The Free View-- weblog of a presidential candidate

Rebel to Control-crats: "How Do You Like it Now?"

I love this guy, my hero of the week.

HOW DO YOU LIKE IT NOW?
Angry homeowner paints a colorful protest

Stan Pike believes that if you can't beat City Hall, you can at least go down swinging -- and in his case, that means with a paint brush.

He called two painters. By day's end they had painted the front of the house lime green, then added large, purple polka dots.

Full story...

A guy here in Nevada City mounted a similarly-motivated protest a while back. He had wanted to renovate and repair his mother's house, which he owned (I don't recall if she had died and it became his, or if she was living there). He tried to get permission to improve the house, but the Planning Board rejected his request -- Nevada City has some pretty strict "historical preservation" restrictions on making any sort of changes to buildings in town. It was a big Gold Rush town -- this whole area is known as "Gold Country", and they are big on making sure it continues to look as much like the old gold rush town as it can.

Anyway, as I recall, this guy had made reasonable efforts to get permission to basically make the house, which was old to the point of not being useful by modern standards, a functionally modern house, and he was refused.

So, on a Saturday morning, he had the house demolished. It caused quite the uproar, and as you can imagine, all sorts of tittering commotion among the control-crats -- who, I believe, sought to penalize him for destroying the house that they wouldn't let him fix.

When I heard about it, I had a seriously enjoyable laughing session. Just as I did when I read about Stan Pike's stunt in the story above. I am big-time anti-authority, and the primary reason for that is that I'm big-time anti-control. And I really, really enjoy seeing people find creative (and blazingly un-ignorable) ways to buck the efforts of those who seek to control them. I'm actually considering starting a simple website to honor folks like Stan Pike, and others who come up with truly daring ways to break the chains of administartive conformity. Maybe I'll just make it a page on this site.

It might be a stretch to associate my favorite Ice-T quote with something relatively dry and boring like planning boards and housing renovation permits, but Stan Pike's stunt brought it into my mind anyway. If for some reason you haven't read all my posts here, or my biography (which doesn't exist), I'll remind you of the quote in question:

"You try to keep us running, and running faster -- but I'm not runnin' from ya, I'm running at ya."

The picture of Stan's house has become my new user pic at PeoplesForum.com, and it fits surprisingly well with the new tagline I chose a few days ago, even though the tagline was inspired more by the war in Iraq and the Bush mal-Administration. More on my PF taglines and picture in my next entry.

UPDATE: Stan's house and story got national attention -- he was even on the Today show on NBC -- and sparked a broad support movement in his hometown, where like-minded folks were wearing green and purple, and putting purple polka dots made from paper plates on their houses in solidarity.

He was successful in his recent appeal to be allowed to put in his rounded stoop, and the house has been re-painted in a more traditional color pattern. Here are a couple of more recent news stories about that situation and its resolution:

MAY 14, 2003
Polka Dotted Paint Job Shakes Up Quiet Avondale Neighborhood

JUNE 4, 2003
Purple Polka Dots Vanish after Avondale Man Wins Appeal

Also, I should comment on the item posted by a woman shortly after the Stan Pike article hit big.

Here is what she posted in the comments area over here:

I came across your web site in a search on Stan Pike. He should not be anybody's hero and I am on a personal mission to inform the public of that. He is not fighting what the media is portraying. He is trying to undo the volunteer efforts of 6 hard working, educated people who actually have no power over him. He could have built whatever he wanted to without repercussions. People do it all the time. His approach to this has been purely spiteful and plain disrespectful.

I did a little research and then responded to her comment by e-mail. Here is my reply:

Sarah,

My research indicates that the Historic Preservation commission actually does have the power to approve or deny requests for renovations or modifications, as indicated in the Avondale Estates municipal code (link).

To quote the ordinance:

"Sec. 5-249
The preservation commission shall be authorized to:
...
(3) Review applications for certificates of appropriateness, and grant or deny same in accordance with the provisions of this article;"

And then there's this (link):

"Sec. 5-300. Conformance with certificate of appropriateness.
(a) All work performed pursuant to an issued certificate of appropriateness shall conform to the requirements of such certificate. If the work is not performed in accordance with such certificate, the preservation commission shall issue a cease and desist order and all work shall cease.
(b) The governing body or the preservation commission shall be authorized to institute any appropriate action or proceeding in a court of competent jurisdiction to prevent any material change in appearance of a designated historic property or historic district, except those changes made in compliance with the certificate of appropriateness or to prevent any illegal act or conduct with respect to such historic property or historic district."

So what am I missing? The commission members may certainly be volunteers, as you say. I'm not sure what that has to do with the matter at hand.

Are you saying that Stan was not even required to submit an application to the Commission? And if that's the case, then why did the Commission hear his application and issue a finding? Wouldn't the appropriate thing have been to tell him he wasn't required to request approval, and send him on his way with their blessing?

I assume you are in the locality where this occurred. I'd welcome an explanation of your assertions, as they seem to contradict the information I'm seeing in the Avondale Estates ordinances, as well as the information that's been reported in the news.

Have you gotten any of the news sources to issue corrections? Most every news agency will issue a correction if they have factually misrepresented a story.

I look forward to your reply.

Be Well, Be Free,

Lance Brown
Freedom Activist

{contact info}

----end reply------

Sarah has yet to reply to me, and no further information has come before me to substantiate the claims of hers that I disputed.

On one other note, a new member of PeoplesForum.com has just recently moved to Stan's neighborhood, and promised to give him a pat on the back for me if he ever meets him. :-)