Would it be possible to get around this if he had built an outbuilding first? Or are outhouses illegal most places today? I'm wondering if you could use a pit of such and such a size, properly blinded from public sight.
My grandparents built their house this way in the mid-90s. They stayed in an RV on the property until the home was finished.
I am tempted to say to the property buyer, if this had been your plan, you probably should have confirmed with the county you were buying property in before you bought the property.
Structure and fixture law.
Land Structure and fixture law defines structures either as "850 pounds and up" (less in some state codes), or the interesting "HEAVIER than ONE MAN can LIFT if detached from ground".
I suppose he could set a 150 pound lightweight outhouse onto ground, but it would still not be allowed a hole underneath it. The solution would be a PORTA-JOHN surrounded by decorative plants.
So you'd be looking at a $100 per month rental fee, roughly, and say $75 dollars a week for cleaning.
You have an 8 month build.
You're looking at $3,200 just to keep a shitter out there.
But you have guys out there helping you with the construction, and they are all going daily. So maybe your wife and daughters won't deal with once-per-week cleaning in July, and you negotiate for twice weekly cleaning at $130. Now you're upwards of $5,000.
All because you couldn't just shit in a 5-gallon bucket and dump it in a hole on your property.
This is all assuming these guys get a move on like pros. Drag it out for a year and that could be $7500 for a year's worth of 'safe pooping'.
It’s not just somewhere to shit. Sanitary conditions require handwashing, bathing, and hot water.
There are probably a lot of ways this guy could have gone about it. The part where local officials were allegedly threatening seizure of physical assets sounds inaccurate. Really it would take a leaf through their code book (many of which are online these days) to get a sense of how code enforcement is really approaching this.
Suffice it to say I imagine the guy pissed off neighbors, or someone brought up the children and their needs. And why did he piss off the neighbors? The damn generator. He should have put a temp electrical service in, and left some of the brushy cover up so that what they had going on was less obvious.
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