- Jul 7, 2015
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First, Happy New Year Everyone!
So I'm back to ask for more help. Our lawyer did do his homework. They're (The Village) in a bit of a conundrum now because now we're fighting it out in court which wasn't what I had hoped.
So we got to court and the lawyer for our village came in the middle of the judges cases shaking hands like he was god to everyone who'd look at him (he was running for District Atty. in the county he lives in next to ours. He and the other free legal aids were shooting the breeze LOUDLY in the middle of court and were swearing loudly too. Just very unprofessional. Most cases were ahead of us. Many of which were either speeding tickets or sex offenders. I'm just so very frustrated even at that.
We're finally up and the lawyer puts his arm around my lawyer in a condescending way and tells the judge "we have a code violation here". To which our lawyer rolls his eyes. Found it funny too that my lawyer shook his hand and told the lawyer it was nice to see him since we thought he'd be too busy with his campaigning to make it. Hahaha Update on that is he lost! BUT maybe that means he'll be more focused on my case. Ugh!
Judge states the issue with the chickens and asks why the other lawyers papers say 5 chickens max but he now says 6 chickens? He told the judge it was an issue because State USDA says it's illegal to sell less than 6 chickens so they amended everything. HE GOT THAT FROM ME!! I was the one who told the board that when I was made to go before them by the code enforcement!!!
Judge asks if I live within the city. their lawyer says yes. I have woods behind me and a fenced yard, probably one of the biggest properties around. I'm not in the middle of the village, I'm in what's called the heights. And 5 minutes down the road, there's a barn with a roo. Half an hour the other way, we have Amish.smh keep in mind, I was told by same code enforcer that I was allowed to have chickens because there was nothing in the books at that time. THEY created a law in 2019 and never told the public or even made us aware. They then wait two years later to only target me and no other chicken owner within the village.
They ask how many chickens I have and my lawyer tells him 22. They freak out. Ugh, most people that had chickens here have that many. It's honestly not that many! Given I've had them since 2018 and not all are laying anymore and the others stop laying in the winter, we're getting enough eggs to eat. My husband lost his job and we had food security between our gardens and our chickens.
Our lawyer mentions grandfathering in with a nonconforming use, which was brought up in the original thread. Village lawyer said, "They can't do that. There's a reason for that, but I don't have it here right now." Judge sounds irritated and then says, why do I have a code book for 2018? I want the code book for 2022. Village lawyer says "it's online". Judge says, "no offense, but I don't trust the online version. Get a copy of it and bring it here. "
judge starts a date for February 1st when Village lawyer states we needed to be arraigned on code violation. I kinda lost it then. I couldn't open my eyes. I had tears falling as he charged us. meanwhile, serious violations including several sex offenses were among us and we were treated like a family of criminals. Our daughter was clearly upset as well.
Judge said our lawyer did his homework. Cited a Constitutional case won here in NYS. Judge said he had his own homework to do.
We go back beginning of February. My lawyer was irritated because Judge could have just closed the case right there. Instead, he gives idiot village lawyer more time to get his poop together. He came with NOTHING. Had no idea why we couldn't have been grandfathered in, but that we just couldn't. He'd tell us why later.
I'm hoping to figure out what the village lawyer says we can't be grandfathered in may be. Is it that same law from 1972 that he's thinking about? or is there another possible explanation? I'm hoping we can get some input when we go back to give our lawyer who knows nothing about chicken keeping but is great at fighting issues concerning code violations and not only listens to us, but does his homework on what we're talking about so he can fight it.
We are NOT rich. I'm not sure how much the next visit will cost us, but the bill for all of this has been over 3k so far. We are trying to fight them from overstepping. We've lost a lot over the last 3 years. We can't afford to sell our house and leave the state (though I pray often for a miracle to do so). Our gardens and our chickens are our sole source of food security.
Is there anyone else with NYS code knowledge that could help us? We are asking to be grandfathered in with a nonconforming use. Lawyer says we STILL can't have it. Why? What could be his reasoning? We are using the Constitutional right People Vs. Miller, 304 NY 105, at 107;106 NE2d 34, and several other Supreme Court cases as references that won.
I am not going down without fighting this overstep. I was given permission by them to have these chickens upon moving in. We have no roos. In fact, when neighbor called again for a bon fire we were having in our own backyard, code enforcer came out and stood on their side of the fence in the dark and not one peep from our animals. I need help finding more options to fight this.
We've called farms, we've spoken to a Cornell Ext. We've spoken to our butcher. They're all afraid to speak out for fear of retaliation.
If judge does render in favor of the village, is there a way to hold them off and keep my chickens if we decide to sell our house?If we have to move, we are not staying in NYS. It's broken our heart. We will leave and never look back after all this. We've been trying to stay, but we will have lost everything we worked so hard for.
Prayers and help finding a solution would be appreciated.
