Friday, August 19, 2011
"Balusters and Bureaucrats"
I'm not fond of historical societies for reasons such as this.
On the other hand, one better be TOTALLY committed before considering a purchase in one of these areas...
On the other hand, one better be TOTALLY committed before considering a purchase in one of these areas...
At AmericanThinker.com, David Workman uses this issue to point out some of what's going wrong here in America:
"Having purchased an old house, a friend of mine, John, was informed that the house had a number of code violations. Specifically, the railing on the porch, at only twenty-one inches, fell considerably short of the city's required forty-two. This is a safety issue, he was told. Apparently, in 1901, when the house was built, children were only half the size that they are now -- or perhaps twice as aware of their surroundings. In any case, he was going to have to replace the porch railings.
So he did. He found a carpenter, who lathed out new balusters in the same style, which was expensive. John could have purchased ready-made uprights, but it was important to him to keep the porch looking as it had. It was while the balusters were being installed that the trouble started.
The trouble arrived in the form of Joyce, a representative of the Historic Preservation Society. She had noticed that the old balusters had been removed from the porch and was, she said, surprised that her office hadn't been informed."
