7

fucked by the town of Cary

1/20/2011 10:40:27 AM

Seriously? $1? Is that a typo?

Quote :

"More on the Lawn Chair War that was mentioned earlier in the thread: http://www.burbia.com/neighbor-lawn-chair-war-moral-dilemma"

Oh man, I don't know what I would do in that situation.

1/20/2011 10:51:57 AM

fat old man wins this round to the tune of 44k

Quote :

"Cary, N.C. — The Town of Cary has been ordered to pay $44,595 in attorneys' fees and $1,602.27 in costs after losing a lawsuit over a homeowner's controversial sign. Federal Court Judge Louise Flanagan ordered the payment Monday. Cary officials are still deciding if they want to appeal, according to town spokeswoman Susan Moran. Cary resident David Bowden won a freedom of speech lawsuit against the town in December. He painted a protest message on his home, "S-----d by the Town of Cary,” in August 2009 after he claimed construction caused drainage problems on his property. The town had threatened to fine Bowden, but the American Civil Liberties Union sued on his behalf, saying the message was political speech."

2/8/2011 11:27:15 AM

2/8/2011 11:27:51 AM

Quote :

"fat old man wins this round to the tune of 44k "

sounds like his attorney got every penny of that.

2/8/2011 11:43:00 AM

I definitely did not know water runs downhill until MAE 308.

2/8/2011 11:54:23 AM

Yeah I guess the attorneys got the money, but what he really wants is to be compensated for the devaluation of his property...they probably should have settled with him over that since now they are on the hook for 44k.

2/8/2011 12:00:37 PM

Yeah, from what I've read so far this guy would probably just be happy to screw the town of Cary out of as much as possible, even if it did all go to lawyers.

2/8/2011 12:06:13 PM

^^they already paid him once, and he wanted ~$80,000 so he could buy a Dodge Viper. now, he gets a dollar, reimbursement for mileage and gas that might be enough to repaint his house, and his attorneys get $45,000. I'd say the town of Cary got the better end of the deal taking him to court.

2/8/2011 1:23:34 PM

damz... 44k + change... Now i guess he should rewrite the sign as "Screwed by the lawyers while suing the town of Cary"

2/8/2011 2:52:55 PM

lol

2/8/2011 2:56:48 PM

might be too hard to read when driving by... should make fliers then...

2/8/2011 3:05:31 PM

Quote :

"CARY -- Cary's attempt to remove a homeowner's protest sign will cost the town about $225,000 in legal bills, town officials said. And the price of fighting the free speech case would only increase if Cary decides to appeal. The town has until Friday to make a decision. A federal judge ruled in December that the town's ordinance limiting signs on personal property violated resident David Bowden's First Amendment rights. Bowden, who lives on Maynard Road, sued Cary in 2009 when the town tried to fine him for a neon orange message - "Screwed by the town of Cary" - painted on the front of his house. Bowden was protesting water runoff from a town road project that he believes damaged his home. Last week, U.S. District Court Judge Louise Flanagan ordered Cary to pay $46,197 to Bowden for legal fees and court costs. He was represented by Raleigh attorney Mark Sigmon at the behest of the ACLU of North Carolina. "We find it to be a reasonable fee," town spokeswoman Susan Moran said. But she said the town won't pay until it makes a determination about whether to appeal the case to a higher court. The judge entered a final order Jan. 19, giving Cary 30 calendar days to decide. Bowden's legal fees are minimal compared with what the town paid a Charlotte law firm to defend the ordinance. The town's legal bills for the case total more than $177,600, town officials said. And the true cost is probably much higher because the cost doesn't include the time that town attorneys spent on the case. If the town doesn't appeal, its sign rules would remain largely intact. The judge didn't invalidate the entire ordinance but instead issued an injunction prohibiting the town from fining Bowden. The judge, however, did find the portion of the ordinance regulating signs on personal property amounted to a "content-based restriction on speech," suggesting it could face more legal challenges if it is enforced as it currently stands. Read more: http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/02/15/990409/cary-must-pay-hefty-price-in-sign.html#ixzz1E3NHLJIx "

2/15/2011 1:27:16 PM

Quote :

"OH WE BACK"

2/26/2011 9:51:37 AM

is he blaming his lung cancer on Cary?

2/26/2011 9:59:05 AM

Seems he's just being an attention whore, as usual.

2/26/2011 10:06:20 AM

while having cancer is definitely terrible, i don't see how it relates to the matter at hand, and thus makes him just seem like a malcontent

2/26/2011 10:09:03 AM

Guided tours available? On my way.

[Edited on February 26, 2011 at 10:16 AM. Reason : bale]

2/26/2011 10:16:06 AM

if the water runoff caused mold maybe he could have gotten lung cancer from that or something

2/26/2011 10:30:15 AM

Seriously god damn this clown. Saw him driving his prowler the other day and I cut him off.

