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Chuck Cunliffe
Planning Director
Weld County
P.O. 758 t.
Greeley, Colorado 80632
Dear Chuck:
We have been working for the past 2-3 months with various departments in the County to
try and correct a problem that is not only irritating, a health and life safety issue but is
precedence setting as well. We have contacted both the health department and zoning.
John Underhill of 8206 WCR #8 allowed a mobile home to be set on his property over 60
days ago. We have been told that this was done under the perception that the tenant was a
full time employee of Mr. Underhill. The gentleman living in the mobile home has a
marine repair business and has violated zoning regulation in past years by parking boats
on the site. These boats were vandalized the last time they were "wintered" on the site
and the occupant of the mobile home has told us that he is living there to protect his boats
and plans to move his business to this site. It is doubtful that he is a full time employee of
the Underhills.
The problems that we have with this arrangement are plentiful. First of all the mobile
home was set and occupied without benefit of a permit from Weld County. The site
doesn't have water or septic and the home has not been tied down and none of the
required inspections have been done. The home doesn't appear to have the required front
setback and due to the fact that the property is only about an acre and is pie shaped with
an irrigation ditch as its west border it is doubtful that any of the requirements for
setbacks, with regard to required distances between leaching field and buildings and
property lines can be met. I own the property on the east side of this site and in the
process of refinancing my home found out that my property line is actually 14' further to
the west than the fence indicates. I trust that the County will require a site plan and that
the property be surveyed before the septic tank and leach field permits are issued as it
would be illegal to have their leach field on my property.
Weld County has adopted the 1988 or newer versions of the Uniform Building, Plumbing,
and Mechanical Codes as well as the NEC.. Can you please explain why none of these
codes have been enforced? Section 303 (a) of the 1988 Uniform Plumbing Code requires
that " Every building in which plumbing fixtures are installed shall have a connection to a
public or private sewer". Section 301 of the same code makes it "unlawful for any person
to cause, suffer or permit the disposal of sewage, human excrement or other liquid wastes,
in any place or manner, except through and by means of an approved plumbing and
drainage system, installed and maintained in accordance with the provisions of this code".
It was only yesterday that a portable toilet was placed on site. This still doesn't negate the
requirement for water and sewer in any building designated as a dwelling.
The electrical codes are similar and require that any structure be permitted and inspected
before it is occupied. Additionally I assume that Weld County requires that mobille
homes be permitted and inspected for at least tie downs. Without the required tie downs
the occupants of the home and my property and livestock are at risk.tfrfik 921284
C /941
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I am not familiar with the zoning regulations in Weld County but I cannot believe that a
person can simply drag in a mobile home, and occupy it without the benefit of any
permits or inspections. I also can not believe that a person can drag 5-6 boats on to the
same site for winter storage with out violating at least one zoning regulation.
My last and possibly greatest concern is the precedence that is being set by allowing this
to continue. Your building department would never allow any individual to occupy a new
building until all permits were secured and all inspections were completed. They also
would not allow a structure to be moved into the county and hooked up to electricity with
out permits and inspections. If this mobile home were in a mobile home park it would be
inspected as well. The reason for this is to protect the occupants of the building and the
adjoining neighbors from potentially dangerous problems. Your codes are only as good
as your enforcement techniques and so far they have been nonexistent. When we asked
zoning about this we were told that he probably won't get a permit but there is nothing
that can be done to force the owner to remove the mobile home.
Allowing a stricture to be occupied before the inspections are made is placing all parties
at risk including the County. I would think that you would be forced to demand the
vacation of the building until these issues can be addressed. If you do not act on this it
weakens the Counties ability to keep everyone from doing exactly the same thing. I do
not have a neighbor that couldn't do the exact same thing as the Underhills and not one
that could not use the additional money derived from sub-dividing.
In the. past one of my neighbors wanted to set a modular home for an elderly relative to
live in. Weld County required permission from adjoining neighbors and required that
every permit and inspection be done prior to occupancy. This is standard in every
jurisdiction that I know of, I am surprised that this has been allowed to slip through the
cracks.
Finally I would like to ask for clarification with regard to the practice of allowing a
mobile home to be set for a "full time employee" of a land owner. First of all how does
the land owner prove that the individual is in fact a full time employee are they required
to show W 2 forms or do you just take their word for it? Secondly once the mobile is set
can it then be sold as a separate piece of property? Thirdly should the landowner no
longer need the employee how long before he is required to remove the home or can he
continue to use it for friends, relatives or as a rental property or summer home. My last
concern is that this mobile home is several hundred yards from the Underhills home but is
less than seventy five from my house, well, and septic. I did not move to Weld County
and buy in the country to have my closest neighbor living in a mobile home a stories
throw away. My property values, rural life style, and livestock are at risk.
In the past your zoning department has been unable to force the Underhills to clean up
this small parcel of property as they were told the trash wood and old toilets were needed
to repair their agricultural buildings. I fail to see how boat storage, a mobile home and
potential boat repair service are in keeping with the existing agricultural zoning of the
property.
I need to also mention that before a septic permit is granted, a percolation test must be
done as there is a bog in the center of the property that annually floods onto my property.
I would not be surprised if the Underhills just brought in a front end loader and dug the
septic tank themselves without benefit of a permit
Thank you in advance for your timely response to these questions.
William S. okt w
8526 WCk#8
Brighton, Colorado 80601
xc Don Warden
Weld County Health Department
Chief Building Official
Chief Zoning Official
Board of County Commissioners✓
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