Quote:
Originally Posted by madpie
... By regulating land use I am referring to allowing a trailer park in a certain zone or an industrial park in another. Regulating land use can limit the number of houses in a farming area or requiring a platted subdivision to be approved prior to groundbreaking. Land use in many rural areas is simply controlling livestock numbers and creating setbacks between livestock uses and houses.
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I was in error to imply that we have no zoning at all. We do have some. But to my mindset it is very minimal.
My land is within a tax status program called "Treegrowth". Which sets a limit on the assessed value of the land. Otherwise private forests would not exist, if a tract of land was assessed at $100,000/acre and taxes at $1,000/acre, then obviously a forest simply does not produce anything annually to pay those levels of taxes.
When I got my building permit, the forms did ask questions.
Would it be visible from the road?
Would it be visible from any property line?
Would I be maintaining a buffer of greater than 100 foot from the pavement before I made any clearings?
How far was the set back from each river or stream?
Would I keep all structures below the general height of treetops?
I took one acre out from 'treegrowth' status, and left the rest of my land in treegrowth. That 1 acre allows for my driveway and house.
I can clear cut the forest and re-plant with timber, or firewood trees, or Christmas trees, or fruit trees, or I could do nothing and wait for nature to re-plant trees.
To keep my property taxes low, I am keeping most of my land in 'Treegrowth'. Which requires that I keep it growing trees.
We have been building raised beds along both sides of my driveway to grow veggies. Small greenhouses here and there. A fruit orchard of mixed fruits, nuts and herbs.
We are cutting down some trees for firewood and goat feed, and encouraging the maples to open up and get bigger. So one day we could do some maple sugaring.
We have been planting ginseng on the forest floor in one area.
We are running goats, sheep, hogs, and chickens in the forest, they seem to like living underneath the forest canopy.
Small movable coops and pens out in the forest seems to work for us.
I also manage an additional 100 acres of forest. As I learn more and more, I see that I could: take 1 acre out of that tract out from 'treegrowth'. I could measure a driveway and 10 trailer pads to equal exactly one acre. Spaced out at 100 foot intervals in the forest. With an Electric outlet at each pad, a water hookup and sewage. We could still run goats and sheep loose there. I guess.
While this would require a building permit, it would not violate anything.
Yesterday we went to a fella that lives a mile away, he has a new gunsmith shop that he opened a year ago. He filed a building permit, as he method of 'asking' permission to run a gun smithing shop. He is now in business. of course he had to file permits with the Feds. The Feds were more strict than any local gubbermint was.