If you'd like to see the last post, I'll link below.
zoning conundrum in Oswego, NY
So I'm back to ask for more help. Our lawyer did do his homework. They're (The Village) in a bit of a conundrum now because now we're fighting it out in court which wasn't what I had hoped.
So we got to court and the lawyer for our village came in the middle of the judges cases shaking hands like he was god to everyone who'd look at him (he was running for District Atty. in the county he lives in next to ours. He and the other free legal aids were shooting the breeze LOUDLY in the middle of court and were swearing loudly too. Just very unprofessional. Most cases were ahead of us. Many of which were either speeding tickets or sex offenders. I'm just so very frustrated even at that.
We're finally up and the lawyer puts his arm around my lawyer in a condescending way and tells the judge "we have a code violation here". To which our lawyer rolls his eyes. Found it funny too that my lawyer shook his hand and told the lawyer it was nice to see him since we thought he'd be too busy with his campaigning to make it. Hahaha Update on that is he lost! BUT maybe that means he'll be more focused on my case. Ugh!
Judge states the issue with the chickens and asks why the other lawyers papers say 5 chickens max but he now says 6 chickens? He told the judge it was an issue because State USDA says it's illegal to sell less than 6 chickens so they amended everything. HE GOT THAT FROM ME!! I was the one who told the board that when I was made to go before them by the code enforcement!!!
Judge asks if I live within the city. their lawyer says yes. I have woods behind me and a fenced yard, probably one of the biggest properties around. I'm not in the middle of the village, I'm in what's called the heights. And 5 minutes down the road, there's a barn with a roo. Half an hour the other way, we have Amish.smh keep in mind, I was told by same code enforcer that I was allowed to have chickens because there was nothing in the books at that time. THEY created a law in 2019 and never told the public or even made us aware. They then wait two years later to only target me and no other chicken owner within the village.
They ask how many chickens I have and my lawyer tells him 22. They freak out. Ugh, most people that had chickens here have that many. It's honestly not that many! Given I've had them since 2018 and not all are laying anymore and the others stop laying in the winter, we're getting enough eggs to eat. My husband lost his job and we had food security between our gardens and our chickens.
Our lawyer mentions grandfathering in with a nonconforming use, which was brought up in the original thread. Village lawyer said, "They can't do that. There's a reason for that, but I don't have it here right now." Judge sounds irritated and then says, why do I have a code book for 2018? I want the code book for 2022. Village lawyer says "it's online". Judge says, "no offense, but I don't trust the online version. Get a copy of it and bring it here. "
judge starts a date for February 1st when Village lawyer states we needed to be arraigned on code violation. I kinda lost it then. I couldn't open my eyes. I had tears falling as he charged us. meanwhile, serious violations including several sex offenses were among us and we were treated like a family of criminals. Our daughter was clearly upset as well.
Judge said our lawyer did his homework. Cited a Constitutional case won here in NYS. Judge said he had his own homework to do.
We go back beginning of February. My lawyer was irritated because Judge could have just closed the case right there. Instead, he gives idiot village lawyer more time to get his poop together. He came with NOTHING. Had no idea why we couldn't have been grandfathered in, but that we just couldn't. He'd tell us why later.
I'm hoping to figure out what the village lawyer says we can't be grandfathered in may be. Is it that same law from 1972 that he's thinking about? or is there another possible explanation? I'm hoping we can get some input when we go back to give our lawyer who knows nothing about chicken keeping but is great at fighting issues concerning code violations and not only listens to us, but does his homework on what we're talking about so he can fight it.
We are NOT rich. I'm not sure how much the next visit will cost us, but the bill for all of this has been over 3k so far. We are trying to fight them from overstepping. We've lost a lot over the last 3 years. We can't afford to sell our house and leave the state (though I pray often for a miracle to do so). Our gardens and our chickens are our sole source of food security.
Is there anyone else with NYS code knowledge that could help us? We are asking to be grandfathered in with a nonconforming use. Lawyer says we STILL can't have it. Why? What could be his reasoning? We are using the Constitutional right People Vs. Miller, 304 NY 105, at 107;106 NE2d 34, and several other Supreme Court cases as references that won.
I am not going down without fighting this overstep. I was given permission by them to have these chickens upon moving in. We have no roos. In fact, when neighbor called again for a bon fire we were having in our own backyard, code enforcer came out and stood on their side of the fence in the dark and not one peep from our animals. I need help finding more options to fight this.
We've called farms, we've spoken to a Cornell Ext. We've spoken to our butcher. They're all afraid to speak out for fear of retaliation.
If judge does render in favor of the village, is there a way to hold them off and keep my chickens if we decide to sell our house?If we have to move, we are not staying in NYS. It's broken our heart. We will leave and never look back after all this. We've been trying to stay, but we will have lost everything we worked so hard for.
Prayers and help finding a solution would be appreciated.
If you'd like to see the last post, I'll link below.
zoning conundrum in Oswego, NY
