131 house subdivision move planned next door--help!!!

Dragonfly-- howdy again! how is your quilting going? The county has scheduled a meeting on the 16th of aug. and we do plan to go. That was one of the reasons I posted this thread-- to get more ideas of what to do and more questions to ask the developer.

Wow! Jim S.-- I printed out your idea for DH! We do have neighbors having problems with cars/trucks knocking down their mailboxes. Everytime the neighbor moves it to a new spot but they still get knocked down.

YuccaFlatsRanch--the other side of our place is owned by a cattle farm and they have been there for generations. The current owner (SIL) is still farming it. I don't think they would change their ways--but I guess its possible. We are the buffer for them, you could say.

2horses--We named the place after my first pair of red border collies. they came from wales/scotland. the girl is named ABBEY after the abbeys there. My male is named Red Tor. TOR in welsh means large rock or mountain. I have always named the pups welsh names following the tradition.

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Raising Red/White Border Collies (ABCA)
Mini-Nubians and Nigerian Dwarf Goats
French Maran Chickens
in the warm and sunny south

As long as our population continues to grow we will continue to "consume" the remaining wild acres.

If you intend on keeping the property you might want to start planting. I would plant a thick hedge preferably with thorns to keep out the inquisitive and to absorb the noise and dust. I planted a thick buffer of spruce between my house and the county highway. It has been great for muffling the sound of traffic and gives me privacy that would not exist without it.

My decision would be to consider selling at an inflated price to compensate for all the hard work and lost dreams. Then take that money and buy a bigger more remote piece of property that will take longer for us to consume. Eventually we are going to consume all the wild areas over the globe. It's just a matter of time.

Honestly, I wouldn't worry too much about the development until they actually sell several lots and have homes constructed upon them with families moved into them.

Why do I say this? I have observed several developments attempt to sprout up the the areas I regularly travel but have only seen a fraction of them actually build anything beyond just site preparation. After talking with the developers and their subcontractors doing the work, most are doing "blue sky" projects that have not presold and thus depend on the sales from the sample homes they build to fund the build out of the development and cover expenses.

What this means in concrete terms is, unless every lot has been presold, a house is contracted and prepaid and there is money put up before a development has even broken ground, there is a high risk that it will fail. Just because a developer has big ideas doesn't mean they actually have a lick of financial sense.

A few developments in the Missouri Ozarks are being done by Kansas developers who were trying to construct homes on steep hillsides, put roads into solid rock and also attempt to drill wells and lay sewer lines into solid rock. Another developer had to go back to the drawing board on his house plans to account for building in a flood plain. How someone is going to get a home loan for a house being built in a flood plain is beyond me, but the development goes in fits and starts.

Do what you can to make your happiness. If you can bear the new neighbors, make the best of it. If you feel the need to move, make that choice and act on it. Don't focus on your sadness about what is happening to your piece of heaven as it does no good.

And as for the infinite growth of development, such actions can only last as long as materials are cheap and the economy is good. The farther out a development is, the more costly it is to develop and the more risky it is to attract buyers. I have seen developments fail as much as they have succeeded. Besides, when fuel prices reach a certain point and the cost of the infrastructure to supply and connect those homes to the grid and the society at large pass a certain point, something will have to give. Most likely that will be what keeps those developments inhabitable.

Wanted to let you all know that the subdivision went belly-up!! the bank owns it now and are trying to sell it for alot more than most think its worth. So I guess it is safe for now. Vicki

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Raising Red/White Border Collies (ABCA)
Mini-Nubians and Nigerian Dwarf Goats
French Maran Chickens
in the warm and sunny south

I have no suggestions, only empathy and I'm in the same boat. The view from my front porch is of acres and acres of green hillside. I could watch the cattle graze and watch them bale hay on parts of it. Now I'm watching as they clear,survey and prepare to auction all of it.

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"Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self confidence"
Robert Frost

When I saw the title I was thinking that this would be the case. Then I saw the date of the post..... I'm glad it worked out for you.

Any chance of picking up a few choice acres adjoining your property from the bank? Banks are hurting like everyone else. They don't want the land. They want their money. Maybe you could square out you lot to future proof a bit.

Congratulations for the reprieve. I've got a similar situation her in Northern IL. A property just to the north zoned for "Estate Homes." I'm safe for now, as nobody can afford to build the abominations.

