Civil Disobedience and the Right to Garden

[thistlebloom]

I think it's notable that the complaint came from the next door neighbors non-resident landlord who lives in Puerto Rico.

I found his statements that "it looks like a farm" and "it will attract rats" as bizarre exaggerations.

 

[Smiles Jr.]

Personally I would never buy a house that required me to sign a homeowners association agreement. Those associations almost always end up being run by people on a power trip.

Amen brother.

My BIL is the chairman or president or whatever of a HOA of a very persnickety, high dollar neighborhood near St. Louis and he is definitely on a power trip. Every day he drives the entire subdivision with a camera and a clipboard looking for violations. His entire life is spent pushing their neighbors around. I refuse to visit them anymore. I would also be in jail for assault if I lived there.

 

[OldGuy43]

What "they" are doing to all of us puts me in mind of a song by Melanie Safka-

Look what they've done to my song, Ma
Look what they've done to my song
Well it's the only thing I could do half right
And it's turning out all wrong, Ma
Look what they've done to my song

We have met the enemy and he is us. ~Pogo

 

[Jared77]

Smiles is he retired?

 

[Chickie'sMomaInNH]

thanks OldGuy for reminding me of that song! i believe i heard that for the first time a few months back while visiting a neat secondhand shop where the owner was strumming away on a banjo as he waited for visitors. i may have heard it as a child since my dad influenced my music listening at a very early age at the end of the 70's.

i have no problem with anyone who wants to take a different approach to beautifying their front lawns. i'm not a fan of grass since it is a huge consumer of water with little benefit other that the O2 it produces. even those little shrubs most people plant near their foundations in the front yard could attract vermin to enter a home or it's property. the reason vermin are attracted to homes is really that they are looking for food and shelter and i'm sure they aren't picky if they find a hole to get into someplace warm and cozy with access to easy food!

i'm sure the owner of the chickens also knows to keep the food stored in metal containers to keep stuff out of them.

 

[Smiles Jr.]

Smiles is he retired?

Yes he's retired. You know, one of those old guys with white shoes and a white belt?!

 

[journey11]

If you don't want to look at it, build a fence around YOUR house and stare at that awhile and you'll probably change your mind about my tomatoes!

That's a great idea! That's how I feel about it too.

There is a yard not too far from me where the owner has an extensive rock garden. Mostly rocks, few plants. Attractive only to him. We have a long way to go before it is perfectly acceptable to "rock" the (front lawn) boat.

Sounds like that fella is just trying to get out of mowing.

Restrictive laws would make me move.

We knew when we were looking to buy that we wanted far, far away from HOA's and made a point to look for something out of city limits for this reason. Of course, our homeowner's insurance is higher because there'd probably not be much left time the fire dept. got out here. Then there's those people who think just because you live out in the country you can do anything you want and deliberately disrespect your neighbors. *sigh* We've got some world class rednecks out here. One neighbor on the other ridge was shooting off his semi-automatic pistol the other night, so the bigger redneck on our ridge had to holler back with his. Stuff like that...all the time. But I seriously, I could have pigs in my front yard if I wanted to...LOL.

Catjac, that is crazy!

Smiles, I think they said the law on it was rather loosely interpreted. I can see if the garden was unkempt and weedy. It sounds like they could make wiggle room to allow for this particular, very tidy garden.

And excellent point on renters being an even bigger threat to property value!!! I may have some trouble selling mine one day for that reason. Renters don't often take very good care of a place, not with the same pride that someone paying on (or paid off!) their mortgage would. That's why all the ads you see say no smoking, no pets, no hud, no kids. People don't want their property getting trashed and that statistically lowers the risk. These houses in the article are about the size of a cracker box, but I imagine the desirable location has a lot to do with the property values. My BIL was surprised and bummed out when he found out that his carefully installed landscaping didn't affect his assessed value at all. I'd say the guy is just complaining because it stands out and gets under his skin. People tend to favor conformity....in everything!

 

[digitS']

Yes he's retired. You know, one of those old guys with white shoes and a white belt?!

Spent his entire life on carpet and has hands so soft he can lift a penny off a sleeping church mouse without waking her?

Well, it is location, location, location! Then, you might get the neighbors you deserve .

In my common-as-weeds family, even the Rhodes scholar, tenured professor of physics had to go off to the University of Western Australia in Perth for some scheme to get a PhD out of Stanford. The richest cousin made a fortune engineering combines . . . of all things! (I think his son might wear white shoes & belt .)

Steve

 

[hoodat]

That was one of the things I liked about Oklahoma. Once you get away from the cities and out in the county the attitude is,"You don't tell someone what they can or can't do on their own land".

 

[Ridgerunner]

If you live around other people, you give up som freedom of action so you can live in peace. That's called civilization. Some people don't handle civilization real well and can't accept rules. Some people like to take advantage so they can bully others. That's not being civilized, that's being ......... It's a family forum. I won't say it but it's not flattering. I could also tell some stories about neighbors that did some pretty underhanded things.

Some of us don't have a whole lot of choice about where we live. I was there a few times. But when I retired I moved where there are no HOA, city, or town rules. I'm out in the county and I cannot hit any neighbors house with a rock if I throw it from my property. The rules are common courtesy, nothing more, as long as I don't go commercial then the county health department might get involved. With decent neighbors, that's enough.

I don't keep the entire place mowed, just an area around the house to keep the vermin at bay. I cut trails trhrough the rest to help me get there without getting too many ticks or chiggers. About three times a year I cut it all, partly to keep the brush and briars from taking over and partly to grow new flowers. Some people call them weeds. My neighbors are cool with that.