09-01-2009, 03:32 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Glen
Imagine if every farmer in Oklahoma was told 'No more barn dances -- barns are for growing hay'.
If the “Barn” was permitted by code as a farm barn and they hold a barn dance or two in it, incidental to it's continued and primary use as a farm barn, odds are it would be allowed. But, if they ceased using it as a farm barn and converted it for use as a dance hall, absolutely they will need to have the structure repermitted as a dance hall and conform to all applicable codes for that usage.
They admit it was permitted as an agricultural green house to be used as an agricultural greenhouse and they have abandoned its use for that purpose and made it a meeting hall. Absolutely they have changed the usage from greenhouse to meeting hall but want to not adhere to codes for its actual usage.
If not, nobody should complain if next door a non-profit builds a legally permitted single family home for hospice care, but changes it to a crematorium for indigent native Hawaiians. I read people complaining all the time about someone using their property for something that isn't permitted by zoning or building codes, yet here they want governmenet to bend the rules. You bend it for them, you better be prepared for them to be bent by developers using the same argument.