Take the Money and Run....

TAD spent the better part of a year breaking every promise he had made to the neighbors.  He bull dozed the house.  He left an empty lot just sitting.  He was a jerk about the parking. He managed to have everyone thinking he was a  creep.  He quit stalking me.  He quit coming around.  There was  a rumor he ran out of money and couldn't afford to build.  I got excited.  I wouldn't mind an empty lot next to me.  Then the "For Sale" sign went up. I was hoping to make him an offer.  But another developer bought the lot.  She grossly over paid for it.  TAD made more money than he should have for being such a jerk.  The lot is now a parking lot for the developer.  She's building two lots across the street.  She never puts silk fences around her properties either.  She's pushing the F.A.R. requirements to the maximum.  I really wonder about the math the City uses.  How houses those size can still have a pool and all of that concrete is beyond me.  The builders leave their trailers on the public right-of-way for days at a time.  My elderly neighbor complained to a council member who happened to be canvasing the neighborhood (to be re-elected), and the trailer was moved the next day. I'm beginning to get the feeling that this is the way our dysfunctional City government works.   First, there are a myriad of complaints about the problems associated with the developers.  (For example, the water run off problem).  The City council works to create ordinances to eliminate those problems.  The ordinances pass and people expect problems to be resolved.  The developers don't follow the codes. The City staff does not enforce the codes.  If  the neighbors notice and complain, the City sends a staff member out to smooth things over (Not necessarily enforce the codes, just resolve the immediate complaint).  However, if the neighbors don't notice or complain, the problems continue and expand until the problem gets big enough that it becomes an issue again.  Repeat the cycle.  Unfortunately, what is happening here is that people begin to think that City council members are the problem, when in fact, it's the City staffers not enforcing codes.  Our council members are becoming the de facto enforcers, bringing things to City staff attention when people complain to them.  But I do think it is fair to say that our council members are spending more time than should be necessary to manage problems that would have been prevented if codes were consistently enforced.

Reflections on a Ugly Scene in Your Neighborhood

The whole scenario of TAD screaming and yelling about the wasted time and energy on government regulations had me thinking.  I had never known that the actual code stated that the developer is supposed to put a silk fence around the entire perimeter of the property.  Had TAD done this immediately after bulldozing, my yard might not ever have started to erode.  Why hadn't the city enforced that from the beginning? An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure in medicine, but how many dollars to a city? And Freddie seemed to have a supernatural ability to remain calm in the most difficult situation imaginable. TAD had argued with him and told him he didn't know what he was talking about and personally attacked him, not to mention question his professional credentials. Yet, Freddie had remained stoic and professional.  Then there was that strange business at the end.  Why had Freddie asked me to choose how the code was enforced? Why had he even offered an alternative outside of what was required?  I was very uncomfortable about writing rules when the written ones weren't even being followed.  Why weren't the written rules followed first? It makes sense to write rules when a new situation comes up, but why write rules when the existing ones aren't even being followed?  The whole thing was a little strange.  TAD had said that Mike Griffin, the big boss of zoning, had told him he didn't have to follow the rules.  Why would the person at City Hall responsible for enforcing the rules be telling people that they could break them? Then it occurred to me.  Supposed Freddie was following orders, like he confessed to TAD.  Mike had told him to do something because I complained that there was a problem.  What if those were the standing orders of City Hall? Suppose that the great powers that be in City Hall had made a deal with the developers that the City wouldn't even bother to enforce the codes unless a problem occurred? And if there was a problem, rather than enforce the codes, they would just manage the problem on a case by case basis?  Freddie was following  orders from his boss. Which made me wonder, was Mike Griffin just following the orders of his boss, Jim Hansen?  About three weeks after this scene, I looked out of my window upstairs and saw the City was having to pump and clean the storm drains on the corner that are adjacent to the lot. Apparently, those silk fences do something, and not having them costs us tax payers a pretty penny.  Rumor has it that it cost about four grand to clean that mess up.  TAD never got a bill for that either.

