Land
Use Coalition
Personal
Stories
The following are the personal accounts of Boulder County property owners describing
their experiences dealing with Boulder County government in general, and the Site Plan
Review process. We think it is important to share these peoples' experiences because they
underscore the broad powers of Boulder County government and the abuse of that power.
Additionally, we have heard similar stories from so many who took comfort in the
fact that they were not alone. Please note that some landowners have requested that their
names not be included as they are currently in the Site Plan Review process.
If you
would like to submit your story, please send your story in an email to:
contactus@landusecoalition.org
Real People Real Stories -
These are a series of advertisements paid for by the LUC
about land use abuses in Boulder County.
Merger - Read
about how the Boulder County "merger" regulation affects land
owners. Two new stories, Two
more stories. (pdf) (2004)
9/9/99
The attached file is an excerpt from
the 9/9/99 Boulder County commissioners meeting. The meeting had to do with a site plan
review for a home on the Nancy Mine road.
In the course of the hearing the
commissioners made it clear that no matter what happened with this review that access to
other properties would not be allowed. As a result Jane Kraft who also owns land on this
road and paid property tax on this road for years was moved to appeal to the
commissioners. The other voice is none other than County Commissioner Ron Stewart, who
after a nine month nationwide search found himself and was appointed by the other two
commissioners to the head of Open Space.
By eliminating access, the property
becomes unbuildable and worthless. In effect the owners have contributed their retirement
to the Boulder County open space without being compensated. It seems to be a conflict of
interest for Stewart to be involved in this decision. Perhaps it is time for the
commissioners, in a show of sincerity, to sign over their retirement to the open space
department as well.
If after listening to this you are
concerned with the behavior of our elected representatives please pass this on to others,
friend, members of the press, your elected city , state and federal officials. (By the way
the commissioners have refused to televise their hearings unlike the more progressive city
council.) You may forward this letter if you wish.
Voice of Jane
Kraft (wav format, 1.5
minutes, 1.9 MB)
4/24/99
To Whom It May Concern,
I was born in Boulder, paid my property taxes for twenty three years. I have worked and
saved very hard all my life in hopes to one day build my family a small home in which to
live. I never got the chance. The city of Boulder has effectively taken my property
without due compensation in the name of open space, under the guise of sound planning. The
slopes issue is a blanket policy to deprive the private property rights of all that
haven't already been stripped by some other egregious process. I'm just a little guy with
limited resources trying to raise a family. My dreams have been destroyed and it is going
to be hard to start over at my age.
Martin McLennan
4/23/99
There is such a thing as "Civil
Disobedience". Back in June of 1996 I told the Land Use and Building department
that after waiting almost six months for a Permit to build, that "the digging starts
Monday so you'd better get your act together". At that point I was issued a permit.
You see, I just read some of the letters on the Coalition web site (nice site by the way).
It appears that people writing the letters seem to think that the Commissioners and Land
Use have some sort of power and control over private property - and their retirement land
or house site. They do not. Property purchased under a set of rules is grandfathered to
those rules - which was my argument to Land Use during Site Plan Review. I would suggest
that anyone owning land in Boulder County who is not trying to subvert the building
codes, to submit an application for approval and tell them they have two weeks to get a
permit completed or the digging starts then. The County cannot tell you you cannot build -
period. Lots deeded and taxed are buildable. If the county can collect taxes on private
property, then the property has value and standing. In 1991 the county wanted me to build
a two story garage (parking on the second floor!) because they wanted it moved over
towards the house in the hole now filled by the addition. But I told them hell no. The
garage was going where I wanted it, not them. I prevailed. Besides, they don't live there,
I do (or did). My point is this, these Land Use rummies haven't a clue, but simply impose
their ideas onto others projects and lifestyles as if they have a right to. It is wrong
and unacceptable, and people need to tell them to bug off. If Boulder wants to
impose such idiotic requirements onto previously decent land to make it unbuildable, then
they need to purchase it at fair market value. Simple.
Sometimes we lose perspective when the emotions get too high, but I assure you I told
these people to get out of my life. It was my property and because they couldn't figure
out their own code requirements (I tested their knowledge) how was it possible for me to
trust their judgement. I couldn't and didn't.
So Civil Disobedience must be weighed carefully. Property cannot be harmed forever,
but those that own it have a right under the Constitution to do with it as they please as
long as they are not harming anyone else and are being reasonable (as in, not trying to
build a McDonalds on top of the hill).
