115 Thoughts to “Message to Supervisors: Open Thread”

  1. anon

    To the comment above, where allegedly “several people suggested something was wrong with Sill Awed’s post” – I don’t see where that was said. If you are referring to my post above, I was not saying anything was wrong with Still Awed’s post, but I was saying unfortunately my experience has not been so great with my neighbor’s next door.

    Let’s put it this way – I’ll be glad to trade one of you who think you would like to live next to the neighbor’s of mine, one of which broke into my house, and possibly 3 others who we are not sure. To add to this story – not that I like repeating 2nd hand info – the person across the street who reported this and identified the one individual, has told me they’ve had retaliation in the form of rocks being thrown against their house in the middle of the night. I can neither confirm or deny that, but I have a feeilng it is true.

    So again, I’ll be glad to trade houses for a month or two (actually at this point I’d gladly sell my house if I thought I could and get out of here) – and see if you think you could get along with these people. My wife, who is a legal immigrant – tells me she is scared of these people now – during the daytime when I’m not at home and she is outside working on the yard – they give her dirty looks from their deck. She spends a lot of time cleaning up our back yard from cigarette buts, beer bottles, etc. which are quite often tossed there from them.

    Anyway, i just wanted to be sure my post wasn’t counted in TWINAD’s comment that “Your story is wonderful, yet several people suggested that something was wrong with you for thinking so!

    Then again, it seems here if someone posts something that is not agreed with on this board, assumptions are made, generalizations are made, etc.

  2. Kenneth Reynolds

    elvis said on 30 Apr 2008 at 7:25 pm:
    yo’ moon,
    it’s done all the time here by both elena, kgotthardt and others so why should emma not do it? They get downright nasty and you say nothing. Others get nasty and they delete their comments. This is JUST like BVBL in so many ways. The alter-ego of Greg is elena and they share more than a few things in common although they would likely not admit it. I took capture of this site about a week ago and then another capture today…noticed lots of deletions and almost 100 percent of the time they were comments that didnt support admins agenda. Talk about a hippocrite!

    Kenneth said – Your calling Gospel Greg the alter ego for Elena is like comparing Osama bin Laden to the Pope!!! get a life

  3. anon

    And finally, my complaint is about what I’m sure was an illegal immigrant breaking/entering into my house. (Before anyone says I’m against Hispanics or some thing – again knowing how things are generalized on here). The fact that he is Hispanic is not the issue. I’m sure he is illegal as he fled in the middle of the night basically, and his former housemates claim they have no idea where he went. Also, the police told me that there are 14 other people that appear to be living in that townhouse, which does not surprise me, given the traffic in and out of there at all hours of the day and night. Also the fact that they moved a lot of furniture out onto their deck recently to make room apparently for the overcrowding in that townhouse.

  4. TWINAD

    Anon,

    No, wasn’t addressing you, but I wonder why you thought I was? Sorry, I didn’t specifically address the person…Willoughby…was the person it was directed to. And some other people on the board have repeatedly stressed their intolerance and inability to show compassion. You are correct, in this particular thread there was only one person…my bad. Thanks for pointing it out.

  5. anon

    Because, you said “several posts” and I looked in between the referenced post and mine and didn’t count “several posts” that belittled Still Awed’s post as far as i could tell. OK, if you had said “one post” then I wouldn’t have interpreted it that way. Also, maybe my sensitivity is up here because other posts of mine have been attacked and people have accused me of saying things I never said, posting on BVBL (which I never have). I don’t want to rehash that actually – been there/done that.

  6. Red Dawn

    anon,

    I read your comment earlier and my FIRST thought was, “keep your enemies closer”, when you stated that after the incident you will not talk to your neighbors.

    I can imagine your frustration but that becomes counter productive, like giving up.

  7. Valley Girl

    The very broad perspective on this, which may be of no consolation to people who are very obviously emotionally connected and distressed, is that this is part of several broader socio-economic and migratory patterns. All of these legitimate woes have been shared by individuals and communities worldwide (and I say legitimate not woes because I agree with the complaints and concerns I read about, but rather because I know we are all limited or conversely enlightened by our own experiences).
    I recently read a fascinating book about a wave of migration from Bangladesh to London and I see much of the same events in that book repeated here. And look to France, look to Germany. This is not an isolated occurance folks, and it will be exacerbated with global warming (regardless of the cause) and the worsening global food crisis.

