Township and State rules ruined sale!

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ruffian

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We bought the house next door on one acre, with the intention of redoing it, and selling it with the barn that sits directly behind it and 5 acres. We used to own the ground it sits on, which is why the barn is there. After a year of working on the house - replacing EVERYTHING - we put it up for sale.

the first person who looked at it made an offer! GREAT! She has big horses and we really hit it off. Then we attempted to divide up the land. Turns out WE CAN'T!! State laws are that property can't be more than 4 times deep as it is wide, which reduced the property to 3.5 acres.

In addition, our TOWNSHIP ordinances meant that I couldn't build a new barn because the property we would have left is only 300' wide, and in order to have livestock in a building, it has to be 150' from any lot line. Is that not ridiculous!!! Of course, if it's a smelting plant, or motorcycle repair shed, it can be 15 FEET from any lot line. We tried and tried, but can't make it work. So now we are selling just the house and keeping the rest. It's only about a $50,000 loss . . .
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OH I would be just sick to death over this.

When the heck did they change this stuff?

I guess there's no grandfather clause?

Oh sister, this stinks.
 
Actually those laws are simple compared to the ones we have here. Trying to sever land here is virtually impossible unless there is a natural separation such as a road, creek, drainage ditch etc. Any barn must be not less than 600 feet from any dwelling except yours regardless of how far it is from the property line. You cannot build a house , barn , shed or anything else for that matter on agricultural land and if you ever hope to build anything the minimum lot size is fifty one acres. Almost all of the farms in this part of the country were hundred acre parcels when it was divided (eons ago by the original settlers in the 1700`s) the fifty one acre rule is so a person is not able to buy a hundred acre farm and split it in two. In one respect it protects us from an influx of people who might complain about the tractor noise and farm smells as well as the need to maintain a sound base of agricultural land. By the time you spend all the time , money and energy to sever land you have a multitude of local politicians ticked of at you who will make it their life's work to see you are unhappy that you won. It just not worth trying to do around here.
 
Actually, I fully understand why those laws were put in place.

I used to live about 60 miles from St. Paul MN. There USED to be thousands of acres of beautiful, tillable, black dirt, much of it old river bottom from when the river changed course thousands of years ago. Let me tell you - this is some of the most productive soil in the country.

And today it is a MESS because there are thousands and thousands of new "cheap" houses mucking up that farm land. And all of these city idiots are moving out to those houses....into a cluster of 100 plus houses on 50 acres, and telling themselves they are moving to "the country".

BULL !! They are bringing the city with them...the city with all of its problems...including kids on drugs, vandalism, etc. The problem is, most of these people don't feel "vested" in their new community. To them, it's simply property that they go home after a day's work, to cook in their back yard and to sleep and then off again in the morning to work in the Twin Cities.

They don't take part in any community activities. They complain about lack of big city ammenities, and don't do anything to help improve the community.

HELLO PEOPLE.... YOU MOVED THERE! Now put up and shut up.

OK - done venting. I like living on top of this isolated mountain a LOT better than dealing with all the hassles of those big-city transplant idiots! As my mother used to say, "God isn't going to create any more land." Why oh why are they ruining such productive land?????
 
Leave the boundaries as they are in law. LEASE the land to them on a 99 year, renewable option, lease. Bingo!!
 
rabbitsfizz said:
Leave the boundaries as they are in law.  LEASE the land to them on a 99 year, renewable option, lease.  Bingo!!
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That probably won't work unless the purchaser is paying cash. I used to be a mortgage loan officer and that kind of situation would be real hard to finance.
 
I know what you mean about the township rules! Our township counsel ( which I understand why they did it) had a meeting ( without the rest of us village idiots) because there were a couple of people that moved in started living in sheds. Yes, sheds. So, in order to stop this they made a new rule that increase the costs of building permits and stiffened the rules on housing. Our building permit for our 30x40 barn cost $440. Even swimming pools are now addressed to where you need a permit with elevated cost.

There was evidently someone in the past that your counsel did not agree with what some one did so low and behold a new rule.

Best of luck to you

Fran
 
Jean_B said:
Actually, I fully understand why those laws were put in place.
I used to live about 60 miles from St. Paul MN.  There USED to be thousands of acres of beautiful, tillable, black dirt, much of it old river bottom from when the river changed course thousands of years ago.  Let me tell you - this is some of the most productive soil in the country.

And today it is a MESS because there are thousands and thousands of new "cheap" houses mucking up that farm land.  And all of these city idiots are moving out to those houses....into a cluster of 100 plus houses on 50 acres, and telling themselves they are moving to "the country". 

BULL !!  They are bringing the city with them...the city with all of its problems...including kids on drugs, vandalism, etc.  The problem is, most of these people don't feel "vested" in their new community.  To them, it's simply property that they go home after a day's work, to cook in their back yard and to sleep and then off again in the morning to work in the Twin Cities.

They don't take part in any community activities.  They complain about lack of big city ammenities, and don't do anything to help improve the community. 

HELLO PEOPLE.... YOU MOVED THERE!  Now put up and shut up.

Why oh why are they ruining such productive land?????

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Then the city slickers complain because a combine is harvesting corn at 10PM or that horses or cows smell or whatever. As I have mentioned before, we had to sign a waiver stating we knew we were moving to a farming community and there would be smells, noises, lights, etc at all hours of the day/night. No problem here - we LOVE it and would not change a thing! It scares me though as farms are broken up around here... what will happen next?

I will always lobby for farming - I love how the seasons change by what crop is harvested, when the new livestock arrives in the spring and how my horses' coats change! If the land is lost to developers, we lose a lot more. Just my 2 cents worth....

Denise

Silversong Farm
 

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