The term "Civil Disobedience" sounds heavy and uncivil - almost like it
advocates criminal activity. Make no mistake, from the perspective of certain individuals
(i.e. the recipients) when acting in this fashion they believe one is acting criminal, but
I assure you this is one of the tools used to build this Country (e.g. Boston Tea Party).
And I don't mean disruptive. Take a look at Charlton Heston's February 16th speech to the
Harvard Law School Forum (titled: Winning the Cultural War). It is easily found using a
search engine. He speaks on this subject as a way to combat the idiots out there who
create laws for their self-serving agendas as well as a way to combat our moral decay.
Think about this for a second, how many jobs have you worked at where there was always
some person sucking off everyone else, or who did nothing but cause issues, or came up
with weird ideas? That is the type of people you are dealing with at bureaucracies. They
create these concepts or codes for no apparent reason other than they believe they're a
good idea - even if the idea stinks or causes problems.
I am not advocating disruption, but rather, respectful, polite, peaceful, civil
disobedience. No shouting, no activism, no hate, no violence - none of that. Simply put:
you ignore them if they're idiots.
Name withheld upon request.
Our situation is similar to many
others. We already live in the mountains but bought property around us as an investment
and to create some space around us. At least one of the adjacent lots we purchased looks
like it will be affected by the regulations and will become worthless. Since my husband is
retired and I will be soon, we have a relatively fixed income and were planning to use the
lots to help finance our retirements which could be pretty lean if the issue passes.
We will be out of state on the 17th.
but will be happy to pitch in after that. Please let us know what needs doing and we'll be
happy to help.
Thanks for your efforts
Sincerely,
M.E.
I am a builder specializing in the
mountains west of Boulder so I feel that I have a fairly good feel for the increase in
costs associated with the Boulder County Land Use Department.
I have built roughly 10 houses in
Boulder County since the inception of the Land Use rules and regs. I amortized all of my
increased costs solely created by land use over all of the houses and came up with a
figure of over $30,000 per house. This does not include added expenses and lost time due
to the length of time for the issuance of a building permit due to being forced to go
through as much as 3 months cycle to receive the blessing of land use.
One example of land use's egregious
abuse of power was a driveway I was forced to install on a house in Pine Brook Hills for
which I had originally received a bid of $20,000 to construct. By the time I had finished
constructing said driveway I had spent over $150,000 on the driveway. Needless to say, I
lost my shirt on that house.
However, this is exactly what Ron
Stewart is trying to achieve. He created the Land use department after first trying to
declare a moratorium on any building in the mountains. After being informed that the
county would be looking at a mountain of lawsuits, the commissioners decided to accomplish
the same thing by setting up such a Byzantine set of rules and regs that the only people
that would able to build in the mountains would be the wealthy with years to burn fighting
the county.
They also relied on the fact that they
would be dealing with a series of individual homebuilders who for the most part would not
be willing to litigate to protect their rights for the sake of one home. This strategy has
been very successful. From what I have been told only around 50 building permits were
issued for mountain homes last year. So we are talking about a miniscule amount of
building compared to what goes up at Rock Creek every year for example, which makes the
latest brainchild of the county even more incredible. They essentially want to create open
space with millions of dollars of private landowners property with their proposed slope
regulations.
What is their reasoning? Building in
the mountains is inherently dangerous. When was the last time you heard of anybody dying
due to their house sliding down a hillside in Boulder? Or drowning due to sheet runoff
from rainstorms? These reasons are patently absurd.
I sued the County about ten years ago
over their attempt to steal land from me and won the case. The case involved two lots
which I bought at the same time. To save one piece of paper, the title company put the
legal description for both lots on one sheet of paper. The county then informed me that
despite taxes having been paid on both lots for over thirty years, and their
acknowledgment of the fact that there were two lots, they refused to issue more than one
building permit. When I appeared before the commissioners to plead my case, Josie Heath
said I was a builder and I could afford to absorb the loss. I was then, and am still now,
a small builder who cannot move on to his next house until his last one has sold. However,
it took a year of my time during which I couldn't sell the house on the adjacent lot, and
cost $30,000 in legal fees which would have been higher if the county had decided to
appeal the decision. They were informed by their attorneys that I would probably win on
appeal and that the decision would be precedential and hurt their rights to pull this same
stunt with someone else. It turned out good for them because a few years later, they did
the same thing to hundreds of landowners when they "merged " lots. If I had
owned adjacent lots at that time I certainly would have been forced to sue again for the
same thing. Anyway, I guess the reason I am telling you this is there are plenty of people
that had this done to them, and the courts have ruled that in my case and one other that I
have heard about, the county's actions were illegal, and we got our land back.