    Socio-economic in the sense that there is aging housing stock that was once THE place to live, the very idea of middle income success in small town America, whose infrastucture and upkeep has over the past 30 or so years been overlooked and sometimes neglected by local governements, and has now become the closest thing to affordable housing and home to low-income workers who have supported the growth of the new middle income havens, ie, the new suburbia and much wriiten of “gated communities”. This change in neighborhoods is typical by the way. How often in our American history, in literature or in film, do we learn about a real or fictitous neigborhood revisted that is no longer what it once was? In some cases simply changed, in others decrepit or simply nonexistent.

    Add to this immigration reform that was NEVER enforced by the very governement that enacted it, who conveninetly turned a blind eye (and still does, IMO) and the surplus of jobs available to recent immigrants, in large part from North, Central, and South America (but let’s not overlook many Asian and African immigrants), a labor source that WE HAVE ALL BENEFITED from, in one way or another, whether you like it or not. Add to that family reuninfication, Aslyee and refugee programs, TPS, and similar laws that allow for additional LEGAL immigration, and you have a population that is very closely tied and of a very mixed status (legal and illegal), such that you COULD NEVER TELL the difference, not even based on seemingly rude and obnoxious behavior.
    I write this not from a gated community, and the assumption that the posters here all dwell safely within those communities is absurd BTW, but rather from my very modest home that I share with my Salvadorean husband and 3 bilingual American children. I have lived in a “flophouse” and I am the grandaughter of German French Americans on one side and an illegal immigrant and Native American on the other side. I add this only because apparently ones opinion is only legitimate to some if it is backed by experience. I have enough experience and then some to spare and share.
    I know the worst sides of illegal immigration, both in terms of the suffering that many illegal immigrants endure, as well as the suffering that some illegal immigrants cause. The grace of my experience and my perspective is that I know that any of us could be an illegal immigrant. There are people who are very far from teh grace of God and others who have a front row seat and I know that their immigration status is not a determining factor.

  8. TWINAD

    Anon,

    Like I said, I am sorry. All the threads blend in together at a certain point!

    While I am apologizing to a fellow poster, I would like to take back my apology to Emma from last week! She had the nerve to “accept my apology” only to reveal a few days later that not only did she feel the way I had “accused” her of, but even much worse things! Nice.

  9. TWINAD

    Valley Girl,

    Well said. Thanks. We all know about the “despicable” acts of illegal aliens because those actions are the ones people remember and are reported. The vast majority live below the radar of the law and their neighbors and are not here to cause trouble. It’s the few that behave badly that reflect poorly on all of them, and it’s a shame.

  10. Red Dawn

    Valley Girl,

    “I have enough experience and then some to spare and share.”

    I like the sound of that.

    What is your suggestion?

  11. anon

    As far as talking to my neighbors – I think they are covering up for this person and really know where he went. Also, I am not certain his 3 accomplices don’t live in that house. Would any of you feel comfortable taking up a discussion with someone who possibly broke into your house? And here’s another question: if the rest of these people are such good people, why haven’t they told me they are sorry for what happened to my house? To me, someone who breaks into a house probably also doesn’t mind resorting to violence. I don’t think that’s too rash of a statement to make. Again, I am not sure that the 3 accomplices don’t live in the townhouse next door, unfortunately the neighbor was only able to positively identify one of them.

  12. anon

    TWINAD – no problem – glad we quickly clarified that one. I can realate about threads running together. I was asked to confirm something said to me that I complained about – and I can’t even find the thread I posted in that the response was that I objected to. I’ve been searching high and low for it! So it is pretty bad when I can’t even find my own post that someone replied to where the reply was rather objectionable – I can’t remember what thread that was that I posted in!

