Zoning Laws: Can anyone say Communist!!

L

lg_mouth

New member
I will gladly say I live in the sweet backwoods of Ohio and have never had to deal with zoning laws, but while watching one of the home remodeling shows last week, I was floored. I believe they were in CA and a home inspector came in and told them they had to tear down the can lights and put in flourescent (sp?) in the bathroom and kitchen, nothing else is allowed. The window in the bathroom was too large, had to be reduced and a list of other things. I could not believe it! This was their house and the city was coming in and telling them what kind of lights they can put in and such. Not really sure how this is legal, maybe someone can educate me. This was not a housing development.

Lg_mouth
 
The people of that particular city have agreed to place such restrictions on residential construction projects. If they don't like it they can either move or they can work to change the minds of their neighbors and vote in a city council that will change the law.
 
Why would it matter...

...what kind of lights I have in my bathroom? I just don't understand the extent it has taken. I can understand things like "no mobile homes" or anything else that may drop property value, but not lights or windows.

Just because the majority of the city likes it doesn't mean they should have a say in what I do with my house.

Lg_mouth
 
We are forcedto belong to a lake association where we live. I built a 16X24 deck on the back of my house last year, and had to get it approved by the association before the county inspector would even look at it. I don't get how association or township rules supercede county building rules. It was no big deal, just someome else wanting a piece of the pie to say, "Yup, looks good.". We are not allowed to have a fence of any kind though. I wonder how that would hold up if someone's dog bites a kid someday.
 
Friends in Florida

I had some friends in FL, who have since moved back to WV, who had a small piece of concrete cause a huge stink. My buddy put a very small slab of concrete at the base of his deck steps. He had clearance for the deck, stairs, etc, but did not mention the slab he was putting in, it was sort of an after thought. I believe he had to bust it up for not getting it cleared. Unreal!

Lg_mouth
 
It's not "Communist" if the zoning laws are what that community decided upon. If uncle Lenin passed an edict from on high about why fluorescent is "The People's Bulb," then maybe we're talking about Communism.
 
Guess its just me...

...but I figure my house, my rules. Just something this country boy has a hard time accepting.

Just for fun, why would lights in the kitchen and bathroom make a difference?

Lg_mouth
 
Just so you know, even deepest darkest Ohio does have county and township zoning or building standards.

These things are a matter of degree. Some places closely regulate the exterior color of your home and require specific styles of architecture.
 
I'll let you know...

...the first time someone comes into my house and tells me my towel rack is inches too long!

I just built a home and had to have septic, plumbing, electric and structure inspections. Beyond that, didn't really matter. If they really want to get picky, they could tell my neighbor that the 9 junk cars, one junk school bus, one junk mobile home and huge pile of trash is breaking some zoning law. I would really appreciate that!


Lg_mouth
 
Last edited:
...but I figure my house, my rules. Just something this country boy has a hard time accepting.

Just for fun, why would lights in the kitchen and bathroom make a difference?

Lg_mouth
Click to expand...
I can't back this up with a fact but I am 99% sure it is because of pollution. Those type of lights use way less enegry then a conventional lightbulb. Less power consumption=less pollution. I can't see it really being a safety issue, but I may be wrong.

I just built a home and had to have septic, plumbing, electric and structure inspections. Beyond that, didn't really matter. If they really want to get picky, they could tell my neighbor that the 9 junk cars, one junk school bus, one junk mobile home and huge pile of trash is breaking some zoning law. I would really appreciate that!
Click to expand...

Are you sure you don't live in Michigan? I have a neighbor that has a driveway and garage full of crap and parks his truck out by the road. I thought every redneck had a school bus rotting in his back yard?
 
After we built

Unfortunately most of their junk appeared after we built the house. The place was still a mess, but after we moved in the 9 cars show up, they drag the old school bus and trailer in with a skidder of all things. The wheels on the bus were locked up, you should have heard the racket of dragging that thing down the road. They are now proceeding to cut the bus up into scrap, but most of the spare pieces are laying around in what yard is not already covered up.

Other than that, they are pretty decent neighbors. They don't bother me, so that makes them okay in my book.

Lg_mouth
 
Less power consumption=less pollution
Click to expand...

If I want to drive a '73 455cc Pontiac Trans Am that gets about 5 miles to gallon, I will. To hell with Jimmy Carter and Ralph Nader.

(Not that I own one, but I sure would...)

Telling people which lightbulbs to use is kinda dumb. Let the market fix itself. People aren't buying Toyota Prius's (plural?) because they want to save the environment or because the EPA is making them; they're buying them because gasoline costs so #^%@ much.