Needless to say, my feelings about the
land use department are not kind. When the city of Boulder spends millions of tax dollars
on creating low income housing so that there can be a diverse economic population, you
would think that the county would be on the same page. However, at this point the only
people that can afford to build in unincorporated Boulder County are the extremely
wealthy. So we are going to end up with the Aspenization of Boulder County - an enclave.
Sincerely,
Jon Thacker
I am not sure that my tale is unusual
but here goes. My wife and I put all our resource into one pot we call our mountain home
(yet to be built). We refinanced our Boulder home, took out all our retirement capitol and
moved it into my place of business so as to rent out our Boulder house for the cash needed
to start the Boulder County Land Use review process. You know all the little expenses that
are "minor and just a part of the land use review," like land survey, topo map
of building site, revegetation plan, building design, Colorado geological survey, (to show
no slope or rock fall problems) soils survey, access survey and so many more.
I thought that by being a veteran of
the Special Use review Process twice that the Site Review would be a manageable thing.
Well let's hope that this is the case, other wise my wife and I have a nice picnic site
that all who own land around me can enjoy at my continued Taxed expense. Thanks for
letting me vent. If I can be of service please call me. I own a motel and have many skills
so just ask.
Bret Gibson
Owner, Boulder Mountain Lodge
I bought a 2+-acre parcel on a
hillside between the town of Salina and Sunshine Canyon in 1992. It adjoins a 9-acre
mining claim that my mother and aunt had owned since 1965. The 2 acre parcel is fairly
sloping but the price was right and it was the first piece of real estate I had ever owned
in my own name in my 45 years. My elderly mother and aunt saw that I was having a lot of
fun with the land and knew that I dreamed about building a house there. On the eve of my
wedding they presented me with the deed to their 9 acres as a wedding present in May of
1993.
My joy and happiness of receiving the
9-acre gift lasted approximately one week. In late May of 1993 the Boulder County
Commissioners unilaterally declared that contiguous parcels like mine in the mountains
that were owned by the same person would be stripped of all but one building right. If I
had only known what the commissioners were up to ahead of time, I would have graciously
declined my mother and aunt's well-intentioned and generous gift. I had hoped to sell one
parcel so I could use the money to build a house on the other, but the commissioners
stripped me of my building rights with no compensation. I would not be honest if I did not
say that I have been bitter and distrusting of the Boulder County commissioners ever
since.
Recently, when I heard that the
commissioners were now going to prohibit people like me from building on sloping lots, I
sensed that the nightmare was beginning again. Now I fear that I will be left with nothing
but a tax bill for some beautiful land I will never be able to use. It's not fair. I'm
trying to get a building permit before May, but I wouldn't be rushing to do this if I
didn't fear that Boulder County is about to rob me again if I don't act now.
I'm sure the commissioners see
themselves as the good guys who are saving the environment. They seem to have been
encouraged by a shrill and vocal minority of people who already have their mountain house
and who think the sky will fall if any more houses are built in the mountains. I hear
people say that if we don't stop building now, the mountains will look just like Orange
County, California in a few years. They think we must defend Boulder County against the
army of pot bellied, cigar chomping developers who are determined to pave over our fair
mountains. What the commissioners and the ardent no-growth advocates don't seem to see is
that it is small land owners, many of whom have been in the county for decades, who are
the victims of this environmental jihad. What they also don't see is that they are
generating an aura bad feeling and mistrust that is pitting neighbor against neighbor and
destroying the spirit of mountain living here in Boulder County. The policies of the
commissioners are adding fuel to the fire of a mean spirited cultural war between those
who already have their dream house and those who own their land but haven't yet fulfilled
that dream.
Let me say that I am completely
supportive of the concept of open space, and have supported Boulder County's open space
programs since it began in the late 1960's. As long as a fair price is paid for land
between willing sellers and buyers, there is absolutely nothing wrong with preserving our
natural environment. However, the dishonest tactics of the commissioners to cheat people
out of their property rights is just plain wrong, even if it is done in the name of open
space.
I am encouraged that there are brave
people out there who are willing to stand up to the arrogance of the commissioners.
Sincerely,
Joe Kellogg
I'm Michael Current, Marshall Coon's
son-in-law and I'm speaking for Marshall since he has no computer. I'm former Foreign
Service having served in the Middle East and Europe. I've been personally involved in some
of the peace negotiations in the Middle East and was stationed in Saudi Arabia during the
Gulf War.
