4 ms·

I'm trying to run a company in a hostile regulatory environment. I've been without power since April 2020. This is in the middle of a city in the United States

I'm trying to run a company in a hostile regulatory environment. I've been without power since April 2020. This is in the middle of a city in the United States. I've tried generators and have gone through 3 so far. Fuel was very expensive, and the time and effort to keep them running 24/7 was miserable. I have now tried going solar but have had all sorts of problems with battery life and cloudy weather. It's not as easy as I thought it would be.

pjc50 6y ago
> I'm trying to run a company in a hostile regulatory environment. I've been without power since April 2020. This is in the middle of a city in the United States. .. how? Which city?
- pontifier 6y ago
  Pine Bluff, Arkansas.
- quesera 6y ago
  There might be a relevant distinction between "without power" and "power is not available to me".
  - pontifier 6y ago
    The city won't approve the electrical hookup to the building I purchased. I've had 2 different commercial contractors try to pull permits and both of them were denied. Not denied in writing, but convinced not to file the required application. I was actually assaulted by a zoning officer while sitting in their office trying to fill out an application they didn't want me to submit.
    - quesera 6y ago
      That sounds miserable. Fighting (an office of) City Hall is a painful experience. You must have some idea of why they are obstructing though, right? An electrical permit is an indirect block, so I'm guessing you've fought other battles with the office in the past? In any case, you have a right to file the permit. The office might make your life hell through documented denials or overzealous inspections, but getting the permit filed should be non-controversial. Once filed, they must approve or deny. If denied, there is a formal appeals process which can run through different people/departments. If you have the time and energy for it, of course. Anyway, I know you are not here soliciting advice, but my next step would be to bring a lawyer to the filing office to ensure that the application is filed, and that no further assault occurs. Good luck.
      - pontifier 6y ago
        I called a lawyer when the incident happened where I couldn't file the application. I do feel like part of the problem is they don't actually want to give me anything in writing. I've got a scheduled meeting with the mayor, my lawyer, the fire marshal, and the main zoning officer on the 21st of this month.
        quesera 6y ago
        > I do feel like part of the problem is they don't actually want to give me anything in writing. That sounds like a reasonable guess to me. If there is some personal animosity, or they have a friend who runs a potential competitor/lost on the purchase bid/etc, or somesuch other corrupt motivations ... then their only real power is to exhaust you. Once you have a live permit application, you're in the system and the legal process takes over. They can still hit you hard on process and code conformity, but it takes greater coordination to do so. Again, good luck. Petty corruption is sometimes the worst kind.
        pontifier 6y ago
        I found out that they started a tax and allocated about $10M to doing the same things I'm trying to do. They've already put $400k into their business incubator, but it hasn't opened yet. Their science museum kinda sucks, and their "maker space" is a laser cutter tacked onto the incubator as an afterthought. The building I bought is 220,000 sqft and I'm passionate about doing all the things that tax is supposed to pay for, but I didn't know this at the time. If I fail and nobody notices then everything is fine for them. But if I succeed, people might wonder what the tax went to if I don't get some of it, and I'm sure it's all already spoken for. The thing is, I don't even care about that money. I just want to do my own thing without interference.
    - InitialLastName 6y ago
      I'm sorry I misjudged you, that sounds miserable.
- InitialLastName 6y ago
  This almost sounds like someone whose nightclub has had to go DL to ignore covid restrictions.

pjc50 6y ago

> I'm trying to run a company in a hostile regulatory environment. I've been without power since April 2020. This is in the middle of a city in the United States. .. how? Which city?

pontifier 6y ago
Pine Bluff, Arkansas.
quesera 6y ago
There might be a relevant distinction between "without power" and "power is not available to me".
- pontifier 6y ago
  The city won't approve the electrical hookup to the building I purchased. I've had 2 different commercial contractors try to pull permits and both of them were denied. Not denied in writing, but convinced not to file the required application. I was actually assaulted by a zoning officer while sitting in their office trying to fill out an application they didn't want me to submit.
  - quesera 6y ago
    That sounds miserable. Fighting (an office of) City Hall is a painful experience. You must have some idea of why they are obstructing though, right? An electrical permit is an indirect block, so I'm guessing you've fought other battles with the office in the past? In any case, you have a right to file the permit. The office might make your life hell through documented denials or overzealous inspections, but getting the permit filed should be non-controversial. Once filed, they must approve or deny. If denied, there is a formal appeals process which can run through different people/departments. If you have the time and energy for it, of course. Anyway, I know you are not here soliciting advice, but my next step would be to bring a lawyer to the filing office to ensure that the application is filed, and that no further assault occurs. Good luck.
    - pontifier 6y ago
      I called a lawyer when the incident happened where I couldn't file the application. I do feel like part of the problem is they don't actually want to give me anything in writing. I've got a scheduled meeting with the mayor, my lawyer, the fire marshal, and the main zoning officer on the 21st of this month.
      - quesera 6y ago
        > I do feel like part of the problem is they don't actually want to give me anything in writing. That sounds like a reasonable guess to me. If there is some personal animosity, or they have a friend who runs a potential competitor/lost on the purchase bid/etc, or somesuch other corrupt motivations ... then their only real power is to exhaust you. Once you have a live permit application, you're in the system and the legal process takes over. They can still hit you hard on process and code conformity, but it takes greater coordination to do so. Again, good luck. Petty corruption is sometimes the worst kind.
        pontifier 6y ago
        I found out that they started a tax and allocated about $10M to doing the same things I'm trying to do. They've already put $400k into their business incubator, but it hasn't opened yet. Their science museum kinda sucks, and their "maker space" is a laser cutter tacked onto the incubator as an afterthought. The building I bought is 220,000 sqft and I'm passionate about doing all the things that tax is supposed to pay for, but I didn't know this at the time. If I fail and nobody notices then everything is fine for them. But if I succeed, people might wonder what the tax went to if I don't get some of it, and I'm sure it's all already spoken for. The thing is, I don't even care about that money. I just want to do my own thing without interference.
  - InitialLastName 6y ago
    I'm sorry I misjudged you, that sounds miserable.
InitialLastName 6y ago
This almost sounds like someone whose nightclub has had to go DL to ignore covid restrictions.