideas,feel free to lmk,but the zoning thing really has me blocked.

An attorney is the only thing I can think of, but if its small town shenanigans they're probably in on it too...

yeah i have been asking around,but the zoning is nothing they want to mess with.

also,i forgot to describe my location.
i live on a small dirt road off a small country road.
obviously nowheres in the publics line of sight.

Do you have any old wells on your property?

DeltaV said:

Do you have any old wells on your property?

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yes,but i think ill have a hard time luring the code guy And the town manager up here into the backyard.

I'd say you better save any evidence/documents
& you better lawyer up
& you better do it right now
get a stay on any & all county actions/orders

some nefarious **** going on right there

Maybe also contact the local TV media, radio stations etc.
see "maybe" if any of them will air your grievances
tell your story on-air/camera etc.
maybe some positive public pressure & positive public opinions
(I assume you have some friends or positive/good business contacts there)

Maybe it can help to "sway the county/city/township unreasonable actions"

Maybe contact your local House Rep. in Congress (or state Leg./Rep)

go to your county supervisors, tell them the story
go to the 'city/Township council meetings', tell them your story
contact your Towns Mayor, tell him who & what's going on
be armed with photos, documents &/or any evidence

I'd say contact you States Govn.'s office,
but that'd be feeble at best in the state of NY present day

or

Maybe
Contact some sort of sympathetic industry advocate,
known in your industry
that has been thru this before

good luck, fighting the man

Does he look like the guy on the right?


All kidding aside, that's a screwed up deal. I bet there are some serious laws being broken in that town. You hear of this once in awhile and a bunch get hauled into court. Question is where do you start?

(I'm trying to get used to your avatar)

I own some acreage land in Bolivar NY, right on the PA. State line. I have dealt with the small NY town stuff not unlike what you posted. I’m going to build a house there next year. Just dreading what I’m going to have to do and what surprises they will hit me with. Hope you can work your situation out

khryslerkid said:

(I'm trying to get used to your avatar)

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yeah i messed that up,it originally said most useless employee of the month for 47 years.
when it loaded here i lost a lot of the pic.
im looking around to find another one now.
would really like one of bidens face in a circle with the slash thru it.

That sounds like some Boss Hogg **** right there - and you aren't anywhere near the south.
Seems like some grandfathering should be happening there?
Yep, definitely time to lawyer up - with a lawyer that isn't local.
Good luck!

moparedtn said:

That sounds like some Boss Hogg **** right there - and you aren't anywhere near the south.
Seems like some grandfathering should be happening there?
Yep, definitely time to lawyer up - with a lawyer that isn't local.
Good luck!

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this happened yesterday,and ive been on the fone all day.
no-one will touch it because of the zoning.
the irony,is the code guy looked me dead in the face and told me i could apply for a junkyard permit.
and then told me they would deny it.
complete fuckery.

that mazda i pulled in,thats sitting on my rollback,was the last vehicle i can bring here.
from now on,they have to be registered and no scrap of any kind.

Are they figuring your town will be the next Rochester "Homearama" site ? There is all kinds of stuff like you have over in North Cohocton, Naples, Dansville, etc. It is the country !

If the whole county is zoned residential there would not be any businesses,re: grocery store, quick marts,etc. Go to the zoning board and get a copy of the restrictions then you will know more about where you stand.
Your legal recourse is based on how they established the zoning. Was it whimsical or was there a public hearing. My experience with residential zoning usually allows for certain businesses at your residence.
I would seek out a lawyer from out of that jurisdiction.

Unfortunately, that is how NY, NJ, Ct. Mass. etc do business. They aren't actual laws, they are codes. So they get you with "code violations", which are hard, if not impossible to fight, because they are not part of the written law. Even with a lawyer, they are still near impossible to beat. They hire code enforcers to basically shake people down for money. There is no written law, so the police and the courts are not involved. Even when you contest the violation, you don't appear in a "court of law".
For example, in NJ, the city that I lived in required you to shovel the snow from the sidewalks in front of your home or business, even though it is NOT your property. I have had more than one occasion where I cleared the sidewalk in front of my house, just to have the city plow come by and cover the sidewalk with snow. Many times I would come home to a "code violation" summons for not clearing my sidewalk. I have taken pictures, my neighbors have complained as well, to no avail. They use it as a revenue draw. I never won. NJ learned their scumbag behavior from the best, New York.
It sounds like the scum from NYC has spread out to western NY, which is a shame because it is some of the most beautiful areas in the country.
@BeatersRus It sounds like you have some crooked local politicians and that will be hard to beat in court, because they will all be asshole buddies. You might want to try to "fit in", rather than fight the corruption, that may ultimately break you. Go reason with the slimy bastard, grease his palm so to speak. Offer to help him out, and maybe compromise by keeping the work indoors and the cars behind the building, out of sight from the street.
NJ also has a law that ALL vehicles MUST be registered and insured, even when covered on your property. I lost 2 1973 Chargers due to that law when I was younger. They towed them right out of my driveway, and I never got them back with all the towing and storage fees they added on. I know that they sold them for a nice profit, but that is why the North East is such a shithole and I moved to North Carolina.
Good luck my friend.

On the zoning, was it zoned AG or commercial before ?
I know different states and counties a re not all the same but here changeing zoning requires a public hearing along with personal notification like registered mail ect.
I'm just tossing things out as I think.
Not sure how many cars you have at the place. Any chance of turning some into parts and stored inside. Call it a home hobby.
If possible rent a small place in a commercial area for the business address and store front to keep records and sales.
Like posted above advice from a lawyer that deals in zoning issues may be helpful.
Home hobby with registered cars, town business in a commercial zone ?
There is always a angle.
One more ...... list the property for sale with a realtor at a very high price
Ck state and county laws on condemnation of a property that is currently listed for sale.
I may be wrong but condemnation proceedings on a listed property may be a no no since it would reduce the property value hurting you financially and leave the county ect open to a suit ?
Angles BRS , there is always angles.

Ironbuilt said:

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Cabron...

1967coronet said:

Ck state and county laws on condemnation of a property that is currently listed for sale.
I may be wrong but condemnation proceedings on a listed property may be a no no since it would reduce the property value hurting you financially and leave the county ect open to a suit ?

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You may be on to something there. Fight them at their own game!!

coronet68mx said:

Cabron...

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That's how they would handle it in Jalisco!!!

just so you get a good picture of the town.
the town road employees got caught taking the equipment to Other places and Doing Jobs for homeowners.
( their friends,not people locally who need help )
a lot of the locals got heated about this.
so the town held a "special " hearing,private of course,and Cleared the employees.
no explanation was given other than,not guilty.

that......is what im up against.