But it's not Communist. That's what annoys me about this thread - people tossing buzzwords around.
 
check it out before your buy

It is your responsibility to check out all the things that can affect your home purchase and proprty use. Far to many buyers pay no attention until after the purchase. Then they go ballistic when they can not do something that was cleary identified in the rules. Yes there are far to many rules in some places. No-one forces your to buy there.

When we can't do something on "our" property we seem to go a bit nuts. After all it is ours and not everyone else's. Then when we try to sell and find out the junk in the guys lot across the street is lowering your sales price by $10K we get pixxxxx over that. Sorry boys we don't get to have it both ways.
 
Calm down

Wow, calm down. I don't have a dog in this fight if you would have read the post from the beginning. I didn't buy a house that was in a zoning district nor did I ever complain about my neighbor's interesting yard ornaments lowering my resale value. I never plan to move, so I put no thought into resale value. I simply saw a home remodeling show that had some pretty strict zoning laws.

From now on, please read the entire post before jumping the gun.

lg_mouth
 
Better word would be? Dictatorship, totalitarianism, etc.
Click to expand...

Well, not a dictatorship because these laws were passed by people who were legitimately elected. Totalitarianism, maybe, though not out side of the context of other extremely restrictive laws (then again, we are talking about California).

And in general I'm not opposed to regulations like this, because I think forcing people to deal with the externalities, such as pollution, that they might otherwise ignore isn't necessarily a "bad thing." And in this case there wouldn't really be any other viable options, as either a tax on bulbs or a tax on energy would have wide-reaching side effects. Really, my main problem with this is that it's probably not even all that effective: to my knowledge, fluorescent bulbs take a much large amount of energy to start up than incandescents, to the point where if you aren't running them for extended periods (half-hour or more, say) you're either not saving power or possibly even using more. Plus repeated cycling wears the bulb faster, leading to a shorter life. Which is why in my bathroom, which is the room whose lights get turned off and on the most, I still have incandescent bulbs even though nearly every other bulb in the house has been replaced. Fluorescents just aren't all that effective in bathrooms.

But this is what sometimes happens when you let a bunch of hippies make knee-jerk feel-good rules. Yes, I know that sounds odd coming from me.
 
My original purpose...

...was to point out these were dictatorial type laws telling citizens what type of lights to have in their homes. I realize my choice of Communism was wrong because that is an economic term and not necessarily a government type. First word that came to mind when I started the post.

I would really like to see a study done on how much energy/pollution CA is saving with these measures.

Lg_mouth
 
...was to point out these were dictatorial type laws telling citizens what type of lights to have in their homes. I realize my choice of Communism was wrong because that is an economic term and not necessarily a government type. First word that came to mind when I started the post.
Click to expand...

Well, the idea is that what you're doing inside your home actually affects those outside your home...that electricity doesn't get there by magic, and generally a large portion of it is created by pollution-producing sources. In this way it's little different than wood-burning stoves (which are also often restricted, I believe even in areas outside California), it's just that the pollution is being produced a little farther away.

I'm not speaking to the actual effectiveness of this measure, mind you; just that, assuming it is an effective measure, it does address issues that you are creating outside your bathroom.

I would really like to see a study done on how much energy/pollution CA is saving with these measures.
Click to expand...

So would I.
 
I would be more concerned...

...with the other pollution I am putting out in my bathroom. Southern Ohio should be glad only my family is subjected to that!

Lg_mouth
 
Zoning and construction laws dictate designs and limitations on your home.

Lg_mouth, you apparently live outside city limits or in a rural area. In cities and towns there are often regulations on the design and construction of a residence. These can be very general to specific. In a city, they may dictate that in certain districts your new construction OR remodeling does not vary signficantly from existing designs...this is often done around "historical" areas like those with Victorian era homes. Outside of that area, you are less restricted on the design or "look" of your house.

Townhome and condo complexes are very tight on what you can do to the exteriors. Mostly because the associations are generally responsible for exterior maintenance (walls, roofs, gutters, paint, etc.).

Toybox - It's not just a matter of looking before you buy, but watching the attempts to sneak in draconian building requirements after the fact.

In a city nearby they inproved the standards for new-construction homes over the existing (1960's) homes. Friends bought a house there and had it partially destroyed by a fire. He had enough insurance, until he found out new building codes increased the expense (more insulation, mandated dual-pane windows, new 'quake anchoring, new plumbing materials, etc.). He found a way around most of it, but it was still expensive.

You're going to see a move away from incandescent bulbs spreading across the country. The merits of such a thing are debatable.

I also agree that building inspectors can nit pick about things just for the sake of their little bureaucrat's handbook. A friend in construction says they can be the most petty-minded of bureaucrats and half of 'em are fishing for some kind of "gratuity"
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top