The Old Folks Home

[CSolis]

Adorable cuteness, @CSolis! I sooo want Bielefelders. Trying to think of how to convince DH that we really *need* 3 more chicks!

Next year for sure, though. Just wishin'....

Here's my wonderful Bielefelder Roo and his ladies out free ranging. The 3 chicks that hatched from Turtle Dove are his grand cheeps since TD is one of his daughters.

 

[Sally PB]

I love love love my Beilefelder rooster! He's has the greatest personality, and my hen and her daughter lay the absolutely biggest eggs ever. But, remember this... they eat! I mean the Bielefelder and his daugter crosses eat like hogs! They clean up more food in a day than any other group of chooks I have.

Aww, I knew there was a catch!

What do their eggs weigh, and how many do they lay per week?

 

[CSolis]

I don't weigh eggs, but I can tell ya they won't fit in my Large egg cartons! Lady, my first purebred hen has been laying daily since she started last year. Her daughter is also repeating the same performance. Just for comparison. The large egg in my hand is the largest of 20 or so I collect daily. And in comparison, Lady is one of the smallest hens I have.

 

[Sally PB]

Lady, my first purebred hen has been laying daily since she started last year.

And she's one of your Bielefeldes...?!

 

[CSolis]

And she's one of your Bielefeldes...?!

Indeed she is. This is her daughter Dutchess by Greystoke. Dutchess is a bit bigger than her mom, but same coloring. I can't find a picture handy of mom.

 

[bruceha2000]

Did he cut corners, so he didn't want the permits, and inspection, and thought he could get away with it once it was up?

My guess is he was going for the "Do what you want and ask forgiveness" method knowing they wouldn't approve the structure as planned. "Surely they won't make me take down a structure that is already built". "They'll give me the variances after the fact."

That worked for a couple in my old neighborhood ... twice. And for one of the variances granted prior to building they were supposed to take out an entrance to the building and its associated stairs since they were too close to the road. Said they would. The stairs and door are still there 10 years later.

Frankly I hope they make him take the entire structure down. It isn't hard to know that there are zoning requirements, they exist in most places. One should check before they build. And if you don't get permits, it should come down and nothing approved at all to replace it.

 

[Blooie]

The neighbor across the driveways, is in big trouble. He's the one that built that 20 ft tall, huge garage type, metal building, right on the fence line. As soon as the building was done, he went to get his building permits to build a home. They asked him about any additional structures on the property, so he gave them the dimensions of the building. They told him the structure was too big for him to have it, and a house on the amount of land he had. The county couldn't find the building permits for the building, but figured it had just been finished, so they hadn't come in yet from the builder.

The neighbor bought 3 more acres, so he would have enough land to build his home on, then went to get his permit(s) to build the house. In the meantime, the electric company came to hook up his electric. They put the poles in, and got everything ready, then discovered there was no permit for the building, so they didn't hook it up. The well driller came, and drilled their well, but again couldn't hook it up, because there was no permit for the building.

The county then discovered, there was no delay with the contractor sending in the permits. He didn't hire a contractor, and no one pulled any permits. He simply had the materials delivered, and hired a crew to build it. It's all illegal. Even if it weren't so tall, he's too close to the adjoining property one one side, and too close to the driveways on the other side. Since it's so tall, it's required to be set back even further. There have never been any inspections. No inspections to ensure the supports are properly spaced, and anchored, so it's sturdy enough, no inspections for the electrical, no inspections for plumbing, nothing.

He's applied for all these variances, regarding the placement. Even if they allow the variances, he's still got to hire an electrician, and plumber to pull permits, double check the work, sign off on it, then have the inspections done.

I really don't wish him any ill will, but I really hope they don't approve the variances. It would be nice if he had to set that monstrosity of a building back deeper onto his property.

Good grief!!! Even here in little bitty everyone-is-friends-with-everyone-else Cowley we know better - at least most of us do. I served on our Planning and Zoning Commission for 2 years until I had to resign because I was elected to Town Council and served 4 years there. Now I’m back on Planning and Zoning.

I’ve seen a few folks try to slip under the radar here and had to deal with them. One gentleman, born and raised in Cowley, served as a well respected school teacher and retired here. His wife is partially disabled. Well, he built a deck with a couple of landings to make it easier for her to get down to their cars parked in the carport. No permits. He just bought the materials and he and his kids put it up one weekend. Problem is, it went 4 feet over his property line. Neighbor was being good about it. He wasn’t happy but he understood Mrs. Retired Teacher’s problems and was just going to let it go. But Mr. Teacher was getting frustrated because he couldn’t get any electricians to install power and lighting. He even called Ken, figuring that because Ken had opted not to renew his electrician’s license he wouldn’t worry about the rules. Ken refused. Mr. Teacher would have gotten away with it too, except the building inspector spotted it when he was out doing an inspection on another property. Next thing you know we have a slightly belligerent Retired Teacher sitting before us on P&Z wanting a back-dated permit and a variance. Nope. Instead we ordered him to take it down.

BUT…this is Cowley. We do things a little differently here. All of us on P&Z spent the weekend taking the deck down board by board. One of our Commission members is awesome at design, and he came up with a plan that would help Mrs. Teacher but stay within the setbacks. Bright and early Monday morning Mr. Teacher went into town hall and got his permit. Then his family rebuilt the deck (with help from several community members). Town Council levied a fine of $25.00 for the violation. The mayor paid it.

Ken and I had all of our permits. I had to be put on the agenda to obtain a 5 foot setback variance to accommodate Kendra’s ramp. (I recused myself after presenting our proposal) We called the inspector at each stage of completion. Rules are annoying at times but they aren’t hard to follow. We recently put more teeth into our P&Z ordinances because of an unpermitted roof, an outbuilding and fences. The fine is now up to $750 a day, or will be as soon as the Town Council approves it after 3 readings.

I agree with @bruceha2000 - had the matter come before us I’d have voted to make him remove the entire structure, AND fined him for every day the structure remained standing after he was ordered to remove it. But then I’m such a hard-hiney that I have a next door neighbor who hasn’t spoken to me in over ten years because of a decision I made while on the Council.

My guess is he was going for the "Do what you want and ask forgiveness" method knowing they wouldn't approve the structure as planned. "Surely they won't make me take down a structure that is already built". "They'll give me the variances after the fact."

That worked for a couple in my old neighborhood ... twice. And for one of the variances granted prior to building they were supposed to take out an entrance to the building and its associated stairs since they were too close to the road. Said they would. The stairs and door are still there 10 years later.

Frankly I hope they make him take the entire structure down. It isn't hard to know that there are zoning requirements, they exist in most places. One should check before they build. And if you don't get permits, it should come down and nothing approved at all to replace it.

 

[CSolis]

Good Morning OF. Had a bit of a problem with Raven's first two eggs hatching and had to do some assisting, but both are doing GREAT this morning. Have a cup of coffee on me!

 

[sourland]

Good morning, OF.

 

[silverhair67]

good morning