Old Virginia Joe
Regular Member
I have received moderator blessings to bring this to your attention. I previously mentioned on OCDO how Isle of Wight County came after me when I let a disabled hunting friend of mine from Norfolk park his camper on my 86 acre farm so he could spend the night when he came over an hour away to hunt two days in a row, instead of driving back and forth. You know, hunting early morns, and hunting til dusk and all that. Long days. He was a cancer survivor missing half a lung, had rheumatoid arthritis, and hepatitis, so he was pretty weak. Someone made a complaint that we had someone "living" in the camper. I showed the county evidence that was not true. The county threatened legal action against me if we did not cease using the camper for even a single night, UNLESS I applied for and was granted a county "campground permit," which costs $1,350, plus whatever improvements to the land they would require. I refused to pay, so we quit camping until I could get the ridiculous ordinance changed. I spoke with each county supervisor privately, and when faced with this situation, they each (except one) spoke sympathetically to me, encouraging me to bring it up through channels to the board, and they would revise the stupid ordinance. So, I went to 6 meetings of planning commission and board of supervisors over eight months, garnering media and citizen support along the way. After 8 months, they refused to even make a motion to change the ordinance! So, I contacted The Rutherford Institute out of Charlottesville, Va., to help. My reasonable use of my property was being denied. They agreed to take my case pro-bono! We go to court Sept 23 in Suffolk. The county response is that we have no standing to sue them, because I never paid for the permit! WTH?! They say I should have applied for the permit, and THAT would give me standing. TRI does not agree with this absurdity, but the county quotes a case they say provides precedent. We shall see. So, they hope to have it thrown out on 9-23. A citizen, they believe, has to allow his money to be taken for frivilous causes, before he can sue for relief. Meanwhile, my three elementary age sons and I are denied the rights to use our dearly paid for property in the all-American way. This same ordinance which prohibits camper trailers also prohibits even tents in the same sentence! When we began fighting the county and the local paper ridiculed the county for what they were doing, the county started grabbing straws, pointing out how the camper was hooked to utilities. They say that proved someone was living there. Big deal! The utilities were already there from when I had my own mobile home there, legally permitted, from many years before I built my house elsewhere on the farm. Why should I be denied to use my investment in infrastructure? The ordinance mentions nothing about use of utilities, so this is just a red-herring to distract from the fact that the ordinance prohibits ANY camping overnight in ANY fashion on my land, either me, or my friend. Incidentally, my friend just died Dec 20, when he fell and got dangled upside down in his deer tree-stand on our farm. He died being denied the use of his camper, which allowed him to rest when he needed to. You connect the dots. Anyway, we could use the support if anyone has the time to come that day. Thanks so much.
There are many google references to my case, if you want to research this.
There are many google references to my case, if you want to research this.
