Oregon Couple Faces $2,000 Daily Fine For Building Backyard Pool In Wetland

The Oregonian:

A West Linn couple who have fought for more than two-and-a-half years to keep their backyard pool, constructed without a permit in a protected wetland area, now face a $2,000-a-day fine and a court date.

Read the whole story at The Oregonian

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Comments

[Bubbles99]

07:13 AM on 11/04/2012

Funny how they're spending thousands of dollars on a lawyer now, when all they had to do was, I dunno, LEARN the zoning laws pertaining to their property, and maybe COMPLY with them? It's a Democracy people -- we all get to vote, and then we all have to comply with elected officials. Don't like the law? Work to change it, or BUY A DIFFERENT HOUSE.

[damondark]

03:44 PM on 06/12/2012

Val is up to her imperial misdeeds again. Amazing how Leftists voted for Obl@mer and wound up with Val the Gest@po Gal,the real power behind the throne. The EPA has overreached and should be disemb0w3ld and rendered non-existent.

[Bubbles99]

07:12 AM on 11/04/2012

You're a sick puppy, damondark.

[damondark]

09:56 AM on 11/04/2012

Actually, I thought that was very tasteful, however you didn't say whether you agreed with my statement or not.

[kareemachan]

01:43 PM on 06/12/2012

Well, we ARE talking a West Linn lawyer here.....

[NHGranite]

07:13 PM on 06/11/2012

When we bought our land on the bay, and we knew it was saltwater and we couldn't build close to it. The classifications of wetlands covers a lot grounds - had to say it. We thought we'd only have to worry about proximity to the water. When the surveyor came out, we found out the opposite end of the property was wetlands, ie heavy clay. But we also found out we had town sewer and natural gas lines.

The sewer line was about 35-40' from the bay, so we had to get a town permit and a Federal EPA permit. The digger didn't dig where we marked, so we had to get permission to fix his mistake.

Back in the day, on the farm, the wet patch in the back yard became the swimming hole, and later when my folks put in a pool, we diverted the some of the water to filter and use. HORRORS!

[JonnyTruant]

05:01 PM on 06/11/2012

These fools had to know it was a protected wetlands area. That's required disclosure when they purchase the land. They also apparently knew they'd need a permit to build. Did they really think just having someone say it's alright was enough? Always always always get the permit first, then build. I have no sympathy for people who knowingly break the law and then whine about taking the consequences.

[Jim Milks]

09:01 PM on 06/11/2012

They apparently thought it would be easier to ask for forgiveness than for permission.

[blackwind]

04:27 PM on 06/11/2012

You'd think a lawyer would have known to get Patti Galle's go-ahead on paper before staking so much on it.

[JonnyTruant]

04:58 PM on 06/11/2012

That's what I thought when I read the article. They knew it was a wetland when they bought the property. That's a required disclosure when you purchase. They knew they needed a permit to build. They should have just got the permit first and none of this would be an issue.

[smokeedaclown]

06:07 PM on 06/11/2012

I would bet the real story is, she knew she couldn't get the permit so she did it anyway, all dollars and no sense

[NHGranite]

07:22 PM on 06/11/2012

If you have the soil tested, you know it's a wetland. If you don't test, unless you need a septic in that area, it is not one of the disclosures per se. There are clay soils that you might not suspect till you dig. Somebody kept our land mowed and it looked dry when we bought. Uh oh! this whole area was an old brickyard and a few inches below the surface it was gray slimy clay, baked to concrete in the sun. The orange tracings in it was iron, which is what made that clay turn into red bricks when fired. Many areas of old downtown Boston in the financial district are Dover Brick from this area.

[Artemesian]

03:58 PM on 06/11/2012

How is this case different than the Sacketts in Idaho? In both cases, well-documented and well-defined wetlands, reading between the lines, were "filled in" (this terminology says it all, I think because if it were not a wetlands it wouldn't need to be "filled in") without the proper authority from "the big, bad EPA", with cries of the "I didn't know!" defense. Property rights don't extend to watersheds that will affect all of us as well as other living things - our population is too large and our water needs too great to be so selfish.