2/26/2011 1:52:24 PM

Thank goodness for our current drought. He should only be minimally screwed.

2/26/2011 2:00:42 PM

Quote :

"Seems he's just being an attention whore, as usual."

What an ignorant statement. You think he's doing this for fun? Or because he enjoys being on the news? I mean asshole or not (believe me, he is), he's got a legitimate argument. And if it wasn't for his "attention whoring" there wouldn't be a single person that even knew about his situation. Creating bad publicity for Cary is probably the best strategy he's got.

Quote :

"while having cancer is definitely terrible, i don't see how it relates to the matter at hand, and thus makes him just seem like a malcontent"

See above. There's been mold in his house since before the signs went up.

2/26/2011 2:54:17 PM

^ His argument would be legitimate if he had done anything to contest the building plans at any point before construction happened. There were several open meetings he could have attended provided by Cary before the widening of the road. But he didn't and has decided to bitch after the fact.

2/26/2011 3:38:45 PM

He probably left out the part about smoking 7 cigars a day.

2/26/2011 3:38:52 PM

I thought cigars gave you mouth cancer not lung cancer, unless you're smoking the cigars wrong

2/26/2011 3:41:35 PM

I think it would be appropriate to assume that a road widening project would not be done in such a manner that it flooded my home. And if it did, then I would expect somebody to fix it. I wouldn't even know enough about construction to know to contest a road widening project beforehand.

They widened the road in front of my parent's house, and we didn't go to any meetings to get the details and go home and study gradients and water flow or whatever. That's the job of the professionals who do these projects...they're not just asphalt laying goons.

2/26/2011 4:18:07 PM

his next door neighbors probably hope the cancer takes him swiftly

2/26/2011 4:19:02 PM

This guy is just a raging asshole isn't he

2/26/2011 4:23:05 PM

^^^ Personally I don't trust the government blindly to do what's in my best interest in terms of my personal property. Back when Raleigh was talking about widening the road my parents live on my father spent an entire week poring over the project notes to see how it would affect our property. All of that information is out there and available for people to look over if they care enough to. This guy didn't and unfortunately now his yard looks like crap.

Also for page 7,

Quote :

"wdprice3 DEFENDED 29297 Posts user info edit post 1. The road appears to be curb and gutter with raised driveway entrances, thus water isn't entering his property from the road, unless that road becomes a river (literally) during storm events. 2. Runoff from his yard/driveway towards his house could be an issue for huge storm events 3. His roof drains appear to be causing his problem. They are directed straight into his yard, which is sloping towards his house. Some landscape drain lines or french drains (depending on soils, unless he routes them subsurface) would do the trick 4. It appears as though there is a rip-rap lined channel leading from his driveway to his house, though I can't tell for sure. If it is, he would need to route that to the side of the house or tie it into the french drains and route that, subsurface, to the side of the house and have it daylight there. 5. It appears this guy sort of wants free lunch; water isn't his real issue, it's his loss of property. But hey, I'm only a water resources/stormwater EI, so what do I know? "

[Edited on February 26, 2011 at 4:36 PM. Reason : s]

2/26/2011 4:36:17 PM

If I were him, I would still be pissed. His property got fucked, and his house is worth significantly less. They should pay him, and they already could have done the right thing with all the legal fees they spent.


Just because they warn your beforehand doesn't mean they can fuck you over. This guy is using the courts appropriately to defend himself.

2/26/2011 4:47:17 PM

Unfortunately with eminent domain they can fuck you over if they want. Doesn't make it ethically right but the town was very likely within their legal rights.

2/26/2011 4:51:29 PM

hopefully the cancer is swift and effective.

2/26/2011 5:00:20 PM

Of course he’s an attention whore, but it’s the attention whores who change history. In this case, he’s setting the precedent for municipalities to not be able to trample free speech.

The quiet, compliant people aren’t usually the ones shaping history.

2/26/2011 5:56:48 PM

There are some serious cold heartless scum of the earth type people posting in this thread. This dude has done some fucked up shit to several people in my family that I love very much and even I don't hate him as much as some of you people seem to.

Wishing death on some random person on the internet? Saying it's ok that the city fucked him over because they were probably within their legal rights? God Damn. Some of you people should be ashamed.

2/26/2011 7:54:59 PM

the city never fucked him over in the slightest. He's a greedy, lying attention whore, and I'm fucking tired of assholes like him promoting NIMBYism and shitting all over this great town. I hope he fucking chokes on his chemo drugs.

2/26/2011 7:57:17 PM

Quote :

"Doesn't make it ethically right but the town was very likely within their legal rights."

Yep, definitely said it was okay

2/26/2011 7:57:23 PM

$5 to the first person to throw molitov cocktails at his house

I know its spelled wrong

2/26/2011 8:03:05 PM

Quote :

"the city never fucked him over in the slightest"

Sorry, the first amendment of the Constitution says different

If you do not like your rights, hand them over sheep

I'll keep mine because I am still using them

2/26/2011 8:08:57 PM

^ I'm positive he was referring to Cary's widening of the road, not the signage debacle.

