My wife and I currently rent in NYC, and are slowly working on moving upstate to the mountains.

We purchased a large piece of forested land during covid and we built a little off grid compound out of site of the road. After about 2 years the building inspector found out and she lost her mind on us saying it all had to come down cause it was illegal.

(She was absolutely nasty to deal with, and we went above her head to the town supervisor about how mean and unprofessional she was and we never heard from her again. She left the position a few months later.)

That was when I began my deep dive into the local zoning and building codes... Holy shit, everything you are saying here is correct. The zoning code has totally locked down all existing land pretty much anywhere in the country except for a select few counties nationwide. All to protect current property value.

There is something about all this that absolutely lights a fire in me. My land is so much more than a monetary investment. It's an heirloom to leave for my kids one day. The fact that I have to build a minimum 1200sqft house that meets all the latest energy code is ludicrous. No one else in the town had to follow those rules when they built years ago. I just want to build a simple cabin hidden from the road with locally sourced materials, but somehow at some point we all decided that should be illegal.

We are now in the process of buying another property nearby instead of building a new place, and my wife and I are both committed to start attending every zoning meeting once we move to light a fire under these old boomers running the town.

When I was talking to the republican town supervisor, I pointed to all the historical pictures on the walls and all the fancy paragraphs about the tough folks who built the town, and told him that none of those folks had to ask permission to build what they built.

Absolutely! It's the American way!

But I ask you to think about it, when did all these building ordinances and zoning codes become a thing? We all act like they are gospel, but they are all so new in the scheme of things. Other than a few major cities, no one had building codes or zoning before WW2. When did it become so necessary to respect authority instead of telling it to kindly fuck off?

I get immense satisfaction from violating the zoning codes in a civil way. I have made friends of all of my neighbors. I have no complaints against me. I am a master carpenter. I'm not going to build something shitty. I just want build my own stuff and live like a hippie in the woods and trade favors with my neighbors.

I'm a raging asshole, but only inside. Everyone I meet loves me 😃 (except for about 5 or 6 people in my life who got in my way. They get the whole of my wrath. I've ruined a few careers. Just be nice and help me build whatever it is I'm building. I guarantee it will be worth it)

How is that? I still have my off-grid cabin, I just can't get a permit to build the stone and timber house I want.

I put up no trespassing signs and chained off my driveway. Because I've never filed for a permit and signed the last paragraph on the application allowing inspection at any time, the building department can't enter my property without a warrant.

And my small town is in tough shape. It's ludicrous that they would be concerned about a house in the woods over all their other deeply systemic issues.