Running a Small Business in America as Kafkaesque Nightmare
December 3rd, 2012Via: Middletown Journal:
The six-year dispute between Clearcreek Twp. and Howard and Lisa Gray shows just how complicated, combative and costly local land use issues can become.
The Grays obtained permission from a Clearcreek Twp. official to use their residential driveway in Warren County to get to buildings on the Montgomery County portion of their land. The buildings house the Grays’ storage and landscaping businesses.
But following complaints from neighbors, Clearkcreek Twp. ordered the couple to stop using the driveway to access their commercial area. A judge subsequently issued an order to that effect.
The Grays say they have no other feasible way to get to that land, and they now face contempt of court charges and nearly $100,000 in potential fines for resisting court orders.
The story would make more sense if they included the map.
http://goo.gl/maps/EsQyt
The problem is obvious. The property in question is landlocked. It’s obvious who’s complaining too. The driveway is adjacent to residential properties (under the trees).
I’m sure the people in those homes bitch about all kinds of things. They haven interstate to the West, and an airport to the East.
I’m not familiar with the area, but looking around, it looks like the way many rural areas near cities have become. Farms and industrial lands have been taken over for residential communities.
There’s probably more to this story. I would be willing to bet a developer would *love* to get his hands on that property. Rather than one home and some storage, it could be turned into a dozen single family homes or an awful lot of apartments or condos.