Communists overwhelm Florida’s defenses

[Ishmael]

just for interests sake .. and those with a tinge of enviro conscience

clothes lines have come a distance since the single line and pole days

https://www.hillshome.com.au/product-category/folding-clotheslines/

https://www.hillshome.com.au/product-category/hills-hoist-clotheslines/

fold aways are the popular type now

I have found it most expedient to drive out to the boat with the laundry dragging behind on a hundred foot line. Sure we have to buy a lot of clothes, but we're always in fashion.

 

[Willin']

Newfoundland has already solved the problem by collective cognizance.

Make laundry beautiful again!!!

Frickin' commies!

 

[Pertinacious Tom]

In zoning news,

Ohio Supreme Court Declines to Hear Homeless Charity’s Appeal of Case Dismissal

Today, the Ohio Supreme Court declined to review a lower court’s dismissal of a lawsuit brought by an Akron homeless charity against the city for rejecting its plan to allow the homeless to set up a handful of tents behind private commercial property during a life-threatening emergency. The nonprofit Homeless Charity and its founder Sage Lewis, represented by the Institute for Justice (IJ), will now consider appealing the case to the United States Supreme Court.

...

The Ohio Supreme Court petition asked the court to hear a challenge of Akron’s zoning authority under the Ohio Constitution. Now that the Ohio constitutional claims will not be heard, IJ plans to argue that Akron’s use of zoning laws to shut down a homeless shelter violates the United States Constitution.

In 2018, Akron activist Sage Lewis asked the Akron zoning board to allow him to use his property for temporary tent shelter for a handful of tents in an acute emergency. Akron denied that request, leading to a constitutional lawsuit asking fundamental questions about whether modern zoning laws trump the ancient practice of using private property to shelter the needy. The Underground Railroad, which shuttled escaped slaves north by providing safe places to sleep on private property, is a uniquely American example of the longstanding right to use property to rescue those in desperate need.

If they try to take this to the US Supreme Court I doubt it will be heard there either.

Sage Lewis is trying to help people who are hard to help, often due to being kinda nutz. But also due to the fact that zoning laws exist in part to prevent people from putting up homeless magnets. They're not going away. Can a temporary emergency override the zoning laws? An interesting question just because the Power of PANIC is more often used to overcome restraints on government, not restraints on use of private property.

 

[Pertinacious Tom]

In zoning enforcement news, do drone flights require a warrant?

...
In September, the Michigan Court of Appeals decided that even if the drone flights violated the Maxons’ Fourth Amendment rights, the government should still be allowed to use the evidence obtained from the unconstitutional search in court. According to the court, the Fourth Amendment’s protection doesn’t apply to investigators hunting for zoning code violations. In the court’s view, any evidence the government uncovers can be used against you in civil code-enforcement proceedings, even if the government violated your rights when uncovering that evidence.


But the Fourth Amendment applies to all government officials, and our right to be free from unreasonable searches doesn’t turn on what those searches are hoping to discover. If the lower court’s decision stands, the government would have unfettered discretion to spy on whomever it wishes. Such judicial slicing and dicing would eviscerate Michiganders’ rights by giving governments a free pass to blatantly violate the Fourth Amendment when looking for zoning code infractions. It would mean government drones could surveil anyone officials want, at any time, without consequence. To protect all Michiganders from that dystopian future, Todd and Heather Maxon have teamed up with the Institute for Justice to appeal this dangerous ruling to the Michigan Supreme Court.


“Americans have a right to be secure in their homes and backyards without being watched by a government drone,” said IJ Kochy Nutjob Robert Frommer. “The difference between a peeping tom and a lawful investigation is a judicially authorized warrant.”

Aircraft of all kinds fly overhead all the time. No warrant required. I don't see the problem with that part of it. The bolded part seems like a big problem to me.

 

[Pertinacious Tom]

If they try to take this to the US Supreme Court I doubt it will be heard there either.

Some nutjobs are more optimistic than I am about the future of property rights. Sage Lewis' case is being appealed to SCOTUS.