  13. Red Dawn

    anon re: your post at 8:32,

    Thanks for the clarity. I get it now and also, I assumed you were not talking to ANY neighbors ( my bad) I can see this situation.
    That is a huge concern of mine, bunk houses. Here tonight, gone tomorrow.
    These are REAL issues that need attention!

  14. anon

    Red Dawn – OK, thanks for understanding it better. It is a frustration – the police said they saw 5 mattresses in their basement (which admittedly is fairly big – the whole length of the townhouse), and 3 more in the living room. That accounts for 8 people – one assumes the other 7 (well now 6 apparently) in the 3 bedrooms on the 3rd floor! Don’t even ask about all the noise from that place at all hours of the day and night….

    I appreciate the dialog here in the last few posts I’ve made here – maybe soon I’ll change from anon to something else – this has been a better experience than I had on here the past few days starting with my 1st post on here.

  15. Red Dawn

    anon,

    The past few days have been tricky as peoples EMOTIONS have been running high.

    see this:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-C2b8XWJnfE

    LOL!

    Hang in there!

  16. anon

    Red Dawn – thanks for the humor – definitely needed some after recent events plus a frantic day at work. You’re right – emotions definitely have been running high (I’m definitely on that list). Again, I appreciate the back and forth dialog in the posts I’ve made on this thread – so I’m feeling better about the experience here. I’m going to write off those other threads to the high emotions you describe (which as I said I’m guilty of too).

  17. Red Dawn

    anon,

    AWESOME! I look forward to more exchanges with you. To tell you the truth, I am just plain out EXHAUSTED tonight 🙂

    I look forward. Thanks for hanging in there! CHEERS~

  18. anon

    Red Dawn,

    Sounds good to me. I share your exhaustion (but in my case more from work today than anything else). Thanks again. Cheers to you too!

  19. Red Dawn

    anon,

    I hear ya! I refuse to live to pay taxes and die 😉 lol

    Good night all 🙂

  20. anon

    Actually I would like to add I look forward to discussing other ideas about solutions to this problem. Overcrowding obviously is a big concern of mine. And having been through the immigration process with my wife, I have a hard time coming around to any sort of circumventing that system so that is one reason I have a big personal issue with illegal immigration. Not only was it time consuming for us, it wasn’t cheap either going through the immigration process, and it actually got restarted because the bauracracy that is our gov’t lost my wife’s medical records and that reset the whole process – costing both time and money.

    Regarding the overcrowding problem – the City of Manassas used to handle overcrowding complaints, but got scared off with several lawsuits. In fact, 2 years ago I complained about the townhouse I’ve been talking about next door to me – and that cleared it out and the owner sold it as obviously could no longer afford it. At that time they told me there were 9 people consisting of 4 different families living in there. Then it was vacant for almost a year! Now we’re back to the overcrowding (and I thought 9 people living there was bad – those were the “good old days”)! Of course now City of Manassas won’t take any complaints in that regard. Although with this recent event (all of this transpired in the past 3 weeks I should say) – maybe they will do something about this townhouse – but I still think they are afraid to.

    Anyway, I’m done here for tonight but do look forward to dialoging about these issues. I would like to find some sort of solution that is a moderate one. While I’m for the resolution – I would be glad to discuss/debate alternatives or whatever.

  21. anon

    “If you are a citizen of my country and that your future plans and financial stability have been gravely affected because of illegals like mine and many other Americans and you still tell me that you support illegal immigration and feel that we are being racist then I will shake your hand and call you a better man than me but I hardly feel that any of you illegal supporters have been put into any kind of financial bind from their presence or else you would all be rethinking your allegiance.”

    *Raises hand*

    I live in the same town as you, Park’d. My financial stability and future plans have been compromised by the economic realities of the times. I support immigration, preferably legal (but I don’t share your hatred of illegal immigrants), but feel that the rhetoric in PWC on both sides has worsened an already bad economic situation. I truly feel that the war between HSM and the groups on the other side are responsible for at least a $50-75K loss of value on my home. I think if both sides had not scared so many people out of this community that many of my neighbors would not have left. For the two loud bording houses of the 14 on my court, there were six more that were single Latino families. Now eight of these 14 houses are in foreclosure. We aren’t upside down because we bought several years ago and have made wise choices (like not taking equity out), but we are unable to sell as our family has outgrown our current home.

