Someone was explaining private property rights in Utah here on AR. I thought to myself, what planet do these folks live on! Private property rights? Here’s to living and owning in California! I want to subdivide my property--sorry the general plan states your density for acreage is too high for the proposed lot sizes. Besides, you are in a sensitive wet-land area with a 200' set back plus the water table is too high so you can't put in a standard septic system but a need a new $50,000 "mound system". You also have a “blue-line” creek running through the property so you’ll have to consult with the Army Corp of Engineers, State Park and Recreation, “Friends of the River and their attorneys plus myriad obscure county and state agencies.
And oh yes, you are also on or nearby the endangered California Tiger Salamander habitat--if you want to develop this property any further you'll have to "mitigate" the acres you wish to develop by buying acreage in our approved "land bank" for $150,000 per acre. Also, we are now monitoring the underground water supply and will want you to test your wells output on a yearly basis. Of course we'll have to track this so we are going to bill you a minor $4.00 per month and perhaps, if the water usage is too much, install a "meter" on your well to observe and collect a fee for water used. And frankly you'll probably have to do a general plan amendment and the last one to get an amendment was God but it took him 10 years and some serious intervention on his part!
Undaunted, but concerned about the expense of all this-You attempt to gather up the funds by refinancing your apartment complex but your lender tells you your yearly cash flow needs to be increased 10%. You figure, what the heck, I’ve kept my rents for years under market. You go to raise the rents and find out a “rent control” ordinance was passed limiting ANY increases in rent to just 3% a year. The City Council stating, “it is a sufficient amount of return for a landlord”. One tenant reminds you that if you wish her gone it will cost you one month’s “market” rent PLUS 3 months in “relocation fees”! You figure enough is enough and go to sell and exchange your equity into the project but no investor wants to buy a rent controlled building. Maybe at a severe discount? You throw your hands up in the air and call the whole thing off!
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