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A catalog of mistakes with bees and poultry at
http://shadyplacebees.blogspot.com

Thanks for the update, I remember reading this thread last summer. Enjoy your wilderness while it's still there

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Myspace

never mind

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Life is what happens while you are making other plans. (John Lennon)

Good for you!! I spend a lot of time worrying about the fate of the 80 acres behind me.... my house sits less than 50ft from the property line... its a field now, but its 'for sale'... thankfully, the owner wont divide, and is asking twice 'fair market' value... no takers, so far. This is the upside to the poor housing market... things are overbuilt as it is...
But, in the end, none of us has much say over what happens to other peoples property. We can only hope for the best, and hope 'progress' goes elsewhere. Closer to town, preferably!

Great news! At least you have some more time. My neighbor situation has just this week turned for the worse. The neighbor who owns most of the hedgerow behind me is going to cut down everything & put in arborvitaes!! This means I will not only see his huge 13000 sq. ft. building, but the house right behind me too, because of the angle of the line. It makes me sad, as there are beautiful ash, cherry & maple trees, along with black haws & other fruits for the wildlife. It is a beautiful, natural wildlife area and soon will be no more! I am scrambling to see what additional shrubs I can plant for wildlife that will also screen the view. The neighbor right behind me has also taken to cleaning out her hedgerow & dumping in My fil's woods behind me. I will not say anything, but I feel it every time I walk out my back door. People buy these MCMansions with crummy lots and then think they can do what they want. Anyway, congratulations for your good luck!

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Cindy in PA

I used a 4" pipe that had a 3/8" plate welded on top. A machine shop drilled and tapped holes along the edge of the plate that lined up with the holes in a plain aluminum mail box. Before I planted the pipe in concrete, I filled it with sackrete. Once the pipe was set and the mailbox was fastened with screws it was way stronger than it looked. Someone whacked it and though dented, the box/door still worked. Someone cruising the neighborhood had a bad night. Mailbox hockey stopped after that.

The key is having a post that will absolutely not move. The plate the mail box was attached to provided the anchor to keep the box from being knocked off.
Nothing about the setup warned anyone it was virtually impregnable.

I'd approach the bank and offer what I thought it was worth... in cash. (of course, you might need to borrow the money, from another bank). A lot of banks 'want' what they want, but will settle for a lot less, to get the bad debts off their books.

One of my neighbors got 250 acres for 1/3 of what the bank wanted... seems no one had legal access to the land , except them and me... and I didn't know about it at the time...

you have nothing to lose, by asking

And, if you pass on it, it's just a matter of time before someone else buys it... and you might look back and wish the development had moved in... if you pass, you forever revoke your rights to complain about future neighbors...

good luck...

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Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. Seneca
Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival. W. Edwards Deming

If it were me - I'd move. That's what we did when a developer bought up 80 lots above our house. My folks did the same when a development was going in on one side of their 5 acres & a very large jr. high on another side.

We both got more than we expected because of the potential for development.

We got lucky here. We have a rich neighbor who is buying up all the land he can - to make sure loggers & developers stay out!

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God bless,
Bonnie
Opportunity Farm
Northeast Washington

"While we have the opportunity, let us do good to all." Galatians 6:10

I support property rights and strongly belive that when your neighbors property goes up for sale you have two options: buy it, or shut up. I woouldn't want someone stopping me from selling if I needed to or wanted to so it would be wrong to get in someone else's way. Remember many farmers have no other retirement option. Others may need to get out before they lose the land. Shame on anyone who wants to make some one eles land less valuable-sort of like stealing.

I have been expecting something to happen in our part of the country.

For some reason, land has just skyrocketed. No one seems to know why or want to say why. My husband asked a real estate agent he plays golf with, and he says he just doesn't know.

I own 33 acres and they are building 79 houses on 2 sides . I have the whole 33 acres fenced in 5 strands of Hi tensile wire and all 5 strands are charged with a 9 joule fence charger. I plan on planting leland cypress on those 2 sides. I won't have to look at all those houses and they won't be browsing thru my property. Jay

I think i would buy some pigs and get it stinking. Off to let them buy you out for a profit and buy some where even more remote. If they want to put in that many houses, you are fairly close to town. make a profit and run.
randy

While I agree about buying more land, I don't think the bank is hurting -- most banks are not making money hand over from fees. None of them have lost money.

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