    I guess since I am not on the side of HSM and your world view Park’d, you would say that I am supporter of illegal immigration. That’s fine. Really. But you don’t need to shake my hand. I don’t know that I am a better person than you, either. I would say that, despite my financial setbacks in this situation, I am a more compassionate person than others, perhaps even yourself. Maybe be you need some perspective – I have a healthy family and we have been through worse situations. At the end of the day, we have a roof over our heads, something we should all be more grateful for.

  22. Red Dawn

    anon RE: what you said on 30 Apr 2008 at 9:13 pm:

    ABSOLUTLY AGREE! It needs to be addressed. I think that it is the nucleus of the majority of the problems we face.

  23. maribel

    The fact is that the Resolution is stronger now. Mr. Principi’s motion rightfully and predictably went down in flames. The MJM and the Wash. Times got the story right. Those that were eagerly, anxiously awaiting for the Resolution to be rescinded were in a state of folly. One very good outcome of this second attempt by the illegal alien protectionists to undue the will of the MAJORITY of PWC residents is that the anti-illegal alien supporters are more unified and determined to see and expect the rule of law be enforced. Mr. Stewart has done an outstanding job in this respect. Mom: your temper tantrum was embarrassing and childish. You remind me of a spoiled brat….grow up! Oh, by the way, Channel 4 this evening corrected their story from yesterday and stated that the Resolution was indeed made stronger as a result of last night’s vote. VIVA LA RESOLUCION! VIVA LA LEY!

  24. Moon-howler

    Anon,

    Red Dawn is right on the mark. People here are very tired. I think I was one of the insensitive slobs who forgot to tell you I was sorry you had had that experience. You live in the City of Manassas?

    How long ago did it happen? Any luck on getting any of the items back?

    Keep us posted.

    MH

  25. Moon-howler

    Maribel,

    Perhaps stronger is a relative term in this case. What exactly do you mean by stronger?

    I think most folks here were pretty satisfied with the outcome. I honestly do not know why you think that this blog called out for the resolution to be recinded. That is simply not true. While I do not speak for everyone on the entire blog, I believe most people very definitely wanted the ADC component of resolution to stay.

    Where you run into disagreement is with the criminal alien unit. What do you think should happen there, Maribel?

    I find it strange that the very people who continually berate mainstream news and media are now quoting all the news stations and (choke) the PN and MJM as great authorities. I think I will wait and let the attorneys finish hashing it out.

  26. Red Dawn

    I KNOW, I was going to bed….OFF I go.

    For those of you who asked or wonder who Bob Wills is:

    The first video link is MY spin…LOL Go Bob!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwywugjy3BY

    AND here is his assesment of last night:

    http://www.bvbl.net/index.php/2008/04/30/what-the-changes-actually-mean/

    # Bob Wills said on 30 Apr 2008 at 10:27 pm:

    Lets see now that dirty scumbag supervisor from Dumfries had the gall to chalenge the Rule of Law that Stewart was going to make sure passed and was fully funded before the election but when it came to the budget did not want to fully fund it as he said pre election. Nor did he want to add additional officers either. Because the sum bag Supervisor from Dumfries held Stewarts feet to the fire Greg is reporting that a better version of the Rule of Law is in place?????

    Just think that one single Supervisor did not walk around with a ring in his nose and do what he was told but used his brain and brought about a real effective change.

    By the way folks it is not just a .97 tax rate there is also a 45 % increase in your car decal fees for which you will get the bill later this year for every vehicle you own. At least Stewart asked to increase the RE tax rate to bring in the same amount of money as the increase in the decal fee would generate. Of course that would have created a saving for the home owners of about 20% in total actualy cost to the citizens and why would Team PWCBOCS ever what to do anything to help the home owners. Mrs Caddigan commented how she was a team player and shafting the citizens of PWC is what she does along with the rest of the Board.

