Still not a house! Note the garage inside the "garage," and the pre-existing, REAL garage on the property to the right!How stupid is the Hamlin Zoning Board? After last Monday night's meeting far worse than anyone had imagined!
Before the board was an application by Kevin Clark to subdivide the parcel at 5733 West Wautoma Beach Road. This is the home of the infamous "House we call a Garage," that awful hallucination which drove the neighbors to sue the Zoning Board- and WIN.
Nearly 15 months ago NYS Supreme Court Judge Evelyn Frazee handed down her decision in the matter. She told the ZBA that, under Hamlin Zoning Law, the structure was a house. She threw out the "dwelling unit" definition they had tried use to mask their near absolute ignorance. The judge directed the ZBA to revisit the issue and render the correct decision based STRICTLY on the applicable law.*
So what did the ZBA do? EXACTLY THE SAME THING THEY DID LAST TIME! How stupid are these people? How does this community tolerate such willful ignorance?Judge Frazee’s told the ZBA specifically that the regulations they considered to call the structure a garage were WRONG! So.... they turned around and used them again!
The judge wrote down the exact law that the ZBA MUST USE and told them specifically what law they COULD NOT USE- the Hamlin Zoning Board then proceeded to do the reverse!
It is truly incredible! The Judge took the time to help the ZBA understand the law and they ignored it! This is more than just plain old stupidity, this is vindictive politics that punishes all Hamlin taxpayers. Not only do our laws go unenforced, but when the town is sued and that costs all of us!
This kind of arrogance and blanket stupidity is normally only seen on tv! Like the idiot judge of the Dukes of Hazzard, Norm Baas sits atop Hamlin's ZBA and makes malicious and moronic rulings. This latest one tops them all.
Hamlin citizens should know that Judge Frazee handed down her decision in the matter FIFTEEN MONTHS AGO and the ZBA has studiously ignored her order since then!
Some other highlights of the meeting: The new owner of the parcel, Mr Kevin Clark, told the ZBA that the reason he is seeking to subdivide the parcel is so he can finish the "garage" and sell it as a house!
Twice before, the previous owner Rick Vito asked the ZBA to subdivide the parcel so HE could sell the "garage" as a house! The second time he even claimed that he had a buyer! The ZBA turned Vito down twice yet now they plan to grant it to the new owner! Exact same details, exact same zoning requirements but now, inexplicably, it is OK to approve!
As most people know, this stupid, hostile behavior is an ugly and childish backlash toward the family which brought the lawsuit (and WON!) ZBA Chairman Norm Baas was one of Austin Warner's most loyal supporters. It is no secret that the combined issues of Larry Gursslin's illegal firing and this lawsuit were two of the most significant factors is Warner not seeking reelection. The truth about Warner being forced from office is slowly seeping out. The inner core of the Good-Ole-Boys who USED TO control the Hamlin Republican Committee directed Warner to resign because they knew that the full Committee would not vote to endorse him as a candidate!
But, while Warner is gone, Baas is not. Baas, his head filled with concrete (as he likes to brag!) is the painful Austin Warner hangover Hamlin residents must continue to suffer. Baas, and the equally malicious and petty Planning Board Chairman Jim Nessbitt, are determined to show the new administration that it has no power. These dull witted goons are intent on sending a message to the new town board- "WE are Hamlin, not you! WE will still do things the old way!"Never mind that the "old way" is illegal, petty and childish! It is THEIR way and they'll stick to it! The idiotic "Baas Squad" will defy a New York State Supreme Court Judge to simply, and pointedly, cause more suffering and harm to the family that had the courage to stand up and demand that the ZBA enforce local laws- as they are obligated to do.
This "affrontery" to the ZBA's perverted ego is sufficient motivation to tell the judge, "We read your ORDER and we disagree. We were right and you are wrong. We are smarter then you. We are not going to obey ."
Finally, as if the public needed more proof of how lazy and stupid the ZBA is, almost the entire board moaned and and groaned about how "hard this issue has been" and "how long we have been struggling with it!"
WHAT?! Who are they kidding? They have NEVER dealt with it! When Larry Gursslin first slapped a "Stop Work Order" on the property almost five years ago they might have "acted." When the owner plead guilty in town court for zoning violations the ZBA might have acted.
It was their mind numbingly stupid "act" to alter reality by calling an acknowledged house a "garage" that sent the issue to Supreme Court!Now, FIVE YEARS LATER, the ZBA complains about how HARD THEY WORKED ON IT?
Stupid, arrogant, whiny, ignorant- words simply fail to describe the Hamlin Zoning Board.
It's too bad that public officials cannot be jailed when they break the law. The community will have to find some other way to get rid of Norm Baas.
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*My EMPHASIS:
Hamlin Zoning Code 125-9 DEFINITIONS defines;
"DEWLLING - Any building or portion thereof designed or used as the residence or sleeping place of one (1) or more persons."
"DWELLING UNIT- One or more rooms constituting a separate, independent housekeeping unit for ownership, or lease or rent, designed for occupancy for one (1) family, and physically independent of any other group of rooms or dwelling units which may be in the same structure, and containing independent cooking, sanitary and sleeping facilities."
Q: How stupid does one have to be to not understand that a "DWELLING" describes a single family house and a "DWELLING UNIT" describes a method of determining if a house is a multi-family or apartment building?
A: Just stupid enough to qualify for a place on the Hamlin Zoning Board!
Hamlin Zoning Code 125-9 DEFINITIONS defines;
"GARAGE, PRIVATE- A detached accessory building or portion of a principle building for the parking or temporary storage of automobiles, travel trailers and/or boats of the occupants of the premises and wherein:
(1) Not more than one (1) space is rented for parking to persons not resident on the premisses.
(2) Not more than three commercial vehicles per dwelling unit are parked or stored.
(3) The commercial vehicle permitted does not exceed two (2) tons in weight."
AND, Hamlin Zoning Code 125-39, C, states;
"B. An attached private garage may provide living space on the second floor. A detatched private garage may not provide living space.
C. A detached private garage or carport, or non-agricultural storage barn must be erected equal to or behind the front main foundation line of the principle dwelling or building on the lot, and shall not be located nearer than fifteen (15) feet to any rear or side property lines, nor closer to ten (10) feet to any other building on the lot."
Q: If a structure is "designed" as a dwelling and violates the required setback for an accessory structure isn't it obvious that the structure is a house?
A: I can't say. I'm a member of the Hamlin Zoning Board and I don't understand big words like "design" or "setback." In fact, I don't really know what "zoning" is or what it's for. They just pay me six grand a year to show up. Who said I had to know anything?
Q: If a guy erects a building and tells you it is a detached "garage with living space," even though it's illegal to have "living space," and then he tells you he's going to sell the building as a "house," as soon as it's finished so the buyer can move right in, what would you conclude the building actually is: a garage or a house?
A: I'm on the Hamlin Zoning Board so I'm not sure. I guess that, even though it was designed as- and obviously looks like- a two story house and it has many divided rooms inside and includes an "attached garage" area for parking cars, I would say it is a garage because no toilets were installed yet and because the builder that wants to sell it as a house told me before it was "really" a garage. But...maybe he was trying to trick me! People try to trick me all the time. It hurts my feelings! Ohhhhhhh, this is SO hard. My brain hurts, could we talk about something else. I like eggs. Do you like eggs? Anyway, about the question, that's just my guess.
