The "Little People" Can Make a Difference

The new view.

There is a scar on the earth where the barn used to be, in that view out our front picture window. As mentioned in a previous post, we were to attend a county meeting to discuss the new development plans for this piece of earth we call our view. Our biggest concern was that of disclosure. We have sled dogs. There are two sled dog kennels within view of this proposed development, mine and my soon-to-be ex-husband's. There have been sled dogs here for over 20 years, which is much longer than our seven year presence in the area. We want those would-be buyers of those high dollar lots who are not familiar with a rural area, to know this. Sled dogs and rural living may be foreign to them and people tend to feel most comfortable when they are surrounded by what they know.

The meeting began with the county officials going over the proposal from the owner of our view. They were all set to approve the development "as presented" and asked for public comment. Brian and I were the only "public" present for this meeting and we told our story. Politely and respectfully we explained that we knew we couldn't stop "progress" and we were concerned about our quality of life with this new development moving in. We want to be able to live our lives with our sled dogs as peacefully as we have been up to this point without being concerned that, at any time, a complaint from someone new to rural living could be made that could change our lives unnecessarily.

We did it! We were successful in making our point to the county officials. The development was approved pending verbiage added to the declarations and covenants for that development that disclose the existence of sled dogs in the area. These documents will also state that complaints regarding normal operation of the sled dog kennels will not be warranted. In addition, to preserve the water fowl habitat on the small "bay" of the wildlife lake that is located in front of the house, a "no wake" zone will be applied. The little people can make a difference!