    Bendover spread your cheeks and enjoy the shafting folks…… you will get it for another 4 years.

  27. Moon-howler

    Red Dawn,

    Have you invited him here? He sure speaks his mind, doesn’t he?

  28. Red Dawn

    Moon-howler,

    Like Noah did, I put the message in the birds claw…lol and the bird said they did not get the chance to speak to him last night.

    I am rolling out the red carpet for him to come over red rover…. gotta love him and if people don’t, make it all the more entertaining!

    I vote Bob! 🙂

    Please come over…

  29. Elena

    Elvis,
    People who post here and want their comments read, will not be deleted. You are incorrect. I invite you to share whose comments have been deleted.

    Greg and I are nothing alike, please share how you believe we are similar?

  30. Elena

    I think we might want to start thinking about how to address the issues in neighborhooods that still exist. Clearly, there are still problems and I think that we should put our heads together and start dealing with the demographic change. In addition, with all the forclosures, certain neighborhoods will need more assistance than others to remain free of crime that comes with forclosures.

  31. Red Dawn

    “Like Noah did, I put the message in the birds claw” Actually, this is incorrect, see what I get for being a smart A@@. I know the story about the olive branch. I am ashamed of myself.

  32. It’s a shame that this blog does not give the same scrutiny to doings by Manassas City Council. That is a group which thinks that current economic conditions do not apply when it comes to taxes let alone growth of government.

    Life if more than immigrants of which we all orginate. Taxes, quality of life, economic development, educational quality, transportation and police and emergency response are all issues which effect those of us in Manassas.

    Shameless self promotion: one blog which focuses on Manassas is wwww.dungeondogs.com. Not always right, but welcomes comment without censorship as long as it not profane or illegal. right now, we are taking a look at Delegate Miller’s leadership (or lack thereof) to the state’s transportation situation.

    Look forward to reading about some Manassas specific issues on this blog as well.

    Cheers!

  33. anon

    Moon-howler: OK, thanks for your post. Yes, I live just barely within the City of Manassas limits. No, unfortunately I haven’t gotten any of my items back unfortunately. The big problem was this happened while me & my wife were on vacation – and it was 1 1/2 weeks from the time the break-in occurred until we got back home and even found out about it. We were out of the country – as soon as we landed in Los Angeles and i turned on my cell phone I found out about it. Not a fun way to come back from vacation, and we were on pins and needles the whole flight from LA to Dulles worrying what we were going to find. So we couldn’t identify the stolen items to the police until we returned obviously. By that time, this person had disappeared.

    I do need to change my usernamne – I see there is anotehr “anon” that posted shortly after my last post last night!

    Red Dawn – you really did stay up later than you intended – I finally decided to pull the plug or I would have bene up late too! You’re right – overcrowding is a BIG BIG problem. It breeds crime, littering, lowers property values, etc. I really am at the point I’d like to sell my place, but good luck with that. Anyone that looks at the deck next door with 500 pounds of furniture on it (moved out to make room for all the mattresses I guess) wouldn’t think of buying my townhouse. After this incident, I’m really looking to get out of my neighborhood – of which I bought my townhouse when it was brand new 20 years ago believe it or not.

    However, after this incident – because I had the hailstorm claim within the past 3 years – my insurance company now put my house in a high risk category. That follows the house apparently, and I think you have to disclose it to potential buyers but am not sure. Word of warninng to everyone – don’t have 2 homeowner’s claims within a 3 year period or you’re sunk!

    What’s the solution? City of Manassas had a good one until they had lawsuits (regarding overcrowding and their definition of it) and now they are running scared and too afraid to do anything about it. They had an overcrowding hotline and e-mail address, which I utilized before they shut it all down due to lawsuits. Now they won’t even take a report believe it or not. Too bad – or I wouldn’t probably have been burlarized.

  34. AnoniMom

    MOM- I am not sure what you are talking about. Marty Nohe voted to raise the necessary funds for roads. He tried to fix the transportation mess. Maybe you should be yelling and Stirrup and Stewart for making everything about immigration. These distractionary tactics are really what is killing all attempts to fix transportation.

