Wuligal Loc: Slippery Rock, Pa.

Does this include rural areas? We are now limited by township and county regulations.

yssirk123 Loc: New Jersey

Yes Linda -the HOME Bill would become the law of the land, and local officials would lose the ability to govern their communities.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

The text of the 2018 proposal:
https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/3342/text

As I pointed out earlier, the restrictions would apply in the cases of recipients of Community Development Block Grants: https://www.hudexchange.info/programs/cdbg/

You wrote, "This bill is the Federal government's attempt to control what happens in your local community, whether you like it or not. And the scary thing is most people have never heard anything about it." It seems that fear has become the primary currency of the Republican Party.

This topic has been moved to The Attic. I'll bow out now, and watch for further developments in Congress. Best to you Bill.

yssirk123 Loc: New Jersey

[quote=Linda From Maine]The text of the 2018 proposal:
https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/3342/text

As I pointed out earlier, the restrictions would apply in the cases of recipients of Community Development Block Grants: https://www.hudexchange.info/programs/cdbg/

You wrote, "This bill is the Federal government's attempt to control what happens in your local community, whether you like it or not. And the scary thing is most people have never heard anything about it." It seems that fear has become the primary currency of the Republican Party.

This topic has been moved to The Attic. I'll bow out now, and watch for further developments in Congress. Best to you Bill.


Since all states and counties rely on HUD grants, unless they comply those grants will be forfeited. I'm surprised and disappointed that you characterized my post which quoted sections verbatim from the pending bill as "fear mongering" and "ridiculous assertions". Clearly they are neither.

Best to you as well Linda.

btbg

That sums things up pretty well.

btbg

Some simple examples.

Once they move into an area they want the roads paved. That means that taxes have to go up. They move next door to a gravel pit, then complain about dust and noise and what the gravel pit shut down. County does nothing so they sue the gravel pit owners. Gravel pit is still open, but owner spent thousands on attorney fees.

They want everyone annexed into the city and placed on city water and sewer instead of well and septic tanks. End result we had to turn our plumbing around and spend just over $15,000 to hook up to city water and sewer. Now, in the summer we have to alternate days we water even though we still have our own well, because if we don't they will fine us.

That happened to us 10 or 12 years ago. We were patrolled be the county sheriffs department now that we are in town we haven't seen a police car in at least 10 years except for one that brought a run away home a couple of years ago.

They want sidewalks on all new housing, so now they charge a huge fee to anyone building a new house, and we have sidewalks all over the place that go nowhere because the new housing has them and the old housing doesn't. So, now they are trying to force people that have lived in their homes for 40 years to suddenly pay for sidewalks.

The whole point is they want city amenities. That costs money and raises taxes, and those of us who were here before they came had no need for any of that stuff.

That's just the tip of the iceberg. Then what happens next is they get appointed to the city planning commission and start making regulations. Once again, more costs, and higher taxes. Then, they want public t***sportation, they want park benches, they want more walking trails, bicycle trails, you name it. Once again, more costs, and more taxes.

We didn't need trails, because all you had to do was go to B*M land and take a hike, but we have trails now. Perhaps you are starting to get the idea. And this is the harmless stuff. We haven't gotten to the big government stuff yet. Our town is too small for that. But, the bigger towns near us, well they have already gone over to the dark side.

btbg

You just hit a big part of the problem. We don't need what we have improved. It already works. We don't need to spend more money on it. That's the problem. Whenever city slickers move in they immediately want improvements, which costs the rest of us more.

Fire protection is a good example. People from the city move onto a 10 or 20 acre package of land that is outside of the fire district protection. They then try to force everyone who has been there for years into a rural fire district. Prior to them moving in the farmers fought wh**ever fires there were with tractors and their water trucks. Now, we have three rural fire stations in the county that weren't there before that are manned 24 hours a day. Response time to fires is quicker, but not quick enough to stop a house from burning down. The house still goes, just now county taxes pay to stop the fire from spreading instead of the neighbors taking care of their own property.

What some view as improvements are just unnecessary expenses to others.

btbg

It is under local control, but only partly. First there is a layer of state government that prevents a county from doing wh**ever they want with a specific parcel of land. Then there are federal regulations.

For example if a piece of land fits the definition of wetland then it doesn't matter what local individuals would like to do with planning federal law takes precedent.

That makes sense if it is critical wildlife habitat, but some pieces of land that now qualify as wetlands were farm land for a century or more and now can't be used for that by the farmer. So, no not all zoning regulations are local, both the state and federal are involved.

berchman Loc: South Central PA

I'm hoping that I'm safe from city water because there is a Mennonite farm on one side of me and a guy who raises trotting ponies on the other. But development in the area is on steroids. I like to detail my car and my wife's as a hobby and don't want to be limited in water usage. My extensive vegetable garden and decorative plantings occasionally need to be watered too, especially with this heat.

I know I'm selfish, but I don't care. I came out here 52 years ago from NYC just as their crime wave and near bankruptcy was getting going. I bought 10 acres, built a house and a stable and I wish no one was coming here afterwards.

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

I forgot the disclaimer = this applies only to some "city people", mainly the ones who fail to adapt to the country life style and thinking.

A certain % of them adapt and fit right in other then the stories they can tell about (fill in name of city).

btbg

,
You are correct. I probably should not have insinuated that it's all city slickers, but it does seem that way sometimes.