Akron Homeless Advocate Petitions Supreme Court for ‘Right to Shelter’

Today, Sage Lewis, a prominent Akron homeless advocate, announced that he has filed a petition asking the United States Supreme Court to vindicate his right to provide emergency shelter to people in need. The petition for certiorari asks the Supreme Court to overturn an Ohio state court ruling that Akron could enforce its zoning code without regard for the dire need for emergency shelter for some of the city’s most vulnerable citizens.


“Just as property owners did during the Underground Railroad, Sage wants to use his private property to shelter the most desperate in moments of life-threatening peril,” said Jeff Rowes, a Kochy nutjob at the Institute for Justice, which represents Lewis. “The U.S. Constitution doesn’t allow Akron to use its zoning code to make that illegal.”


The historical comparison to the Underground Railroad is apt. In two landmark cases from its 2021 term, the Supreme Court rededicated itself to using history and tradition as the guideposts for constitutional analysis. An activity with a long history and tradition should be subject to greater judicial protection, and laws that infringe on it ought to be subject to greater skepticism from the courts. Under the history-and-tradition framework, there is no doubt that people have long used private property for the charitable, noneconomic purpose of sheltering the needy. That is the heart of the Parable of the Good Samaritan in the Bible, at the heart of the custom of sheltering travelers who feared being exposed to the dangers of the night, and at the heart of the Underground Railroad.


Despite the historical pedigree of property rights, the Supreme Court has afforded them far less protection than other rights. Today’s petition presents the Court with an opportunity to apply its history-and-tradition inquiry to a time-honored use of property. Once property rights have passed that inquiry, the Court can determine just how strongly to protect them.


“Akron rejected Sage’s proposed use of emergency tents in a zoning board analysis that looked no different than if Sage had asked to put a hot tub too close to the property line,” said Diana Simpson, a nutjob with the Institute for Justice. “The Supreme Court needs to take a case, and this one is perfect, to make clear that property rights are deeply rooted and should be treated seriously.”


In September, the Ohio Supreme Court declined to hear Lewis’ case, which means that the U.S. Supreme Court is his last hope. “I hope that the U.S. Supreme Court takes my case and looks to the history of people standing up on the side of righteousness in the face of oppression,” said Lewis. “My efforts to help others aren’t unique but exist as a small part in a long line of human persistence. I will continue this fight for as long as I can and until those who need help are served.”


Sage Lewis started helping homeless Akronites after meeting them while campaigning for mayor. Initially, he allowed a group of homeless individuals to use his commercial building at 15 Broad Street to operate a thrift store from items left over from his auction business.


Then, during a bitter freeze in January 2018, tent-dwelling homeless were forced to abandon their encampment in a park to make way for Akron’s Freedom Trail bike path. Rather than find another park to occupy, some of them asked Sage if they could pitch their tents in the secluded backlot of 15 Broad Street. There they would be safe and have access to a warm building on Akron’s coldest nights. By spring 2018, those first few tents had turned into a 44-tent, self-governing village where the homeless could seek shelter, obtain food and clothing, and take steps to rejoin mainstream society.


Sage dismantled that village in November 2018 because of conflict with the city of Akron. But he still believed that tents had a role to play in dire emergencies such as extreme cold. Thus, he sought a variance from the city in December 2018 that would allow a small number of uniform tents to be used in emergencies.
...

I wish them luck but expect that SCOTUS won't hear it.

I decided to look at the "secluded backlot of 15 Broad St" on goomaps. It's also behind a machine shop and next to the railroad and has a house on the property that is labeled "Houseless Movement House and Garden." It also looks like there may have been some tents that were not "uniform."

 

[Pertinacious Tom]

Zoning Police Continue To Find New Ways To Punish the Poor

...Even during a nationwide housing crisis, code enforcers northwest of Atlanta continue to enforce a narrow vision of suburbia. One rule limits overnight parking based on property size. Families can have one car for every 390 square feet of living space, which effectively prevents more than two vehicle owners from living together in a 1,000-square-foot unit.