2/26/2011 8:16:42 PM

I'm curious about how one guy in this thread is an EI in a specific category

2/26/2011 8:18:56 PM

^^ I am positive they city never screwed him by widening the road

But he felt they did and expressed his displeasure by doing so on his house

then the city DID try and screw him by limiting his freedom of speech

so yes, the city tried to silence his dissent and screw him with a fine

2/26/2011 8:28:25 PM

Is añyone going to draw funny photosops of his house?????????

2/26/2011 8:42:02 PM

The first amendment doesn't protect you from libel, and nothing the town had done in expanding the road was wrong. This fucktard sued over some petty shit because the town of Cary didn't have the balls to take care of this guy correctly. They tried to rely on some petty sign ordinance instead of attacking this nutjob wholesale. What they should have done is sue him for libel, had cops follow him all over town issuing moving violations every time he left his driveway, and condemned his house for mold.

2/27/2011 1:01:46 AM

Quote :

"Unfortunately with eminent domain they can fuck you over if they want. Doesn't make it ethically right but the town was very likely within their legal rights"

gov't. still has to properly compensate you for what they take (fair value i think)

2/27/2011 1:12:01 AM

he got paid for the property they used, and he was the first person to sign over easements.

2/27/2011 1:21:21 AM

Here they are trying to fuck over someone else - typical

Quote :

"APEX -- John Gasiorowski's 19 acres sat miles west of the building frontier when he bought the land 18 years ago. Now growth approaches, and the town of Cary wants to forcibly purchase a half-acre of Gasiorowski's land to make way for a connection to the New Hill regional sewage plant. In this economy, towns in western Wake County are looking to get a good deal on land. But landowners, such as Gasiorowski, don't want to give away the farm at discount rates. One day, he reckons, the economy and the land's value will return. "They're offering less than half of what I think is fair," said Gasiorowski, who lives in unincorporated Wake County. He thinks the town's offer, which he said was $9,800 for the half-acre parcel, is too low. The reason: It doesn't account for a recovering housing market and future growth in the area, he said. The pipeline across his land will connect to the Western Wake Partners' regional sewer plant, a $327 million project that will help Cary and Apex add development closer to Gasiorowski's property west of Cary. "What I'm trying to do is truly get a fair-market value," he said. "Fair-market value isn't only of today's prices; it's also for the future." Finding fair value Valuations are supposed to account for fluctuations in price during a reasonable period and protect property owners, according to eminent domain lawyer Alan Ackerman. Since 2007, money for land purchases has dried up, limiting competition and lowering prices. Because so few land deals have closed during the recession, it's difficult for appraisers to assign an accurate value to properties. "This is the first time in 38 years of doing this in which I've seen an extended down market that is so drastic and hopefully so temporary that you don't know how to value property," said Ackerman, who represents land owners in condemnation cases. Cary forces the issue Gasiorowski's land is surrounded by fields and forest, but subdivisions end a mile east. Cary has sought to buy five nearby pieces of property in Apex along the planned 0.39-mile sewage line. It has resorted to condemnation in all but one case. Town officials said their appraiser followed standard legal procedure in evaluating the properties. Cary contends it "made a good faith effort to acquire the property through negotiation." The town refused to show Gasiorowski its appraiser's report, he said. Officials also declined to provide the report to The Cary News. Town lawyers say state law allows them to deny access to "trial preparation materials" like the appraisal, which could be used in the condemnation hearing. The two parties are expected to start meeting with a judge soon to settle the condemnation dispute."

http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/02/27/1017055/apex-landowner-fights-cary.html

2/27/2011 8:27:34 AM

^ Of course they never mention the guy's asking price. It's probably something retarded like $1 million.

2/27/2011 8:46:50 AM

No, it probably isn't.

2/27/2011 9:24:23 AM

NM, I see it in there: "less than half". Still, the guy is dreaming if he's banking on some quick housing recovery that'll make the value of his land shoot through the roof any day now.

[Edited on February 27, 2011 at 10:13 AM. Reason : ...]

2/27/2011 10:11:57 AM

"Fair-market value isn't only of today's prices; it's also for the future."

Still, eminent domain sucks and should be a method of absolute last resort in extreme situations, not city business as usual.

I fully support the Cary dude in his successful free speech lawsuit. I don't really care about his drainage problems though.

Quote :

"The town refused to show Gasiorowski its appraiser's report, he said. Officials also declined to provide the report to The Cary News. Town lawyers say state law allows them to deny access to "trial preparation materials" like the appraisal, which could be used in the condemnation hearing."

Aww hellllllllllllllll naw...

[Edited on February 27, 2011 at 11:24 AM. Reason : .]

2/27/2011 11:21:50 AM