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Thread: Thinking about living off the Grid in your current home? Judge says it's illegal.

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    Site Addict BugMan's Avatar
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    Thinking about living off the Grid in your current home? Judge says it's illegal.

    Living off the grid is illegal in Cape Coral, Florida, according to a court ruling Thursday.

    Special Magistrate Harold S. Eskin ruled that the city’s codes allow Robin Speronis to live without utility power but she is still required to hook her home to the city’s water system. Her alternative source of power must be approved by the city, Eskin said.

    As previously reported in Off The Grid News, Speronis has been fighting the city of Cape Coral since November when a code enforcement officer tried to evict her from her home for living without utilities. The city contends that Speronis violated the International Property Maintenance Code by relying on rain water instead of the city water system and solar panels instead of the electric grid.
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    Site Addict BugMan's Avatar
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    It's funny how modern conveniences went from a luxury to a mandatory necessity. We are totally screwed as a species.
    "Glad you called me, No room for amateurs in this game."
    "I coat it with Demon EC, insecticide with environmental conscience. It's biodegradable. Organic. You ought to see the little beasties twitch when they get a whiff of this stuff."
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    Experimental User Montgomery's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by BugMan View Post
    It's funny how modern conveniences went from a luxury to a mandatory necessity. We are totally screwed as a species.
    Yeah, I have a perpetual feeling of impending doom for the human race. I think about all the freedoms we've lost in a SINGLE generation! Pretty soon we'll be biometrically identified, electronically tracked, and kept in line by drones we can't even see.
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    ədˈminəˌstrātər RWalls's Avatar
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    I've been following this story. Pretty ironic if you think about it, Obama and his "green" administration blowing billions on green projects that fail, meanwhile a person who is really living green is being served with threats of eviction, fined, being forced into court, etc. because she doesn't want the utilities that the city provides.
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    Experimental User Montgomery's Avatar
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    They can't argue that it's a health hazard...as far as I know, you can't "Shut off" the sewage and running a gallon of rainwater down the ****ter should flush it just fine.
    “A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week.” G.S. Patton

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    Luckily we live in the boonies. Our water comes from a well and we have a septic system. I also had a seperate drainfield put in for grey water from the sinks and bathtub to save space in the septic tank.
    If we went solar, our power company doesn't mind.
    Our area is zoned OR, stands for Open Rural, we can do pretty much what we want.
    We once lived in the megaopolis that is South Florida with all its rules and regulations. I will NEVER live that way again after tasting country freedom.
    Kill A Commie For Mommy

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    it may be mandatory to be hooked up to the mains but as far as I know nobody can force you to use them.

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    Boondoggle Vandelescrow's Avatar
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    Don't get me wrong, I'm all for what she is doing. I think the cities stand point may be on the matter of maintenance of the city infrastructure. last summer or the summer before (can't remember for sure when) here in North Carolina due to the drought we were encouraged to conserve water. Then the sewer/water utility companies came out and said due to the water conservation they are not making enough money to maintain their equipment.

    So if more and more people go off the grid, this can cause problems for cities.

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    Well, I hope and pray that when I do retire, or sooner, i want to be "off grid" completely. I will have to check Arizona laws, Nm laws, and Arkansas laws, but the area we retire on will be very rural. No more big city for Deebo.
    Between rabbits, goats, guinee pigs, quail, and a garden, with solar and hopefully some hydro- electric, Deebo will disapeer.

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    Little Miss Chatterbox
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    Well, you can't disappear, as my brother found out but there are places you don't have to be connected to the grid or utilities. The weird thing is that you pay a minimum fee just to be connected to the grid and water - whether or not you use it. In Seattle the minimum was $15 for electric and about twice that for water. (the water bill included water, sewer, and solid waste removal (garbage). The city required you to be connected to power and water.
    So you pay whether you want it or not.
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