Lash angry and confused

[bcklash]

My wife got charged for running a commercial kennel in a residental area. Problem is that she runs a non-profit 501c dog rescue. ( she also works full time ). She makes no money from this. It depends solely on donations, and adoption fees which cover spay and neutering and any vet bills The County has known about the rescue for 12 yrs.

My question is this, how can this be considered a commercial kennel.

[bamabassman]

ooohhh man........dam govn'ment revenuers.......

get a lawyer ron. get a good one. so very sorry ron. sad when someone is wanting to do something good in this world our elected officials want to make money off of it.

[BigBassin144]

Ron that sucks, big time.

A lawyer may be a good idea.

Publicity will help you guys out a lot too. First find out if your operation can legally be considered a commercial kennel. If it really isn't, call your local tv channels, newspapers, etc. Get the word out. Our local new channel has a "call for help" thing that people can use to get publicity on issues like this. You'd be surprised how a business or government cab be coaxed when there's hundreds of angry possible clientele/voters. Many, many people would be upset about this and THAT will help you out.

BB

[bluebasser86]

BB is right, if you can call your local D.A. and try to find out if what your wife is running is considered a commercial kennel or not. If it isn't then find a lawyer and contact your local newpaper/channel. They'll probably be interested in hearing your story. Looking at the definition of the word commercial it is basically engaging in something to bring commerce, which is money or goods. I'm not sure if the donations would qualify, doesn't seem like they would but you never know how twisted up they might be able to get it. Still the local politions don't like being seen in a negative light so if you get the local news to do a story about them shutting down a non-profit animal rescue it might just go away all the sudden.

[jasonfish320]

DO NOT GO PUBLIC! It sounds like there's been a change at your local city/town, either a manager or code enforcement. If the area you live in is zoned residential then it needs to be enforced that way unless you can get the city/town to give you a variance. This requires town approval. My guess is that you have a new neighbor or someone within barking distance has been complaining behind your back. If you decide to contact the papers/news it will only put you in an awkward position with the town. Also, if your insurance is not aware of the situation with the rescue dogs they will drop you as soon as it's discovered and it will be very difficult and expensive to get coverage. I had a similar case where a neighbor built a moto-cross course on his property (15 acres) but it was in a residentially zoned neighborhood. Anyways, he is probably going to end up losing his house because he cannot obtain insurance now and his mortgage requires it.

My advice: Try and go and talk with the town/city manager or code enforcer to find out about a variance. Explain the situation nicely and asked what prompted the change. If you are polite and considerate it will go much further in your favor.

[BigBassin144]

Originally Posted by jasonfish320

DO NOT GO PUBLIC! It sounds like there's been a change at your local city/town, either a manager or code enforcement. If the area you live in is zoned residential then it needs to be enforced that way unless you can get the city/town to give you a variance. This requires town approval. My guess is that you have a new neighbor or someone within barking distance has been complaining behind your back. If you decide to contact the papers/news it will only put you in an awkward position with the town. Also, if your insurance is not aware of the situation with the rescue dogs they will drop you as soon as it's discovered and it will be very difficult and expensive to get coverage. I had a similar case where a neighbor built a moto-cross course on his property (15 acres) but it was in a residentially zoned neighborhood. Anyways, he is probably going to end up losing his house because he cannot obtain insurance now and his mortgage requires it.

My advice: Try and go and talk with the town/city manager or code enforcer to find out about a variance. Explain the situation nicely and asked what prompted the change. If you are polite and considerate it will go much further in your favor.

You make a good point. I can see how that could be a bad thing.

BB

[3dkicker]

Lash - take a look at the summons and look up the code. VA or county codes are easy to find online. Then go from there. I'd then visit the county office and speak to one of the ladies that typically work the counter.....they know all the laws but also know the tricks around them if you sweet talk 'em!! : )
Non-profit can be commercial but in your case if there isn't a fee for services only donations then it looks like it'll be an easy case to win in court.

[bcklash]

Thanks guys, gave us alot to think about. We are hiring a lawyer and I'll think we'll beat it. Again Thanks

[BassinBandit]

The problem is that she has had a variance for 12 years now. Now all the sudden the zoning board is changing there mind. The future plans for this area is supposed to be the next "town" (its so small its a village) that they want to create for people to build these big houses and make a lot of money. Its sad really.

[Vegasspider]

This advice is spot on. Hopefully by going in with hat in hand, you can get the details that brought the attention in the first place and face it head on. 99% of the time it is a communication or lake of.

Most here know I work in the legal industry but this is not my area of expertise but I do have some experience in manner. Mine was we wanted a variance to build a four (4) horse barn and was granted to only have it recalled two days after the fence was put in and the barn being 95% done.

What happen was the builder of the barn (Barnmaster)had a serious equipment breakdown and they unloaded with permission two big barns worth of material on my property while waiting for a specialized rig to come in and pick up their material for the other jobs. (It did look like I was having a small city built) Well I have a neighbor who likes to play telephone. If you don’t know what that is, it is a game when you tell a story and have ten people retell it and see what gets added to the story before the game is over. (I.e. drama) So in this case instead of a simple four stall barn of which was approved and voted on eight months earlier, became a major commercial building and this is the best part – was going to be used to cut up horses and send them to Europe for food! How adults come up with this crap is beyond me and heck I am around fisherman most days…

So I go to the city and say what the heck is the problem and not only did they not want to talk about it, but since I was an attorney they were scared to talk about it. What was worse not one person would look at me (of course I am a demon by now) which was the worst part. My daughter loves and adores horses as we all do and this type of business would never happen on my watch. So long story short it got it worked out and it cost me $1,500 to have the crews back to finish up everything since they had to stop work that was 95% done. Besides the money it took forever to get them back but it got done all the same.

So whatever happen with the barn you say, well one year after it was done my daughter lost interest in horses and we kept two that we will always have. (They are mine) And, I now sit county chair for variance considerations and we all decided to play “telephone” with our neighbor nonstop. We always start a story with them to see how it goes. We always have a good laugh with it, like the time we said we were having a community garage sale and they got up early and set all of their stuff out…a week before the actual sale. Oops, wonder who could have given them the wrong date.

Hang in their man and if you want to PM with any paper work you get I will be happy to lay an eye on it no charge. Just a reminder though, it’s not my area of expertise.

Originally Posted by jasonfish320

DO NOT GO PUBLIC! It sounds like there's been a change at your local city/town, either a manager or code enforcement. If the area you live in is zoned residential then it needs to be enforced that way unless you can get the city/town to give you a variance. This requires town approval. My guess is that you have a new neighbor or someone within barking distance has been complaining behind your back. If you decide to contact the papers/news it will only put you in an awkward position with the town. Also, if your insurance is not aware of the situation with the rescue dogs they will drop you as soon as it's discovered and it will be very difficult and expensive to get coverage. I had a similar case where a neighbor built a moto-cross course on his property (15 acres) but it was in a residentially zoned neighborhood. Anyways, he is probably going to end up losing his house because he cannot obtain insurance now and his mortgage requires it.

My advice: Try and go and talk with the town/city manager or code enforcer to find out about a variance. Explain the situation nicely and asked what prompted the change. If you are polite and considerate it will go much further in your favor.