Teen drivers are out of luck. So are adult children, college students, mothers-in-law, and any guest who stays longer than one week. The city does not concern itself with individual circumstances, nor does it care if vehicles remain in good condition with current tags. It counts newer models and clunkers the same.


Cobb County resident Austin Childs calls the policy discriminatory in a change.org petition. "This code disproportionately affects lower income families," he writes. "Many young people are living at home longer than ever before due to the insane cost of living. Help me get this law changed."

...

Rigid and discriminatory zoning ordinances, which tell people what they can and cannot do on their own land, have driven up prices and reduced housing options for decades. Presidents Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden all came to the same conclusion.

So did the petition signers who want to overturn Cobb County's parking rule. "This code discriminates against multi-generational households which are becoming ever more common due to the state of the housing market," one man writes.

Another petition signer frames the issue more broadly: "The county shouldn't be able to tell me how many anythings I can own… especially based on my square footage."

Zoning officials shrug off such concerns, often without explanation. When they defend their positions at all, they often point to subjective goals like protecting the "character of the neighborhood" and conserving property values.

Using justifications like these, zoning police meddle in nearly all aspects of daily life. Code enforcers have tried to stop residents from planting vegetable gardens, having front-yard barbecues, and stacking firewood next to side-yard fences.

Officials in Pagedale, Missouri, even fined residents for having mismatched curtains. And officials in Lakeway, Texas, tried to shut down a home-based day care after golfers complained about seeing play equipment behind a backyard fence near the eighth hole.

Enough is enough. Unless zoning police have good reasons, they should stay out of people's living rooms, yards, and driveways. Finding affordable housing is hard enough without the intrusion.

Thanks to Kochy nutjobs, people in Pagedale, much like in Somalia, are allowed to have mismatched curtains once again. Hoping for similar results in the three ongoing cases.

 

[Pertinacious Tom]

Zoning Makes Everything Worse

No, really. Everything. Trump. Afghan refugees. Goat yoga. Florida Man. Everything. It's kind of long and not really susceptible to excerpting.

 

[Dex Sawash]

I have now  read skimmed my first Reason article. I've not read this thread. Just skimmed all the other PA threads of no additional informative posts and lots of poopyhead accusations and didn't get inspired to shitpost in any of them.

Is zoning completely at odds with libertarian ideals? I get that in practice it is full of appointed positions and that racist/classist outcomes happen. Maybe a dumb question, aiui libertarianism is roughly only fraud and theft are outlawed. If you want to control your neighbor's goat shit stink, you simply buy their property, preferably before they do?

I doubt the article's wrap-up about victory of accessory dwelling permitting is any sort of relaxation of zoning, more a reflection of citizen wishes/democratic process driving changes in zoning rules/decisions.

I wonder if a coherent article citing fluoridation or speed limits could be written to explain today's social/political climate?
Off to the chatGPT thread, bye.

 

[billy backstay]

Lately around here, Zoning is talking about regulating STR's. (Short Term Rental, aka Airbnb, VRBO etc.) Apparently some people become afraid when they see a vehicle with plates from another state in their neighbors driveways? Some jurisdictions are already regulating these with building safety inspections and registration fees and/or taxes. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

 

[Pertinacious Tom]

Is zoning completely at odds with libertarian ideals? I get that in practice it is full of appointed positions and that racist/classist outcomes happen. Maybe a dumb question, aiui libertarianism is roughly only fraud and theft are outlawed. If you want to control your neighbor's goat shit stink, you simply buy their property, preferably before they do?

The article suggests the answer to your first question is yes.

Because I share your view of what happens in practice, my answer is often yes.

But on that last question, I part ways with my libertarian elk. Markets don't solve some problems well and don't solve others at all. Land stays put for the most part but water and air are common property resources and owning them is problematic at best.

 

[Steam Flyer]

Lately around here, Zoning is talking about regulating STR's. (Short Term Rental, aka Airbnb, VRBO etc.) Apparently some people become afraid if they see a vehicle with plates from another state in their neighbors driveways? Some jurisdictions are already regulating these with building safety inspections and registration fees and/or taxes. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

I don't think it's fear of strange license plates.

