New York Renovator

Did you know that in some municipalities, it is perfectly legal to use a portion of your property as a private family cemetery? I can’t remember where I read that last year, but I remember reading it, and being surprised. Some states are developing more stringent laws about burials on private lands. In early America, families usually buried their relatives on a small plot in a woodsy area. Here in my area of New York, I can immediately think of dozens of such small private cemeteries on private lands, dating way back to the late 1700s. Some of those old headstones tell amazing stories on them.

Did you know that, in many states, if you are a property owner with a private cemetery, you must allow for easement for family members of the deceased to visit their buried kin, if their family is buried on your land? A Virginia statute reads:

Owners of private property on which a cemetery or graves are located shall have a duty to allow ingress and egress to the cemetery or graves by (i) family members and descendants of deceased persons buried there; (ii) any cemetery plot owner; (iii) any person engaging in genealogy research, who has given reasonable notice to the owner of record or to the occupant of the property or both. The landowner may designate the frequency of access, hours and duration of the access and the access route if no traditional access route is obviously visible by view of the property. The landowner, in the absence of gross negligence or willful misconduct, shall be immune from liability in any civil suit, claim, action, or cause of action arising out of the access granted pursuant to this section.

I’m glad I saw that statute, as I often visit cemeteries for my genealogical research. The fear of trespassing often kept me from seeing the headstones; now I know.

Obviously, as the country industrialized and developed, fewer families placed their deceased relatives on their private property. Cemeteries were built, either by churches or the state, or by wealthy individuals who dedicated land for the citizens. Burials are expensive, though. Most “normal” folks would have had to hawk the Bridal Jewelry to afford a plot and a funeral. I don’t know when funeral insurance was invented (probably about the same time other insurances were invented?). In nearby Utica, the wealthy mucky-mucks must have had some very fine New York Final Expense Insurance, because some of their burial sites are of Egyptian pharaoh proportions. Forest Hill Cemetery and the cemetery at Hamilton College hold some of the wealthiest and brightest people of history: Elihu Root, Samuel Kirkland, Roscoe Conking, James Schoolcraft Sherman, etc.

Utica, NY's largest cemetery was established only in 1850.

Anyway, as far as I know, most municipalities allow property owners to bury their pets on their own lands. But if you want to start your own private cemetery, it’s best to check with your local codes department, first. If allowed, they may require you to get a survey of your property or draw a map of the location of the plot on your land. And many states require that you allow family visitors to the site. You can also check out this website for some great insurance info, too.

For those of you who don’t know, New York State is being targeted by foreign investors, called New York Regional Interconnect, or NYRI, who want to built a 200-mile, super high-voltage power line through the state. We have power lines all over, no big deal, right? Well, this mammoth power line is going to follow the railroad tracks, from central New York all the way down toward New York City. And the railroad tracks are in the middle of our towns, next to our homes, down our streets.

That’s hundreds of miles of high voltage power lines strung right over the tops of our houses and businesses, those houses and businesses that aren’t taken away from us by the government, that is. There’s a lot of lobbying and political gaming going on. The power line company is slowing chugging toward having their way. We residents have put up a lot of legal barriers filled with red tape, but the process is moving forward. Consider this a hurricane-type disaster. These politicians and investors are looking to wipe out our properties so they can develop on them. Good Lord, the battle never ends, does it?

So there’s another meeting coming up, to continue fighting this thing. It’s really terrible that this can happen, that we have so little property rights anymore. It’s even more disgusting that our property taxes keep going up.

Oh, and the power line company wants US residents (who are left) to pay for the maintenance of the lines that run over our houses, too. Oh, AND they have demanded that New York State subsidize their business by having the state guarantee the company a 13.5% profit. How the heck can government guaranteeing a profit for a business be legal is beyond me!

See here for the schedule about the meetings. This must be stopped.

See my post last year about the Worst Trip of My Life for more details and photos of some affected areas.

This news story is a little old (from March) but the story behind the news is not old. It asks the modern question, “Who owns your property?”

From the Watertown Daily News

MORRISTOWN — The town is making a statewide appeal for help in prosecuting Amish men for building homes without permits. Ten members of the conservative religious group have been charged in the clash between building codes and religious tenets that shun modernization.

The ordeal began in July 2006, when Andy Miller, Dumont Road, was charged with building a house without a permit. His case was repeatedly delayed because he did not have an attorney, and an agreement to issue a permit was reached in January 2007. The town eventually declined, however, because Mr. Miller would not allow code enforcement officer L. Kay Davis to inspect his home, as agreed upon.

The small town is paying through the nose– due to translation problems (the Amish speak Pennsylvania Dutch), lack of legal help, and more. Oh boo hoo. I really have little sympathy for the state in this case. Why? Because the state is merely using their overbearing laws to punish the Amish. The Amish guy does not want electric or plumbing in his home– but the state is going to force him to do so, anyway? And at the cost of the homeowner? And then continue to charge him exorbitant taxes so that he may continue to “keep” his land?

This is ridiculous. Essentially, it is not the property owner who owns his land. For all intents and purposes, when you get a piece of paper saying the land is yours, but then you are forced to 1) pay high taxes every year or be evicted, 2) get permission and PAY for that permission to do just about anything on your property (here in NY, you can’t even cut down trees or build a fence without government permission), and 3) allow inspectors to come through your property when they want to— who would you say REALLY owns the land?

Property ownership is a farce in the country! And the sad thing is, we have sold out our own rights under us, by allowing it to happen! Grrr!