Ridgerunner
Garden Master
- Joined
- Mar 20, 2009
- Messages
- 8,229
- Reaction score
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- Points
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- Location
- Southeast Louisiana Zone 9A
Yes, wetlands are federally protected but I'm not going to bother looking up the actual regulations. Usually there are exemptions for small people like us as long as we don't exceed certain limits. I don't know if there are exemptions any in those laws though. Those federal rules are the minimum, a lot of the time state, county, city, or some other government body will impose additional restrictions. That sounds like what Alex is facing.
@baymule I also live in the country and can pretty much do what I want. Even out here there are restrictions. If someone wants to build a house they have to build on at least an acre, smaller is not allowed. If they want to put in a septic system they have to get that approved. The septic system approval is a joke, when they built the house I'm in they just took plans from another site, wrote on them "reversed", and they were approved. Those plans had nothing to do with the actual layout of the system actually installed. The only way I know where the septic tank is because of the grass growing on top of it. In the dry weather it's the first area to turn brown. In winter when it's wet the area is green because of the heat. I can tell where the field lines are because of the vegetation. The only way I found out where the distribution line is was when I cut it digging a post hole. The preacher that built it was really not helpful when I asked him about it. I don't know if he didn't know or just couldn't be bothered. Let's say I would have appreciated a realistic permit and drawing. Water lines are the same way and the preacher was just as unhelpful but I found the line after a lot of digging when I wanted to tap into it to lay another line.
A lot of the time us being able to do what we want out here is that the local officials aren't out looking for violations. They have better things to do. A general attitude is that neighbors aren't going to turn you in. The officials often don't like people turning others in because then they have to do something whether they want to or not. I see that attitude in officials more than the pain in the butt inspector doing his best to find a violation, though technically that's their job. In Alex's environment I think he is more likely to get a gung ho inspector and neighbors more than willing to turn someone in.
