Nuisance Committee
An open letter to the nuisance committee from a member
We seem to have two camps:
A. Those concerned about possibilities of abuse of power
B. Those unconcerned about possibilities of abuse of power
B. Unconcerned people probably have never experienced abuse -- and may never.
You may have a perfect house, yard, town lot, no outdoor hobbies, no animals, no RV or large vehicle to park, no "classic" vehicles to restore, not a lot of visitors, etc. Good for you! You may be the perfect neighbor! Don't be surprised if there isn't SOMETHING in your life that is relatively innocuous but outside the law in one way or another—maybe your firewood is stacked in the wrong place, or maybe you have too much firewood. Maybe you weren't aware that you were supposed to have a permit to put in that backyard shed where you so neatly keep all your gardening tools, or maybe it's in the wrong place on your lot. Just about everyone has SOMETHING against some regulation somewhere!
A. Now, about the other group--Those who are concerned about over-extension and abuse:
—In talking, I've discovered many of you have had an unpleasant experience, or know someone who has had an unpleasant experience, with local government—city or county.
*If you haven't had the experience, just think of how you feel when you're driving along and the policeman turns his light on and pulls you over. HOW DO YOU FEEL? ---Do you feel safe and secure?
Aren't you glad that we have lots of safeguards built into our criminal justice system so that chances are this incident will be within strict boundaries, and you won't need to fear oppressive "enforcement." The outcome is fairly predictable.
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I don't think anyone in this room is a hardened criminal or a "scofflaw." I personally have never been arrested, have no criminal record, only traffic tickets! But think about this.
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We've heard a lot from people who have something specific that's bothering them: noise, vehicles, animals.
I understand your concerns. I live in a fairly rural area (or it used to be), and since 1974 I have experienced:
hearing the droning of kids on ORV's on an otherwise pleasant summer afternoon;
being kept awake, or waked up early in the morning, by a neighbor's dog barking, barking,…;
seeing some pretty strange structures in my neighborhood that serve as horse shelters;
--my neighbor painted his house about halfway and then stopped several years ago and has never resumed—that looks weird!;
--another neighbor has a liking for exotic walls and lots of greenery—displayed in a most unusual way;
--about a block and a half up the street from me (and I have to pass it every time I go in or out of the valley) someone has bought the corner lot and started tearing down structures that were there, but stopped in the middle of what they were doing, and it has been sitting like that for months and months;
--another neighbor built some funny-looking greenhouses; and the list goes on…
I LOVE IT! VARIETY IS THE SPICE OF LIFE!
Who has the right to tell these people they can't do what they've been doing/not doing???
Should I make them arrange their lives and their property the way I like it?
Who am I to say??? What are "neighborhood standards"? WHO DECIDES???
When we make decisions, let's move to the side of caution, the side of respect for people's right to be different and express themselves, and the side of FREEDOM!!!
Sharalyn Barney 2-21-08
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