Peru, Maine, residents voted on Tuesday to saddle themselves with draconian new homeowners association-style rules governing how they use their property, including strictures on yard maintenance, vehicle repairs, and parking.
[RELATED: Peru, Maine, Sexual Assault Suspect Found Dead After Threatening Suicide During Police Standoff…]
Voters in Peru were confronted at the ballot box with a series of 41 local referenda along with their statewide primary ballots. Most of the questions authorized appropriations and expenditures, sure to raise taxes for residents, but one, the “Property Maintenance Ordinance,” imposes significant new restrictions on how landowners use their property.
Every referendum on the ballot passed, the maintenance ordinance passed with a 280-197 margin.
“The purpose of this ordinance is to set minimum standards for the maintenance of structures and the grounds of property in the town in order to protect public health, safety, and welfare and provide access for safety personnel in the event of an emergency,” the ordinance reads.
The new list of rules requires that all structures be maintained in safe condition and that all fences on property be in good condition and functioning.
No one will be permitted to have visible trash, junk, or anything that could provide bedding for rodents outside their property, and owners of vacant properties will be required to manicure their lawns to keep them free of vegetation.
No one may keep more than three unregistered vehicles parked on their land and may not have any vehicle “at any time” in a state of major disassembly or disrepair unless it is hidden in a garage. That provision apparently prevents anyone without a garage from performing their own vehicle repairs.
Residents will no longer be allowed to leave furniture outside for pickup or disposal, and “material intended for the owner or occupant’s private use” may only be stored on property if it is screened from view and does not create a “nuisance.”
Refusing to comply with the new rules will be subject to minimum penalties of $100 in fines per day of violation and possible legal action.
Though the election was held on Tuesday, the small-town residents were left in the dark about the referenda results because their town office closed the day after the election and failed to make any posts or publish any information on the results until Thursday.
Paper tigers amassed as select boards in the Western Maine
OH WAIT !
No nasty , water soaked , dirty bed mattresses , no old torn up recliners and faux leather couches, out sunning themselves on the front lawn ?. No piles of rodent torn trash bags, holding the trash from three months ago, allowing the neighborhood rats a place to hide ? . No trashed out , busted up , oil and fluid leaking , hulks of trashed out cars, that have no hope of ever driving the roads again .?
Sounds pretty “ draconian “ to me , unless you have the misery of having to live next to one of these scofflaws , and having to look at their perpetual yard mess every time you drive by .
Maine …..The Way Life Should Be ….LOL
” and owners of vacant properties will be required to manicure their lawns to keep them free of vegetation.” Well, if’n I gotta keep my vacant hayfields free of that there “vegetation”, guess I better look into buying Round Up concentrate in 55 gallon drums. ‘course if’n it rains, it’ll just be mud.
Sounds like most everyone is sick and tired of the hubcab yard, the junk yard, and open trash bag yard families.
Gardiner ….i don’t think anybody is talking about your vacant hayfield .
Come On !
I think it’s the bombed out house ( everybody knows one ) with years of trash , debris , and junk that’s been hoarded out on the front lawn that says “ f*ck you neighbor “ …..” this is MY SHIIT …and YOU have to look at it “
Ignorance , alcoholism , and laziness are all around us here in Maine . It’s part of our culture .
Rugged independence and “ personal freedom” is not an excuse .
No one should be forced to have to look at it every day on their way to and from home .
Louisewoods. When you pay my taxes then you can tell me what to do with my own land. I don’t keep my land that way but even if I did MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS! If anyone thinks this is where it will stop, you need to lay off the Hippie lettuce.
Socialists of Maine at it again.
Louisewoods
“I think it’s the bombed out house ( everybody knows one ) with years of trash , debris , and junk that’s been hoarded out on the front lawn that says “ f*ck you neighbor “ …..” this is MY SHIIT …and YOU have to look at it “
Ignorance , alcoholism , and laziness are all around us here in Maine . It’s part of our culture .
Rugged independence and “ personal freedom” is not an excuse .
No one should be forced to have to look at it every day on their way to and from home .”
Ignorance? Lazzy? Alcoholism? Graham is that you? Busybody (B)witch mind your own business, or better still move. I hear NYC is nice this time of year.
LOL LOL LOL
I KNEW my posts would get a rise out of some of you people
“ A man’s land is a man’s land and he should do with it HOWEVER he pleases “ ….the Mantra of rural Maine
I’ve lived here most all of my life , Grew up here , educated here , worked here .
When I stop loving it I’ll leave it .
Do with it what you want .
I’m past it all .
May years of an accumulated trash and junk come to a front yard near YOU .
Just more proof that you do not own your property, does not matter that it’s paid off or not and that you have a deed, your gonna have some “Karen” come on your property and tell you what your gonna do on your property. Amazing.
Just more proof that you do not own your property, does not matter that it’s paid off or not and that you have a deed, your gonna have some “Karen” come on your property and tell you what your gonna do on your property. Amazing.
Seems Louise Woods could have passed the hat and helped some poor soul clean up their yard a bit, rather than becoming the mowed lawn monitor. I own a place where my abutter hasn’t mowed his lawn in almost 20 yrs. The sumac is over 10′ high. None of my business. There are sickly trees threatening their home. I’m having some of my own hazards cut and intend on including theirs. They are elderly and not in good health.
Gardiner Schneider Not to worry. Louse Woods will be telling you where your lawn stops and your hay-field starts.
This is called a power trip and going to far. Sure, why don’t you start with the Town Ordinances they town has in place already!! Instead you are adopting more rules before you have even Addressed the Current Ones.. I understand some of the houses. But instead of blaming everyone, do your do diligence and address the Ordinances Personally.. And to the one that says, lazy, alcoholics etc. It isn’t them. Actually 2 of the biggest issues are not even close to being in those categories. One has Severee Mental Health Issues. The other is a disorder called Hoarding.. Know the Difference. Telling someone what they can and can’t do on their Property they own and pay taxes on is just Insane! If someone wants to work on their Dang Car, that should not be an issue. That in itself is just gross power trip behavior! Like I said, fix the issues going against Ordinances before you start making New Rules! That is what happens when you bring in new select persons!! Let this go and you will see how bad it will get.. I was born and raised in Peru. When I was younger they had to address the Ordinances once in awhile, but did it. Over the years that had basically just faded away and allowed folks to do whatever. To the problems being faced right now! Fining Someone is going to get them NOWHERE!! Most folks can barely survive now.. I hope you Preuvians know what kind of troubles you are about to allow.. What Next, you can’t have your lawn mower visible or your side by side. Give Me a Break!!