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This past week I covered a Planning Commission meeting in Henry County where one fella had built a metal garage on his property only to find out his property wasn’t zoned for it. He needed to get the property rezoned or the garage would have to come down.

Another fella had bought over 100 acres in Henry County and planned on putting a house on it when he found out the property wasn’t zoned for residential housing. He needed to get his property rezoned or go somewhere else.

In both cases, Lee Clark, director of the planning department, recommended that the rezoning requests be approved, and both were, unanimously, by the Commission.

The request still must go before the Board of Supervisors and receive its blessing before the changes can be made, but it’s my experience that Supervisors rarely go against the recommendation of the Commission, especially if there is no objection to the request, and in both of these cases there is none.

It’s not uncommon for the average person out there to be of the belief that the ownership of a piece of property conveys with it the right of the owner to do whatever he or she pleases with it.

But zoning laws provide a purpose in a civilized society and are “for the general purpose of promoting the health, safety or general welfare of the public,” according to the Code of Virginia.

Otherwise we would have erotic dance clubs next door to elementary schools and other absurd and incompatible combinations.

People who purchase a property for its tranquility have a reasonable expectation that a law would exist to prevent a nuisance next door from ruining it.

So as much as the laws might come at the inconvenience of a property owner with all good intentions, those laws also protect the same owner from others.

And I might add, Clark and the members of the Henry County Planning Commission are impeccable at what they do. They are conscientious and committed to doing their job in the best interests of everyone concerned.

I must admit, I too was once in the crosshairs of a building inspector caught in the middle of a project that required approval.

I had hired two guys to enclose my front porch and then I was going to paint it myself to help cut costs, but before the project was finished I came home from work one day and found a notice on the door.

Just as a police officer tells the suspect to put his hands up, the notice ordered me to put my tools down.

I called the office the next day and the person in charge told me I couldn’t just go off enclosing my porch without getting permission first.

I failed to understand his logic. “I’m improving the property,” I said. “Why on earth would someone need to get permission to do that?”

Realizing my little construction project might not rise to the concern that the onsite inspector apparently conveyed, the person in charge said: “How far is your porch from the street?” he asked.

“I have no idea,” I answered.

“Well, go walk it off and I’ll hold on,” he said. “If it’s 30 feet or more then I’ll sign off on the permit and you can finish your porch.”

“Ok,” I said, so I laid the receiver down on the kitchen counter and walked outside and down the front porch steps. Then I backed up to the front of the porch and walked it off with a wide three-foot step my father had taught me years ago.

I couldn’t quite get that tenth step in before I stepped into the street and with a 3-foot step, that meant I was just under 30 feet.

I thought for a minute and decided to walk it off again from the street with slightly shorter steps. This time I got 11 steps in with no problem.

I walked back inside and picked up the phone.

“It’s 29 feet from the porch to the street and 33 feet from the street to the porch,” I said.

The man laughed and replied: “The ordinance says from the street to the porch, so we’ll go with the second number. You’re in luck; you can proceed with your porch.”

Bill Wyatt is a reporter for the Martinsville Bulletin. He can be reached at 276-638-8801, Ext. 2360. Follow him @billdwyatt.

Get opinion pieces, letters and editorials sent directly to your inbox weekly!

Bill Wyatt is a reporter for the Martinsville Bulletin. He can be reached at 276-638-8801, Ext. 2360. Follow him @billdwyatt.

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