Block · one region of the page, as the scanner read it. It may hold a whole story, part of one, several, or an advertisement; stitching blocks into articles is the next step. Text is supplied OCR.
Page 4 · column 2 of 6 · from the scan, no model involved
pired over a year ago? Nothing.
The supervisors have taken little action to see that the laws they themselves enacted are enforced. The zoning ordinance stipulates that certificates of occupancy must be granted by the zoning administrator before new construction is occupied or utilized. Since adoption of the ordinance in 1973, only permits have been granted by Col. Evan McNear, who insists the county must have a building inspector in order for him to follow the correct procedures in issuing an occupancy permit. In neighboring Prince William County, a homeowner took a builder to court recently for failure to meet contractual obligations. The judge ruled that the homeowner had no standing to seek judicial relief since he had moved into his home before an occupancy permit, required by local ordinances, was issued. This type of situation with failure of contracts to build up to standards set by contracts or the state building code seems more likely to arise here since Rappahannock has no inspection program. If the Prince William litigation sets case law precedent, the supervisors may have some angry taxpayers on their hands at some later date when a landowner finds he has no legal redress because he moved in before getting his occupancy permit—a procedure that is required here but rarely enforced.
Another area of the ordinance that calls for attention is the section on signs. Local law specifically prohibits posting of signs, with special enumerated exceptions, on trees^ublic utility poles, fences, rocks, curbstones, sidewalks, lampposts, hydrants, bridges, highway markers or other signs. Recendy, the zoning administrator, faced with countless violations on every major road in the county, printed the sign regulations in the Rappahannock News in a paid ad at the taxpayers expense. Since that time, not a single violator has been cited and only a handful of illegal signs has come down. Asked whether he planned to enforce the sign law. Col. McNear said his one-day-a-week office did not have the time or the manpower to force compliance throughout the entire county and so wouldn’t enforce the law at all since to do so for just a few violators would be unfair. How does the approach meet the oath of office to uphold state and local laws?
83.3%