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Survey This

State of Indiana v. William E. Pettitt Administrative Cause No.: SBRLS 08-04 William E. Pettitt, PLS Pettitt & Associates, Inc., P.O. Box 412, Hanover, IN, 47243 Mr. Pettitt simultaneously holds the title of administrator of the Jefferson County Plan Commission and is running for his third term as the incumbent County Surveyor. Licensed in Indiana as a Land Surveyor since 1990, Mr. Pettitt has had more than two decades to perfect his trade. Instead, he has been reprimanded and sanctioned by the State for unfit practice due to professional incompetence, imposed civil penalties, and violated the terms of probation resulting in further sanctions. His probation was withdrawn in February 2012, but that does little to assure the public that history will not repeat itself. Let Mr. Pettitt know that enough is enough with your vote in November. Any survey or licensing questions or concerns should be directed to the State Board of Registration for Land Surveyors or the Indiana Attorney General  to file a consumer complaint. Alternatively, CLICK HERE to download the above documents from the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency. 

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Frivolous

The Jefferson County Plan Commission filed this "frivolous complaint" against Sherry J Chapo and Jessie A Chapo on 6/14/2007. At issue is the personal home they legally built in 2003-2004 without a building permit. A private home built by and with their own hands almost 4 years prior and according to Indiana Code 36-7-8-3d (commonly referred as the “Log Cabin Rule“), a home that is exempt from local building ordinances and permit requirements. The Plan Commission failed to prosecute this case in any manner for 2-more years. In the end, the merits of this case were never heard. Finally, in 2009 on the Chapo’s motion the trial court dismissed this case with prejudice. But then in typical Jefferson County fashion, Judge Ted Todd denied their motion for costs and fees. The Appellate Court ruled on this case frivolous in a landmark ruling on 5-5-2010 and remanded it back to the trial court to ascertain the Chapo’s legal costs. An agreed judgment was executed on 9-28-2010 in the amount of $4,680 and finally paid more than 3 months later on 1/19/2011 through the trust account of the county attorney, Will Goering. What a great investment of our tax dollars!

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Cause Dismissed

Plain and simple; the Jefferson County Plan Commission filed this cause in bad faith. For almost 18 months, the County failed to move forward one iota in prosecuting their case; absolutely no discovery, no depositions and no communication other than to answer the Chapos request for production of documents. In answering this request, the County attempted to extort several hundred dollars in unwarranted copying fees, facilitating the Chapos to file a complaint with the Indiana Public Access Counselor on 12-10-2007. In an informal ruling 1-24-2008, the Counselor determined that the Plan Commission violated the Access to Public Records Act (APRA) by charging an excessive fee for copies of the zoning ordinances. Furthermore, the County failed to correct the complaint which named the incorrect parcel, effectively encumbering the property rights of an uninterested third party. The County’s attorney, Kristin Vandewater was promptly notified and confirmed this fatal error in a fax dated 9-9-2007, but then failed to ever take any corrective action. The Chapos filed a Motion to Dismiss for Failure to Prosecute on 12-5-2008. https://indianahomestead.com/wp-content/gallery/090504-CT-Order41E.pdf The "yada-yada-yada" hearing was finally held on 4-9-2009 and ruled on 5-4-2009. The County’s attorney insisted on arguing the Public Access complaint and not the merits of their original action, the only basis for the hearing. To the total dismay of the County's legal team, the cause was dismissed with prejudice, leaving no recourse for the County to retry this action. But that doesn’t stop the County from trying non-the-less. The saga continues …

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Log Cabin Rule

Here, we visit the elusive “Log Cabin Rule” which applies without limitation to all private homes – not just log cabins, and how it relates to local building/zoning ordinances. In 2003 our family legally built our personal home with our own hands without ever obtaining the alleged prerequisite building permit. Although our home site conformed to all septic system standards, zoning use, and minimum setback requirements at the time, our local health dept., building enforcement, and plan commission begged to differ. So in 2004, we shared our newly acquired knowledge by serving a timely Cease & Desist Notice, which fluently describes the “Log Cabin Rule to our well meaning but misinformed County officials. Dissemination of this particular Indiana Code to our Amish friends and other county citizens upset our questionable County Health Administrator, Mr. Ralph Armand so greatly that he pressured the county into filing a frivolous and unwarranted civil lawsuit against our family. This case was subsequently dismissed with prejudice and ruled frivolous by the Indiana Court of Appeals. Indiana Code Chapter 8, referred to as, IC 36-7-8 Titled “County Building Department and Building Standards” states in IC 36-7-8-1 “This chapter applies to all counties.” Indiana Code IC 36-7-8-3(d) states “An ordinance adopted under this section does not apply to private homes that are built by individuals and used for their own occupancy” (emphasis added.) The Indiana Court of Appeals addressed this issue twice, once in Robinson v. Monroe County, 658 N.E.2d 647, 652 (Ind. Ct. App. 1995) and again in Robinson v. Monroe, 60A04-9506-CV-225 (Ind. Ct. App. 1996). The Indiana Appeals Court (Majority Opinion) denied both, Monroe County and Indiana Fire Prevention and Building Safety Commission (Amicus Curiae)... “... In its early stages, this country’s frontier was moved westward by pioneers who moved onto land and built houses made from the materials at hand. Since then, home owning has become an essential facet of the “American dream”. It may be argued that ordinances such as those contemplated by Indiana Code IC 36-7-8-3, which establishes construction specifications and require permits and inspections for residential construction projects, interfere with the ability of some individuals to build their own home and thus to pursue the American dream. Building codes and ordinances may conceivably discourage or impede such individuals from building their own houses. A private individual building his own house may not possess the skills necessary to construct a building which complies with the technical specifications set out in the ordinances. In addition, an individual may not be able to afford to hire professionals or others to build a house. Therefore, exempting a person who wishes to build his own house from the requirements imposed pursuant to IC 36-7-8-3 of complying with construction specifications and obtaining permits allows that person to build a house even though he may not possess the skills or equipment to comply with technical specifications, and allows him to do so even if he…

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