Marshall is now 86 years old and has
lived in his current home (1788 Timber Lane) for about 36 years. He was the 4th home in
Pine Brook Hills. He purchased the lot directly below his a couple of years after he moved
into his current home. Marshall originally purchased the second lot for his in-laws who
could never make it out due to their poor health so Marshall in turn has kept the land.
Marshall did this to not only keep his pristine view, but also to pay for any health
failures he may have that may not be covered by any of his insurance companies. Marshall's
land represents over 75% of his assets. Reducing the property value of his land by
creating slope regulations where there is no geological or topographical reason for it is
not only unconstitutional, but un-American. Owning land is a fundamental right in this
country given to us by our fore-father's in the Constitution who were much more insightful
then most of us living today.
An example of governments taking land
happened to my own grandfather in Cuba. He was a landowner with over 1200 acres. He not
only worked for an American company, but eventually became a Cuban citizen and a self-made
millionaire. Then in walked Fidel Castro and Nationalized all companies and took the land
from my grandfather. My grandfather eventually died in New York City in July of 1975, on
welfare and without a penny to his name.
This same thing is happening now in
Boulder County, only under the disguise of slope regulations. By regulating everything in
sight and doing it over a number of years is doing exactly the same thing Castro did in
one fell swoop. When will it end? I will not stand by and watch Marshall's entire life be
regulated to death and everything he owns become worthless. The sadness I've seen in his
eyes is exactly the same as was in my grandfather's eyes.
Marshall has been very upset by these
proposed new rules and sees all these hard years of work go flying away with the wind.
Marshall worked with NIST for over 20 years. He was instrumental in ordance design and
testing with the Naval Ordance Lab in Washington during WWII. He also helped in the design
of the B-47 bomber which was of the highest National priority in the mid-1950's. Marshall
worked with the Navy on the Bikini Atoll during the atomic bomb tests of the late
1940's/early 1950's and personally put his life on the line during these tests. His work
has assured peace and stability in our world. He has given his taxes and many years of
sweat to his country and to Boulder in particular where he has been an active member of
Boulder Society for over 30 years.
Now Boulder has turned their back on
many of the citizen's it has relied upon for it's current policies and the millions of
dollars it has received in taxes over all these years. Do I dare say that the current
County Commissioner's regulatory views are in the same league as Aldrich Ames? Traitor's
to those who they're supposed to serve?
We all want open space and the
preservation of land not just in Boulder County, but in Colorado as a whole. I hope the
County Commissioners will review these illogical and unjust regulations and withdraw them
completely for as Yamamoto, Commander of Japanese Naval Forces, said after Pearl Harbor,
"We have just awoken a sleeping giant". Millions of dollars are at stake here
and we have a say and a voice to what is done with our own land.
Sincerely,
Michael A. Current
IN TWELFTH WEEK OF PROCESS OF GETTING
BUILDING PERMIT FOR A RESIDENCE ON INTERIOR IN TOWN LOT. THERE HAVE BEEN NO VARIANCES
REQUESTED, NOR ANY REAL REASONS FOR THIS EXTRAORDINARY AMOUNT OF TIME. WE STILL DON'T HAVE
OUR PERMIT. I BELIEVE THAT THE SITE PLAN REVIEW PROCESS IS ABSURD FOR AN INTERIOR IN TOWN
LOT. I HAVE OTHER INTERESTING STORIES AVAILABLE ABOUT THIS PARTICULAR LOT. SINCE WE DON'T
HAVE OUR PERMIT YET, AND REALLY WANT ONE, PLEASE WITHHOLD MY NAME FOR NOW. THANKS
THIS A NECESSARY MOVEMENT
I have been a resident of Boulder
County during 1975-1992. Initially, the Import Service manager for Arnold Brothers Subaru,
then a British car rebuilder; first in Boulder then in Longmont. Now compiling books for
British Car Rebuilders. Strictly a "Blue collar" person with a limited
retirement income. Started paying on land near Lyons in 1981. Now free and clear. Lovely
site with highway frontage, across from South St. Vrain River and southeast facing. In
1998 I obtained a letter from Boulder County Planning stating it was a buildable site, but
we put off building due to my wife's family situation; assisting with home care of her
elderly parents in Arvada.
The terrain varies from a gently
sloping and easily buildable area near the highway to a steep hogback at the rear of
property. Unfortunately, this results in a slope average over 30%, which is physically
meaningless as no one would be stupid enough to build up the front of a hogback.