The Good Ole Boy

When we returned home from our vacation, the vacant lot was a shock to us all.  TAD had not just bulldozed the house. He had flattened everything.  There had been three large oak tress on the lot, one of which was right next to the property line.  There was absolutely no reason to cut it down. But he had.  So I called the city shortly after returning and I filed a complaint with Mike Jones.  I explained the situation and I asked him to check the satellite photos, I was sure they had not updated yet.  Mike checked out the online photos and said that he could see them and they were large, and yes, he would look into it.  I asked about the palm trees in the right of way.  Mike is the one who told me that you had to have a permit for that too and that TAD never got one.  I was impressed with how little TAD seemed to respect the neighborhood.  Seems to me that if you're going to do business in a city, you would actually try to at at least pretend to care about the laws and codes. TAD sure wasn't.  It wasn't long before  I noticed another problem.  My fence and my yard were  getting washed away.  I went to pull weeds long the fence and I found all of these holes along my fence.  Every time it rained now, I was losing my property.  Along the fence, where that oak had once stood, it was really bad.  Within two rain storms, a cavern had formed under the rim of my driveway.  I also found a crack in my driveway that had never been there before.  Ripping that large oak out had unsettled the soil and the consequences were looking serious. I filed a complaint with the city immediately.  I figured I had two more rain storms before part of my driveway became unstable.   I was pulling weeds in the front yard a day or so later when TAD showed up.  He started off by thanking me for being the most reasonable neighbor around.  He lamented at how angry and unreasonable every one else  was.  Even neighbor to the south had had words of sorts with him.  Then he mentioned that my reputation as a PIA had proceeded me and that he had been warned (I'm assuming that came from the City), but I was turning out to be the best of the bunch. I looked right at him and said "Don't hold you're breath. This thing isn't over yet ."  I continued to pull weeds, but not for long.  Someone from the city had shown up, and TAD and I both watched him approach.  I got up and followed TAD into the lot where Freddie was standing.  TAD approached Freddie and I hung back, watching like a spectator.  Freddie announced that TAD would have to put a silk fence around the entire perimeter of the property. Then he cited the code that made this a requirement.  I was a little stunned.  If it was a code, why had the City waited so long to do or say something about it? TAD begin to argue with Freddie. He said that he didn't need a silk  fence everywhere because Mike Griffin had said so and he told Freddie to go talk to his boss and get his facts straight. Freddie, impressively stoic, calmly informed TAD that Mike sent him out and asked him to do this.  TAD went into a full blown tantrum.  "What changed" What kind of bullshit happened that I was told by the City that I didn't need an erosion barrier but now I do? That erosion barrier isn't going to do shit. " I was having hard time watching this scene.  TAD's behavior was completely appropriate for a five year old.  I was personally offended by the way he said that required things like erosion barriers didn't matter.  Especially when I was watching the consequences of life with out one.  Freddie's demeanor was more than admirable, it was sainthood material.  Freddie calmly told TAD that he could be fined if he failed to comply.  TAD turned purple and roared in his face while he did the angry dance.  "WHY? WHY NOW? THIS IS BULLSHIT". I wanted Freddie to fine him.  I wanted Freddie to throw the book at him.    Instead, Freddie looked down at his shoes and then looked up at me and answered matter-of-factly "We've had a complaint". TAD looked confused, and I raised my hand like a school girl "That would be me" I chirped with a smile. TAD looked at me, the red color draining from his face, and asked me "Why?". "It's called property damage TAD. I'm giving you the opportunity to do something to fix it.  My property is washing away." I answered firmly. TAD put his poker face back on and walked over to my yard to see what I was talking about.  Then TAD told Freddie that we didn't need him anymore because we would work it out together. H wrapped a paw around me and squeezed me for visual effect. I said "I get to pick who I work with and whose side I'm on. I'm working with Freddie".   I expected the City to be working with me. TAD said that erosion barriers were useless and that he would bring a truck of dirt and dump it along the fence. Freddie asked me if I was ok with that.  I asked him if it would solve the problem.  He said yes.  So I agreed to the dirt plan.  TAD took the opportunity to wrap a paw around me and squeeze me again while telling TAD what a nice person I was.  I looked right at Freddie and said "TAD is a forked-tongue devil.  Don't let him fool you." And I rolled my eyes while I peeled TAD's arm off before going into the house.