  35. Emma

    Moon-howler said on 30 Apr 2008 at 7:17 pm:
    Emma,

    I am going to make the suggestion that you refrain from commenting to Twinad. You are dangerously close to what I would call harrassment. Harrassment of other bloggers is not considered acceptable here. Just think of it as Rule of Law.

    Uh, moon-howler, I believe I was quoting viva-las-vegas that time, then told him/her the consequences of such talk. Not sure where you see that I was commenting directly to T. Back to the real issues.

  36. Valley Girl

    A couple of ideas that worked in Loudoun –
    1. presentations held at any Spanish language event (i.e. churches, school meetings, Hispanic markets, done with Zoning enforcement officials in Spanish that explains zoning laws in a straightforward, practical way. Assume that the folks that have 10 plus people in their homes will not attend but encourage peer pressure – a “pass the word along” approach, about the zoning laws and the effect that breaking them has on the whole community.
    2. Drop off flyers in Spanish (BRIEF and too teh point, best with graphics) to the same effect.
    3. Create neighborhood groups that include Hispanics and people of other ethnicities, that meet once a month and include a two or three person team that can drop by problem houses (perhaps notifying police in advance) to try to make contact and voice concerns as a first step, with the promise that enforcement will be on the way if the problem is not solved. I encourge training by a group such as Northern Virginia Mediation first. In some cases this training could be free.
    4. Approach your zoning department as a neighborhood team, again including neighbors of various ethnicities. A group has more weight and if it is diverse it is hardly controversial.
    5. neighborhood picnics and block parties, to establish positive contact and communication.
    6. Offer a once a week ESL class in your home. It could be as short as 1 hour, basic level. Teaching ESL is great fun and it is wonderful to expose your kids to volunteerism. You could have a small group of two to five people. You will become a “friendly person” and your concerns about probled houses will be taken more seriously by the Spanish speaking community. A potluck dinner idea works graet and you will get some great food. If not in your own home than in a nearby church, library etc. there are many free ESL teacher training resources.

    These steps take some commitment. Getting a group of people together and keeping them togther takes time, but it is worth it.

    One thing that has always intersted me is teh issue of work vehicles in residential areas. can we offer alternative parking areas? On teh one hand it is an eye sore, on teh other hand it is a livelihood. Is there an empty parking lot with a shuttle bus?

    We have to offer alterantives.

  37. Valley Girl

    Perhaps since recent law suits regarding zoning enforcement have failed you could revist the issue as a community. In retrospect, after the Resolution, zoning enforcement seems very reasonable.

    What are the current regulations in PW county?

  38. Moon-howler

    anon said on 1 May 2008 at 6:40 am

    A friend emailed me and says she may be able to help you out with the over crowding. If you are interested please email the admin here and she will forward your email address to the person.

    What a horrible thing to come home to!

  39. anon

    Actually, my understanding of what happened with the lawsuits against City of Manassas regarding zoning enforcement issues is they were finally thrown out – only because in reaction to the lawsuits being filed, Manassas abandoned the policy the lawsuits were protesting. I don’t tihnk Manassas will want to try to tackle the issue again and have more lawsuits. Just my impression/opinion – but I am pretty sure that’s the reason the lawsuits were finally thrown out. Had Manassas’ zoning enforcement policy still been on the books – they lawsuits would have not been thrown out, from what I heard. Don’t know of course how PW County’s regulations work – would be interested in hearing though and if they are successful/lawsuit proof seeing if the City would adopt them. Something would be better than nothing, which is what we now have.

  40. anon

    Moon-howler – thanks. Will do that. Yes, was not a great way to come back from vacation, that’s for sure!

  41. Moon-howler

    Hi Tom Osina,

    Welcome and thank you for alerting us to your blog. I popped over for a second and there sure appears to be a lot of substance there. I will go back. Self promotion is a good thing. Have you linked up to here?

    We might just have a city reporter here. I will ask her. Most of us here that I know are county. Maybe some of the city folks might step forward. You are right though, we really have not focused on the city. We are young: not even 3 months old yet.