Therefore, we can see no reason why this is not buildable property. There are already many
new homes built nearby on much steeper terrain. In fact, the home we planned to build for
our retirement might be the last home built in this area due to the rest of the
undeveloped property adjoining ours being owned by Boulder County. However, since we have
not yet applied for a building permit due to being needed elsewhere, we really don't know
if our application will be refused. Unfortunately, the impending slope restrictions seem
to all but guarantee that no permit will be allowed.
Recently, we considered selling this
property due to our commitment to care for parents who want more than anything to stay in
their family home as long as possible. We were stunned to discover that even selling is no
longer an option due to just the threat of a restriction on building on slopes. Currently,
our property is effectively worthless even though we were offered $50,000 for it two years
ago. We would probably realize much more today if the Planning department's slope
restrictions had been based on proven factors instead of being so totally unprofessional
and scientifically illogical. Now we are fearful that the present Commissioner's past
successes at promoting the wishes of an elite few, largely non-property owning voters over
the rightful needs of tax paying property owners may have cost us at least $60,000 to
$75,000 in land value. We are very worried that we will have no way to recover our lost
land value or to ever be able to build elsewhere. Meanwhile, just the possibility of a
building permit rejection due to an illogical slope proposal has turned our retirement
dream into a nightmare of suspense and extreme anxiety.
Best Regards,
Charlie Odend'hal
Thanks so much for carrying the flag
on this issue. Here is our story...
My wife and I bought a 2.4-acre lot in
the Red Hill subdivision of Old Stage rd (3 miles from Broadway) in March of 1994. It is a
steep lot with a small building envelope due to the existence of a community leach field
on the much of the lot. The building envelope has a 25% grade and is accessed through a
short extension to the neighboring lot's driveway. The views to the East and South are
spectacular. In 1995 we engaged an architect and had plans drawn up. At about the same
time we got pregnant with our first child and realized that we had enough changes going on
that we should delay construction. Well, 4 years have passed and we now have two
daughters. We decided that we will stick it out in Table Mesa for the duration of our
children's growing up years so that they can walk to school, friends houses, etc and to
simplify overall logistics. We shifted our focus on the Red Hill lot to be that of a home
to build closer to our retirement years.
We have lived in Boulder since 1988.
For a long time, I have told all my friends and family that we would NEVER leave Boulder -
that it was the perfect place to live, work, recreate and raise a family. You couldn't
find much more of a loyal Boulderite than me. I hike and climb extensively around Boulder
and always treat the environment with the utmost respect, always cleaning up other's
litter as I pass. I used to be so loyal to KBCO that I would listen to the ads between
songs instead of changing stations. I have missed two home CU football games in 9 years.
We take the Skip whenever possible to the Downtown area. I loved this town!!! Things have
obviously changed over the years. Boulder has become busier, more high-end commercialized
and we have lost some of the community feel. I am outraged at the current single homeowner
building restrictions and proposed changes to building on sloped lots. We have put most of
our savings into our lot over the last 5 years. How can the county do this to us and to
other landowners? I used to read stories about families being displaced for highway
construction and think 'how could that happen?' Now I know.
Alex North
My name is Jill Gibbs. You can use my
story, name etc. to help the cause in any way.
Twenty-six years ago I bought two lots
next door to each other in Pine Brook Hills. On one I built the house where I now reside.
I have kept the one next door to sell to help me get through the "golden years"
of retirement. Which, by the way, are coming up very soon. During this 26 year period I
have paid 29% of the appraised value of the land each year and that has added up to a very
considerable sum. The County, I might add, had no trouble at all taking my money each
year.
Now the County is telling
me I can not
build on this lot as my lot exceeds the 20% slope limit that they have set - this came
from who knows where???? Most of the houses in this area are on a slope greater than 20%.
In actuality my lot is more than 30% which really seems quite buildable as my house next
door is just fine. No problems. A house built on my empty lot would be the same degree of
slope. I can't understand it???? My lot is platted as a buildable lot. Has a letter from
the County that it is a buildable lot. Was sold to me as a buildable lot and was taxed as
a buildable lot.
When the County says I can perhaps
build a house with a ground disturbance of around 2000 square feet that is a joke. I
measured the driveway of the house where I live and the driveway alone is over 2000 square
feet. If they build a house next door it would be similar. Now you tell me - who would buy
a lot when all they could have is a driveway??? If this goes through, my land is valueless
and if this isn't a Takings I don't know what is.