the

The Sh*T Stirrer

TAD was a very effective Pain-in-the-A$$.  He spoke to the woman on the corner south of me.  While he talked about his plans to build a spec house, he mentioned the parking problem.  (Prior to his conversation with her, there never had been a parking problem). But TAD made sure there was a parking problem by the end of his conversation with her.  TAD also made sure to create a parking problem.  My babysitter had been parking in the public right of way in front of the bulldozed house for about two years. Nobody cared.  TAD cared a lot however. The first thing he did was tell my south neighbor that parking was a big problem. The second thing he did was plant a giant thorn bush on the right of way exactly where my babysitter parked.  So she began parking on the cross street in the public right of way.  TAD immediately put an illegal barrier in the PUBLIC right of way, forcing her to park on the other side of the cross street.  She was still on the PUBLIC right of way, but next to south neighbor's yard.  South neighbor, was furious about having my babysitter park there.  What if she had company? What if she wanted to have someone park there? She didn't like the unsightly view of a car next to her house.  She immediately planted shrubs to shrink the space as much as possible.  TAD loved talking to her and telling her about how it would only get worse as he built a house, because all of those construction cars would need to park on the public right of way on his side, so my selfish babysitter would be parking on her side unless she held her ground and complained and did something.  My south neighbor quit speaking to me and there was this strange tension I didn't understand, because I wasn't privy to any of this information right away.  But it didn't take long to figure it out.  TAD would come over and tell me how angry south neighbor was and how we were all so mean and two-faced to one another.  I could see who was stirring the sh*t.  It was the one person who would never be living here.  It was the one person who wanted to make a quit buck, cash out, and move on.  LB and I both complained to the city about the barrier blocking the right of way.  The city made him move it.  The public right of way on the cross street fits about seven cars.  TAD wanted to annex the whole thing with landscaping to give the illusion of a bigger yard. I figured he was also going to play numbers with the FAR requirements and see how far he could bend the rules about impervious structures. TAD was the worst neighbor ever,  and we were stuck with him until he sold the house.  Which he hadn't even built yet.  *sigh* Meanwhile, the City made him move the giant thorn bush. It was a safety hazard to be sure, and the City knew better than to let that fly.  So TAD planted two large palm tress in my sitter's parking space. He did that without a permit, hence illegally.  Strange as it sounds, he was never fined for that. TAD didn't even bother to water the trees, so one died.  The City had to remove it, at tax payer expense. As far as  I know, he was never fined or billed for that either. So my tax dollars are spent cleaning up TAD's passive agressive messes. I wonder how many corporate messes our City cleans up at taxpayer expense without ever fining or billing these builders?   Why doesn't Jim Hansen worry about these unplanned expenses with the city budget?  Is the City Manager so cosy with the developers that he has a budget for that? I'd sure like to know.  My garden trellis seems so petty in comparison.

Asbestos clouds

We left for a three week vacation in July.  We spent a few days in Spokane, Washington, meeting cousins and uncles as we said good bye to DH's Aunt.  Then we drove to Mount Ranier National Park and basked in the glory of those mountains.  Stunning.  We were staying at a family resort, and having a wonderful time.  One of the interesting things about places like that is you have no cell phone reception. There was also no internet but the lodge had a wireless spot in the recreation room.  I happened to be playing ping pong with the girls when I got a call from my Neighbor, LB. It's probably the only reason why the call came through.  LB had already left me a message. He had been calling all day.  TAD had decided to bulldoze the house next door while we were away.  LB was warning me about the asbestos shingles that had been on the house.  The wind was blowing from the south and massive clouds of dust had been blowing on my house.  LB had video recorded the whole thing.  He really was a wonderful neighbor.  TAD was putting a capitol A on the name A$$h@le. That's why he had been stalking me. He was trying to figure out a time when we wouldn't be home. We had been gone for less then a week and he had already done this. Clearly, TAD had been planning this.  I talked to LB. He was very angry and upset.  So was I.  TAD had been telling everybody that he wasn't going to bulldoze the house. he had clearly been lying to everyone.  I really hate sleazy people. Why can't people just be honest? " I spent an hour on the phone and on the internet trying to learn what I could about asbestos.  It was a long, frustrating hour.  Not only was I mad about his lying about bulldozing the house, but i was fairly certain that those were asbestos shingles.  He had contaminated my house, knew he was going to, and did it so that I couldn't defend my property.  If I moved six inches in either direction from the window, my call dropped.  We were four hours behind Jacksonville. A couple of asbestos people didn't want to get involved since the actual asbestos belonged to my neighbor.  One guy said it would wash away in the first hard rain.  But everything we read about asbestos said that it would stay in the soil. I tried calling the state. I tried calling the city.  Building and Zoning were not even answering the phones.  I had to leave a message.  TAD had been very calculating with his plans. It cast a pall over our vacation.  I warned our house sitter to wear a mask when she entered or existed our home.   We would be gone two more weeks.  This made it impossible for us to manage the situation in any way, let alone an ideal way. Score one for TAD.  Illegally demolishing and dumping asbestos without getting caught.  Of course, he just said that there was no asbestos shingles.  But he certainly didn't offer us a sample to prove it and put everything to rest for good.  He just kept using his mouth. I  nicknamed him the forked tongue devil.

