If we give them an inch they will take the mile

To the Editor:

I would like to comment on this forth-coming meeting on the subject of property planning. Having had some experience with planning commissions (sixty years) property owners need to know what they are getting into.

In 1941 when we moved to California you could do whatever you wanted to with your own property. There were some planning and restrictions in the cities but mostly electrical and plumbing, which they said was strictly for the public safety although a journeyman plumber or electrician still had to get a permit.

My brother had 10 acres and wanted to build his only daughter a home on it. After spending $3,000 on surveys he could not get a permit. The well water is 60 feet. The septic is ideal, there being a strata of white sand three to four feet under the top soil.

A large land owner can hardly get permission to sell a corner off his place for someone to build a house. They want a place to contain 20 acres before you can build.

This I can't confirm, but was told that in some areas you needed a permit to change the p-trap under your sink.

Remember the old saying that if you give a person an inch they would take a mile. It is not for public safety, it is about control. It won't affect me, I'm 87, and the hell of it is I won't be around to tell you I told you so.

L.A. Trotter