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Officials Use Google Earth To Find Unlicensed Pools
Officials in Riverhead, New York are using Google Earth to root out the owners of unlicensed pools. So far they've found 250 illegal pools and collected $75,000 in fines and fees. Of course not everyone thinks that a city should be spending time looking at aerial pictures of backyards. from the article: "Lillie Coney, associate director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington, DC, said Google Earth was promoted as an aid to curious travelers but has become a tool for cash-hungry local governments. 'The technology is going so far ahead of what people think is possible, and there is too little discussion about community norms,' she said."
Yes, you generally have to get a permit from the city in order to put in a pool. This isn't anything new nor is it some obscure thing. It's a pretty typical part of city zoning ordinances.
If you want a pool, you get an inspector, they ensure there's no rogue wiring or geographic problems,
On a slight tangent, sometimes a proper permit/inspection can prevent a tragedy.
It's called zoning and planning, but what it is, is malignant interference with your liberties.
If it's your land, and what you do there does not physically affect anything beyond your land's boundaries (chemical, fire, high level sound waves, overhangs, undermining, water flow... the obvious things) then I really can't see the government having any role at all. Of course, I'm one of those crackpots that think land ownership should be meaningful, and that if you want to control something, you should have to own it first. Radical, I know.
I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
That graph is so neat and clean; no citations mucking up the look of it. Nice work!
I don't really see how any form of pool malfunction could possibly damage a neighbor's property,
Pools without gates tend to kill small children. Also pools without double drains tend to suck the innards out of people. Those are two things are usually required and checked as a part of the permit process.
Truth is, you are just another liberal sado masochist
Truth is you're just a self centered prick who does get the point of civilization.
I don't always use unix-like operating systems; but when I do, I prefer FreeBSD.
Child falls into pool, drowns. Worse yet -- child playing in pool, pool drain unsafe, disembowels child by sucking out colon through anus -- not funny, happened in my home town recently, the girl died a couple of days later.
Are towns on a money grab? Probably.
Is it true that there is "too little discussion about community norms" ...? Of course not -- go surf blogs, tweet some tweets -- this world is not lacking for discussion.
-kgj
Overhead flights are also used by mosquito abatement districts is to spot "green" pools. When we moved into our house, the pool was a swamp, complete with water bugs and who knows what else living in it. About three weeks later, we got a visit from the mosquito abatement man to inspect our swamp. I had gotten the pool from greenish-black to turquoise by the time. He congratulated me on my progress (he had seen the pool before we moved in) and we never saw him again.
I don't always use unix-like operating systems; but when I do, I prefer FreeBSD.
People are required to get permits.
The didn't get permits.
They got caught.
Not so much of a money grab. More like equal enforcement.
Plus city infrastructure needs to be able to support it. Backflow device water quality, and so on. They want to be sure it was engineered correctly so you don't kill your neighbors.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Yes, sue them, that bring you dead spouse back to life.
Let me know how you feel when they poison a whole neighborhood, killing the young and elderly because they didn't install a proper backflow device.
If ti was just about someone who flooded my house, you might have a point. It's not.
Here is a clue, how about we ensure the meet some minimum standard to minimize the risk to people outside the persons property? Naw, lets just sue them until the dead are back.
I know, maybe I'll build a coal fired plant and then make you wade through years of people work and legal cases until you can make me shut it off?
twit.
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