A Man of Many Faces

One warm, summer day, about a week after the house next door officially closed, I was informed that there was a man on my front porch who wanted to see me.  I went outside, lo and behold, it was TAD (The A$$h@le Developer).  We recognized each other immediately.  He had rescued me once; a very pregnant damsel in distress when my car died at an intersection and I was too pregnant to do anything but waddle around and tell my then five year old son to stay in the car.  That had been ten years ago.  TAD was glad I recognized him and remembered his good deed.  After a brief walk down memory lane, he informed me that he had bought the house next door.  The first thing he did was brag to me about the great price he got and how he might just turn around and sell it for more since he had bought it so cheap.  Well, there's nothing like someone bragging about ripping off your neighbor to get you started on the wrong foot.  When I asked him about bulldozing the house,  he hemmed and hawed and said he didn't really want to, but there was a lot of damage to the house but he could rent it...blah blah blah.  I've been in the house several times and it was in immaculate condition from what I had seen.  I guess it never occurred to him that I had actually been in the house. Then he starts telling me about how the adult kids were fighting at the closing and that's why he didn't even show up, he had signed the papers early.  He wanted to stay out of family politics.  This is the point where any good feelings about TAD and his rescue had been erased and replaced with suspicion and mistrust.  People tell you all about themselves if you listen carefully.  I was not liking what TAD had to say about the kind of person he was.  Suddenly, TAD was around everyday.  In the mornings, when I left the house, there was TAD.  In the evenings, when I left the house, there was TAD.  And he always wanted to chat.  He always wanted to know: What I was doing?  Where was I going?  What places did I go?  Sometimes, in the beginning,  I got away before the interrogations.  But he learned fast, and stood in front of my bike, or blocked the path to my house. If I tried to walk around him he'd just sweep a paw around me and squeeze me to his side, not letting go while he kept asking questions. It was like having a really nice stalker.  TAD is shaped like a football tackle, or a bear.  He's a tall, blond with a ruddy complexion from too much sun.  In fact, in my mind, I imagine that TAD was either the captain of the football team or the captain's dense side kick. I could totally imagine him stuffing nerds in lockers.  He was a high school bully all grown up, but he still seemed to be a bully.   One hot summer day, as he stood in front of my bike, making it impossible to walk the dog, I mentioned to TAD that we were going on vacation in July.  We would be gone for three weeks.  He quit coming around, and I should have known that was a problem.  He had gotten the information that he wanted.

A Series of Unfortunate Frauds Pt. 2

Within a week, the adult daughter of my deceased neighbor informed me that they had sold the house.  Cash. Well, it obviously wasn't a family.  The really strange part was the phone call I got later, from Ms. North Carolina.  She starts telling me how awful and unfair it all was.  She had wanted to buy that house and now a developer had taken it from her. I asked her incredulously "You made an offer on the house next door?" I had specifically told her that the kids didn't want to sell.  "Oh yes, and I thought they were going to take my offer but someone made a higher offer".  whine and sniff.  But her story was so bad, you could drive a truck through the holes.  First she was harassing the elderly in the hospital.  Now she was calling and making offers to people that weren't even supposed to be interested in selling.  And why was she spending so much time whining to me? She was definitely lying to me about her true interest.  I saw my neighbor across the street, Mr. Local Bachelor, and we chatted in his yard one morning.  He was mad about the way the sale of the house went down.  I didn't say anything. I wanted to hear what Local Bachelor knew.  LB was upset that the house would be bull dozed.  He had talked to one of the kids (they had all grown up together).  One of the sons was anxious for some cash, so he was pushing the others to sell.  Then he said "They have been played by these people.  They have two women that ride their bikes and walk around pretending to be new to the area looking for a house. Then people call them and start making all of these offers on the phone, but they aren't real offers, none of them are in writing. Then the developer calls and makes it look like he's the highest offer.  I keep telling the son they are being cheated. That lot is worth much more than they are getting. He won't listen to me. He's bought the bull sh#t hook, line, and sinker.  It's a shame." Holy Crap! It is a shame.  The Son had told me that the phone was ringing off the hook, but whose to say that it wasn't intentional to make it look like they were getting a lot of interest? What if one person (or group) was putting on a show? That would explain Ms. Carolina's behavior too.  She was calling to see what I knew and cover her tracks.  She's was trying to look like a victim when in reality, she was doing the dirty work.  I was disgusted with the whole thing. The developer debate had been going on as long as i have lived here, but finding out how they really operated  was leaving a bad taste in my mouth.  It was looking like a dirty deed done dirt cheap.