OT - "Property Values"

Just thought I'd share this, since there have been some interesting discussions about neighbourhood busybodies on the board in the past.

I recently covered a meeting with regard to a zoning application for a guy who wants to open a bicycle shop in an existing shed on his property. This fellow lives in a very small community down the road from the larger towns - basically a crossing of two busy main roads. It's practically in the country, some of the properties are quite large (an acre or so) and many of those have small industries (plastic moulding, woodworking, welding) on them. The main features of this little hamlet are a tile yard, a wooden pole factory, a huge feed mill, a sawmill, a small engine shop and a large farm equipment dealership. The place is in the country, but it's not exactly peaceful and quiet. The property in question is a couple of doors down from the main intersection and several commercial uses.

Still, this guy had a neighbour who was concerned about the effect his little bicycle repair business would have on the "quality of life" in the community. Noise was the original concern, but the owner explained that it was a bike shop, and there would be no noise. That apparently satisfied the guy until they spoke again, and suddenly the problem was "property values." Apparently, fixing bicycles in a shed that's already there will lower property values. Well, actually, everyone in the neighbourhood will want a shop on their property if one is allowed (ignoring the fact that there are already several) and nobody will want to live around there. Sounded to me as though somebody didn't realize that he was the one who didn't fit in.

This was all recounted by the planner and the excessively honest applicant, both of whom had spoken with the guy, who never even showed up. He was told about the meeting, and given the option of putting his concerns in writing, but never bothered to do either. Selfish, ignorant AND lazy by the sound of things. Wow. Since a lot of the people who apply for these types of businesses are Mennonites, you can often add bigoted to the list as well, but there was no evidence of that in this case.

Just another annoying example of somebody using misunderstood buzzwords as an excuse to stick his nose into his neighbour's affairs. The bright side is that since he didn't present his concerns formally, the councillors basically said "screw him" and approved the application.

Just thought I'd share that. Deal with enough zoning issues and people like that really start to get on your nerves. As you can see, you don't even need to go to an upscale part of town to find them.