  42. Moon-howler

    Emma, just leave it alone. You don’t need to be mentioning her at all. We don’t need to have a conversation about it. Surely you can grasp this.

  43. anon

    An update – just as I was about to start writing the e-mail at Moon-howler’s suggestion – the detective working my case called (as I said this is all very recent so things still are in motion). He said they have reason to believe the current conditions are a fire hazard so they are going to send the fire inspector over to investigate. So that may be a way of attacking the overcrowding problem. So I think at the moment I’ll let the city do their job. But I do want to thank Moon-howler (and whoever else offered) for the offer to help with the overcrowding situation next to me.

    Tom Osina – I am a City of Manassas resident and took a quick look at your site. Will have to take a longer look tonight. Looks interesting, saw some things I think I don’t agree with, but am glad to know of a site devoted to City of Manassas issues.

    It is OK that this site has not really focused on the City – the City’s issues are a lot like PWC’s – and as PWC surrounds the City – I have much interest in what happens in PWC too. And of course, I can understand the ratio of city residents to PWC residents is low, so statistically speaking posters here will for the most part be PWC residents versus city residents. So I don’t have any problem with that, most of the issues regarding overcrowding, how to deal with those members of the illegal immigrant population that break the law – are all the same. In fact, I’m only about 1/2 mile within the city limits on the northern edge.

  44. Moon-howler

    Valley Girl,

    What a great list of suggestions. I know there will be people here interested in starting up a couple of these. You are a real gem here!

    The work vehicles in the neighborhood are a pet peeve of mine. I admit to being a snob about this subject but nothing labels a neighborhood more than trucks and vans with names on them. On the other hand, yes, it is a living. I prefer living in a neighborhood where service vehicles are left on the lot at work. Such is not the case in my neighborhood now.

    Actually, I just wanted to bitch about it. Where I live, I doubt that there are solutions to this one issue.

  45. Censored bybvbl

    I think most people would be shocked by the number of related people legally able to occupy a house according to safety codes. Zoning can tighten things up a bit by limiting the number of unrelated people in a dwelling. The rub of course is being able to prove relationships.

  46. Censored bybvbl

    Moon-howler, I’m not sure that this is still pertinent, but zoning at one time prohibited business vehicles with names on them from being parked at residences (other than while doing work there). DH had to use a removable magnetic sign for his business and had to remove the sign when home.

  47. anon

    Yes, it is true that unfortunately a high number of related people can legal occupy a house. When City of Manassas tried to change that, and also limit the definition of a “relative” to more immediate family members (it was a very involved definition that I didn’t actually understand) – that’s what prompted those lawsuits, and the policy was immediately rescinded. I suspect if possible, attacking overcrowding from a fire inspection point of view may be a better angle, I hope. It sounds like in this one specific case that’s what they are going to try to do.

  48. Ruby

    Censored, right you are about the area per person allowable to live in a house. For those interested take a look at this useful guide. Occupancy is addressed at page 37.
    http://www.pwcgov.org/docLibrary/PDF/004111.pdf

  49. Moon-howler

    I have mixed feelings about the work trucks. A great part of me would like to have business vehicles verboten in residential neighorhoods other than during service calls. The other part of me understands that people have to make a living whether it is a company owned vehicle of a person in business for him/herself.

    Does anyone know the Pr Wm current regs? I would hope they wouldn’t relax regs as the county got larger.

  50. Valley Girl

    Why would we care about the number of related people in a home as long as they don’t bother their neighbors? The focus should not be solely on the number of people per home, but rather on the outside appearance (no pink flamigos, minature windmills, or gnomes for example). But seriously, a fair number of cars per home, cleanliness (cut lawn, contained trash, no loud music after 9pm, etc.)
    Of course the obvious exception is 10 men in one single family home, or something along those lines. Many times it is a contracting or landscape company that pays the rent for tehir workers. That is unnacceptable.
    On the other hand, grandma, mom, dad, Aunt Betty and Uncle Fred and 4 children on top of that wouldn’t bother me at all as long as they are otherwise good neighbors.
    Do most people agree?

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