We have a lot of AirBnB houses in our community, and have had some pretty big problem. One burned down a while back when the renters decided to move the huge gas grilling center into the garage. Another decided to have a rock concert. Another invited all their friends and parked about 50 cars all over everybody elses' yards. Another brought a friends boat and tore up the ramp & floating dock. Etc etc.

OTOH I was in a VRBO last weekend, with relatives visiting for a baby shower.

The difference is, we didn't do anything that any neighbor would do in their own home. Some people OTOH come to raise hell on somebody else's street. THAT is the problem, not the AirBnB or VRBO.

 

[Pertinacious Tom]

Lately around here, Zoning is talking about regulating STR's. (Short Term Rental, aka Airbnb, VRBO etc.) Apparently some people become afraid when they see a vehicle with plates from another state in their neighbors driveways? Some jurisdictions are already regulating these with building safety inspections and registration fees and/or taxes. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

One person's "building safety inspection" is another nutjob's warrantless search.

 

[billy backstay]

I don't think it's fear of strange license plates.

We have a lot of AirBnB houses in our community, and have had some pretty big problem. One burned down a while back when the renters decided to move the huge gas grilling center into the garage. Another decided to have a rock concert. Another invited all their friends and parked about 50 cars all over everybody elses' yards. Another brought a friends boat and tore up the ramp & floating dock. Etc etc.

OTOH I was in a VRBO last weekend, with relatives visiting for a baby shower.

The difference is, we didn't do anything that any neighbor would do in their own home. Some people OTOH come to raise hell on somebody else's street. THAT is the problem, not the AirBnB or VRBO.

Wow!! That is surprising to have those problems, indeed! Are the owners of these STR's local, or absentee owners? The few people we know that do this, including ourselves, are local and closely manage any short term tenants, so avoid these situations! We meet all of our guests in person, and are 50 feet away in our home when guests are in the garage loft apartment. If there were ever a situation like you describe, we would squelch it immediately, and doubt it would occur, given our vetting.

EDIT - I can't imagine a neighborhood where people parking all over everyones yards would be tolerated? It certainly would never occur here, with swift action to remove the offenders.

 

[Dex Sawash]

Some people OTOH come to raise hell on somebody else's street. THAT is the problem, not the AirBnB or VRBO.

Have a friend in Edinburgh who lives in a central city flat building that has turned about 20% STR as the mostly academic type owners move up and kept flat for income property. They are plagued by people arriving from airport at 3am dragging a week's worth of suitcases up 4 flights of stairs and repeating it a few days later when they fly out. Even if they are not noticeable during the stay it causes problems. There is limited ability to assimilate to community norm even if STR tenants are self-aware. A "please carry your bag on stairs" notice on walls and in (some) online listing property rules hasn't helped. And it probably wouldn't ever help, I'm not abandoning part of my luggage in a strange building in a strange city to make several trips up a stair well. I suppose I could try to get my wife to carry one at a time up while I guard the rest at the entrance.

 

[billy backstay]

Have a friend in Edinburgh who lives in a central city flat building that has turned about 20% STR as the mostly academic type owners move up and kept flat for income property. They are plagued by people arriving from airport at 3am dragging a week's worth of suitcases up 4 flights of stairs and repeating it a few days later when they fly out. Even if they are not noticeable during the stay it causes problems. There is limited ability to assimilate to community norm even if STR tenants are self-aware. A "please carry your bag on stairs" notice on walls and in (some) online listing property rules hasn't helped. And it probably wouldn't ever help, I'm not abandoning part of my luggage in a strange building in a strange city to make several trips up a stair well. I suppose I could try to get my wife to carry one at a time up while I guard the rest at the entrance.

Is Edinburgh that crime ridden now that you must guard your suitcases in the lobby of a central city flat? You could always carry them up and give your wife some bear spray, in case someone tries to steal your stuff.

 

[Dex Sawash]

Is Edinburgh that crime ridden now that you must guard your suitcases in the lobby of a central city flat? You could always carry them up and give your wife some bear spray, in case someone tries to steal your stuff.

Just watch the documentary film Trainspotting for the general feel