Halloween town

WELCOME to Cruzin2some!  Thanks for becoming a Follower, I've been reading along on your blog, too.  Lately you have had questions that I'm definitely going to have in a year or so!  Hope you enjoy coming along for the ride!

 

Halloween Town

So... about the Boulder Creek property.  I made some phone calls yesterday - first to the county assessor.  They said the property is still in my name, I still don't owe any taxes, and it is still not buildable.  I'd need an acre, and it's 1/5 of an acre.  I told her about seeing the house on the Google Earth map and she said the satellites are so far up, they are often distorted when you are looking at specific properties. She said to call the planning department about parking my RV on the property.

So I called the planning department.  She said technically I am not allowed to park there.  I can only park an RV on property that has a building on it.  But she did say they are a complaint driven department.  If I parked there and no one complained, I'd be okay.  If someone complains, I'd have to move.  Good to know.

I told her about thinking someone put a house on the land, and out of curiosity she looked it up on their satellite program and this is what it showed (I went on their website and could pull it up, too): 

 Do you think the satellites could be off that much?

The blue outline is the property - see the house in the upper left corner?  There is actually another in the lower right corner, too.  That makes me think it might be off a little.  The woman at the zoning planning department said there have been no permits pulled for the property, so if there is something on it, it is definitely not legal.

I then called a Realtor I talked to in August 1994 when I was going to sell it (if it was worth selling), and she is still with the same real estate office.  There is a house in foreclosure next to my lot, and I wondered if it had anything to do with the structure that seems to be on my lot.  She took the information, did some checking and called me back. She said she gave both APNs to a local title company, and they are going to check on it.  She will call me back with information by Friday, or early next week.  Just in case someone had their lot lines wrong.  She asked me exactly where the lot was, and I gave her the "Beer Pub" location right next to me, and I'm hoping she will actually drive out and see for herself.  The lot is 4.5 miles from the town of Boulder Creek, so it would only take a few minutes.  It would be nice to have an "eyes on" opinion.

I really want to see the property, but it's an eight hour drive each way, and I don't know if I want to make such a long drive over a weekend.  I think I'm going to let the experts do their research, and see what they say.  If there is a problem, I'll go next weekend, maybe take off Monday so it will be a Friday through Sunday trip with Monday to recover. If it looks like everything is okay, I'll probably wait until I go up to Vacaville again to visit my daughter and her family, and we can take a day trip to see it then, walk around Boulder Creek and have lunch there.

After I wrote the above, I pulled up my condo address in Google Earth.  And you know what?  It has me two blocks over from my street.  Interesting...  Maybe it really is off that much. 

Maybe this is all much ado about nothing.  If so, at least I learned I can park my RV on the lot as long as no one complains.  I'm going to have to knock on some doors when I go up there and make some friends. : )

Boooooooo!

PUZZLE:   Here is a puzzle I have always liked.  It was in the San Francisco Chronicle when I was in high school, and I cut it out and saved it for years (and years and years).

Three people check into a hotel. They pay $30 to the manager and go to their room. The manager finds out that the room rate is $25 and gives the bellboy $5 to return to the guests. On the way to the room the bellboy reasons that $5 would be difficult to split among three people so he pockets $2 and gives $1 to each person. Now each person paid $10 and got back $1. So they paid $9 each, totaling $27. The bellboy has another $2, adding up to $29.

Where is the remaining dollar?  I'll have the answer tomorrow.

From me and Katie, have a great Thursday, everyone! : )

Welcome. The witch is in, and Boulder Creek property

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There are good witches and bad witches.  Which do you think this witch is?

 

 Good Witch?  Bad Witch?

Halloween was confusing. All my life my parents said, ‘Never take candy from strangers.’ And then they dressed me up and said, ‘Go beg for it.’ I didn’t know what to do. I’d knock on people’s doors and go, "Trick or treat. No thank you."

- Rita Rudner         

I realized the most fantastic thing the other day when I was talking to my daughter. 

My parents owned some property in Santa Cruz County in California - in Boulder Creek.  It is a wooded lot right on Highway 9 in the forest.  It is a small piece of land, and years ago the local government decided they wanted to limit the growth in the area, so they limited the size of lots that could have septic tanks.  This property isn't big enough, so it is virtually un-buildable.  My parents were going to let it go for the taxes, so I took it, paid up the taxes, and it's been mine for a number of years. Since it is pretty much worthless, the tax collector agreed to reduce the value so low, that I don't have to pay taxes on it.

 Boulder Creek Market - I remember this market from 40 years ago.

I've only driven up to see it once, just to see what I owned.  I can't do anything with it, but it is a pretty wooded piece of land.  I keep forgetting I own it.  I know that sounds strange, it's not that I'm land rich, far from it, but I took possession almost 19 years ago and there was nothing I could do with it for all that time.

 Highway 9 - Boulder Creek

Highway 9 -  Boulder Creek

Over the years I've had a couple of neighbors call or write me letters asking if I'd sell it - for $1,000 - I said no, thank you. One person wanted to put in drainage pipes from my land to hers (which was lower) diverting water away from her house when it rained.  A lawyer I knew who specialized in "water law" (he was the attorney for the water company in our town) told me not to let anyone do anything - once I allow a change, if there is a problem I could be responsible.  Her contractor should have positioned her house differently.  So, again I said, sorry, I can't make any changes per my lawyer.

Ancient Giants, Big Basin Redwoods State Park, California

I also got a phone call from someone, twice, saying they just purchased the property and understood I was a previous owner, and they wondered if I could give them some history of the property.  WHAT?!  I told them I still owned the property, and the next day called the assessor and they said it was still in my name.  Hope I don't have squatters on the land.

Big Basin Redwoods 

I was thinking I am going to drive up and look at it again.  It's possible that, although I can't build on it, I could put a pad on it for an RV.  Or just clear a space large enough.  It's right on Highway 9, and would be very easy to drive onto with an RV.  When I start full-timing, I could use that place as a "home base" when I want to be off the road for a while.  I might even be able to store it there.   It's a beautiful area with lots of things to do.  Near Santa Cruz, Big Basin, lots of cool little towns. 

Berry Creek Falls, Big Basin

There was a British beer pub right next door to my lot called  The White Cockade, which unfortunately is closed down.  It was very highly rated from the reviews I read. A good pub with dart boards, sounded like it would have been fun.  And I could have walked across the driveway to my place.  Of course, it could have been a bit noisy!

The White Cockade (no longer OPEN)

I just Googled their address with Google Earth to see my lot next door (it doesn't have an address) and WOW, it looks like there are a lot of houses near me, across Highway 9, and possibly on my lot! Oh Oh.  I wonder if they changed the regs. and now leech fields/septic tanks are allowed on smaller properties.  I'd better get up there soon and make sure everything is okay. Hope I don't have squatters, or I could lose it? I'm calling the Realtor this morning.

Katieeeeee.....road trip!!! 

From Me and My Dog, have a great Wednesday, everyone! : )