🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <47rq3a$q1u@ixnews7.ix.netcom.com>, waynelid@ix.netcom.com
(Wayne Liddy ) writes:

> Monterey County
>official Stan Shaw has told him that they won't issue a permit to him
>to replace an existing well because his piece of property is under 2.5
>acres of land. 

If this is true, then it's yet more proof that California bureaucrats are
disproportionately loony...as much as I loved growing up there, I'm glad I
moved.  My first suggestion is that your neighbor _demand_ to see, in the
books, the code(s) in question. There should be some kind of 'grandfather
clause' in there for small developed plots of land, but some bureaucrats
are so boneheaded about what they think *should* be right that you have to
rub their noses in the real law.  Ask several inspectors, not just one,
their interpretations of the same codes. Legalese isn't easy to read, but
with persistence (and a good lawyer friend, if you have one) (no wise
cracks about lawyers, please), you should be able to figure it out. Check
with realtors, too, if you know any; they may know the correct angle or
interpretation or the right person to call.  Suggestion #2:  If you or
your neighbor can get a lawyer interested in this without expecting a lot
of money (any lawyers living in Monterey County on <2.5 acres?), maybe
he/she can think up a plausible way to threaten to sue the county over
loss of land value due to legislative action.  That is, after all, a
growing movement in this country. A good enough threat might make the
county see the error of its ways, or decide the fight isn't worth it.  I
know you're not supposed to be able to fight City Hall, but once in a
great while it's possible to win.

You also wrote:
> One more thing that would help is to know if there is a way
>to find out the names or locations of all residents in Monterey County
>who are living on a piece of property under 2.5 acres with a well as
>their only source of water.
>
This information is bound to be in County records - plats, for instance -
but I don't know the easiest way to get at them. (Anyone in California
know the answer to this?) If you don't get a response from this newsgroup,
call a local realtor and ask where you can find this out. You may have to
piece it together from several sources: e.g. find out who lives on <2.5
acres, then eliminate the ones on public water systems.

Ken Bannister's response is probably more practical than mine, but lunatic
politics shouldn't be permitted to go on.  Is Stan Shaw an elected
official, by any chance?
--
Nancy Smith (not a lawyer, just a feisty California farmchild) 
Nmrsmith@aol.com