Hick received the confirmation text within minutes, from the son of Business Owner regarding the purchase of HIS LAND in exchange for keeping his objections to himself at the variance meeting.
"This whole thing seems fishy! How would they know you were going to object to their variance request? Somebody at the city tipped them off! Probably to get back at YOU. Nowhere on that letter did it say you had to notify anybody that you had an objection. It was just a notice of the date and time of the meeting, so you could attend and give your input there. Either your buddy the building inspector called him, or that secretary has it out for you! She's probably the one you kept complaining to all those times about Business Guy's sign and driveway, and The Pony's notice for nuisance weeds, and the trash complaint about tea bottles somebody threw out on the vacant lot."
"She WAS the same one! And Sonny said she's the one who called. So that's not a secret. But maybe the building inspector told her to call."
"In any case, I don't think that's part of the process. They were tipping off Business Owner."
"Yeah. I'm pretty sure they were going to deny the variance if there were any objections. So she called to let him know, and that's why he changed his mind about buying MY LAND a couple hours before the variance meeting."
"Basically, he bought your silence for $1200, heh, heh! Not that there's anything wrong with that. I'll be glad that it's settled, and we don't pay taxes on it for him to use. But the timing sure is funny."
"I was just telling my buddy at lunch at the Senior Center. 'I'm finally getting my chance to stick it to Business Owner.' He said, 'How's that?' And I said the guy's name, and how I was going to make a statement at the variance meeting about how he's been using MY LAND while I'm paying taxes on it. And my buddy said, 'Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. He's really a nice guy.'"
"So YOU'RE the big rumpushole, because you object to a nice guy making a profit in his business that is using YOUR LAND for free, for his driveway, and wouldn't consider buying it from you."
"Apparently so! I'm not asking for a fortune. That $1200 isn't going to make or break us. And it's just a drop in the bucket for him. But I'm the bad guy!"
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Hick went to the meeting. He saw his boss from the apartments, who happens to be on the board. And a couple other people he knows. He got there about 10 minutes early. All the chairs were arranged around a table for the board. Hick dragged another chair over, to sit behind the people he knew. The (traitorous) secretary was there.
"She smiled real big, and apologized to me for having to move my own chair. I announced that I had reached an agreement with Business Owner, and that I had no objections to his proposed variance, and then I left."
"That's it? How will they know you kept your part of the deal?"
"It will have to be in the minutes of the meeting. I've been thinking it over, and I'm going by the title office to ask how much they'll charge to write up the paperwork. I'd just as soon do that as risk anything going wrong. I think they charged us $300 when they did it for one of our other properties. So that's worth it to me."
I hope everything goes right with this deal. It will prove that there is honor among rumpusholes.
I don't think Hick is doing anything any other landowner wouldn't do, given the same circumstances. In fact, I would say he is being very generous and accommodating since you have been paying the taxes for several years, regardless of the amount. I am with Hick wanting to just get this dealt with, after all this time.
ReplyDeleteJust because someone thinks someone else is a "really nice guy" doesn't mean he's a great businessman. Some people are just turds about some things. Petty things.
I hope you have final, completed success on this issue asap.
Ranee
Hick didn't really care about this property. He figured it wasn't worth anything, and we just automatically paid the taxes every year, along with others of his tax-sale properties. We have since sold a couple of them, one being lake lots, and another in a town where a guy had grown a garden on it.
DeleteThen Hick passed by HIS LAND and saw that a business sign was being constructed. He thought part might be on HIS LAND, and talked to the city building inspector, and saw the aerial map. It was at that time an issue with the city, because no permit had been requested for the sign. Hick determined that the driveway WAS partially on HIS LAND, and that's when he offered to sell it to Business Owner. First through contact with Sonny, who was for it, but then being (rudely) rebuffed by the "nice guy" Business Owner.
Hick himself made the decision to be petty and make a statement at the variance meeting, due to how Business Owner had talked to him about the sale offer. He didn't think it would have any effect on the decision, because the variance is for the back of the building, not where HIS LAND is located at the front. He was shocked to get the last-minute offer to buy HIS LAND before the meeting.