I do know it is a disgrace to have
such irresponsible County Commissioners and I would like to see them recalled!
That's my story. Thank you and Ann so
much for your help!
JILL GIBBS
In early August 1998 I bought my
retirement home which was a 1,200sq.ft one bedroom home with no garage. I planned on
expanding the original 20yr old home which was located at the end of the road on 4 acres.
I submitted my plans in August to add on an additional l,920sq.ft (half of which was my
garage & workshop). I had hoped that with some good luck I might have it under roof by
late November. Ha, Ha.
Since the new addition was over
l,000sq.ft, it had to go through a site plan review process which takes several months.
Because of one neurotic neighbors objection to the size of my new addition, my plans were
called up for review by the Boulder County Commissioners in October. On December 1st The
Boulder County Commissioners arbitrarily determined that my new construction should be
limited to an additional 1,100 sq.ft. limiting me to a total of 2,600sq,ft . even though
the average home in my neighborhood was over 3,400sq.ft.
There was no apparent rationale given
nor any standards or guidelines used in making their decision to limit my new home
addition. Their decision was final and cannot be appealed. My only recourse was to file a
lawsuit within 30 days of the decision which I did. Our brief was seven pages, the
countys reply was over l00 pages. They sure make it hard on simple folks to do
ordinary things around here. How would you like something like this to happen to you?
This is why I support HB991192 or any
other bill that would give ordinary property owners like me more legal avenues to fight
the kind of unwarranted trouble I have had with the Boulder County Commissioners.
Would you consider supporting HB1192?
I would really appreciate your support.
Respectfully yours,
Darrell Newton
Hello Patty and Ann, First of all let
me thank you for fighting for us on the issue of building rights in Boulder County. I own
a 7 1/3 acre parcel of land in Four Mile Canyon.
While I was still doing graduate work
at CU, my family and I spent much time locating a plot of land in Boulder County upon
which we could build our home. We finally found just the spot along Four Mile Canyon. One
of the contingencies that we placed on buying the land was that it be a buildable lot. We
were assured by the Boulder County Land Use Office that the lot was buildable and it was
as a result of assurance that I purchased the land.
Since I heard about the proposed new
legislation, I have become ridden with the fear that one of the most important dreams and
hopes held by my late husband and me could be utterly destroyed. My husband was a native
of Colorado and I consider Colorado my home. We lived there for several years and four of
our five children are still there. We had, and I still have, plans to return to Boulder
County and build on the land that I own there.
As a matter of fact, my husband ( a
civil construction engineer who had very vast experience and was extremely well respected
in his field) designed a house to be built on our lot. We had intended to start building
in 1993/4 but our plan (which not only complied with but far exceeded the requirements set
down by the Boulder County Land Use Office) was turned down by the County for what seemed
like a very questionable reason.
The County would not allow us to build
on the flattest part of the land, which was elevated above the road, but suggested that we
build on a far less suitable part of the property. The unsuitability of the location,
chosen by the County, was not merely a matter of it being contrary to our preference but
it was technically, and perhaps legally under the County's own rules, a very poor site. It
appeared that under no conditions did they want us to build on our land in spite of the
fact that it was legally classified as buildable. I can provide further details if this
becomes necessary.
We had intended to appeal the decision
and fight to the bitter end. However, at that point my husband became very seriously ill
(he had brain cancer.) The next few years were spent trying to get him re-established and
we moved to Kansas in response to my job offer.
My husband seemed to be doing
remarkably, in fact miraculously, well and we planned to re-start our efforts to build in
the Spring of 1998. Unfortunately, my husband died from pneumonia in early February 1998,
so we didn't get around to doing any more with the land.
At this point, I am ready to start
again, to revise and submit plans to build a relatively small home on this property.
Should the land be converted to "unbuildable" status, not only would I suffer
financially (think of what the investment would have produced on the stock market!) but it
would cause my family great emotional trauma and disapointment. The land is part of our
family identity and its aspirations for the future. Even our beloved dog is buried there
so that he will always be near us. I would find it devastating to give up the dreams that
we have held onto for so long and throughout so many hardships.
Name withheld at request of author
Send your story to
contactus@landusecoalition.org
For more information contact the Land Use Coalition at contactus@landusecoalition.org
or call
303-666-7903.
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Last updated
February 13, 2005.
URL: http://landusecoalition.org/stories.htm
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and Patty Baker.
and Sawtooth Communications.
Maintained by Betty Gibbs
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