cutting corners...

gets you nowhere! Back in January, I posted about the garbage going on next door. I am not happy, by any means, that this construction is happening. I have no say whatsoever, because I am only a tenant and have no rights.



They took a .93 acre lot, with a nice, large one-family home, and are converting it to "Southwind Lofts"....a mini apartment complex. The original zoning was R-2, (2 family residential) and now it's PUD (Planned Unit Development)...which means they're trying to cram a bunch of urban living units into a place that just doesn't need it. The city of Manhattan has a glut of housing starts...the housing here is absolutely outrageous in costs that are unjustified (Manhattan is not close to the highway...the only "major" industries are K-State and Ft. Riley...yet houses are over the top for costs. We couldn't afford to buy a house here. As it is, we are paying WAY more for rent than we would like)...there are too many rental properties. If the properties are deemed "college rentals" then they can, and DO ask you to sign a lease in March...even when your lease doesn't expire until end of July.....



Anyway...I complained in my last post about the noise and the rattling. It's gotten worse, of course, as they do all the things that are necessary to prepare the property. They've been digging and messing. They've blocked OUR driveways in order to dig holes and work on the utilities connections (as luck would have it, they are on the end of my driveway....sigh). The sounds of the the water drill and "ditchwitch" have been interminably irritating. The bucket loaders, the bobcat, the concrete mixer...it doesn't end.

My unit manager actually came out to see what was happening. I was hoping she'd let us out of stated "well, we're building a 6 foot fence around it". But that fence doesn't stop Cindy and I from viewing the dumpster...our windows are higher. In the polarizing heat of the summer, it's going to stink to HELL and back. Right now, I hear with amazing clarity, the dumpsters being emptied at Panera and Arby's...and now, I'll have a dumpster in my side yard. What an appetizing view out my kitchen window. Any means of privacy has been shot to hell with this building going on. There have been no less than 10 men roaming around all the time. It's not very SAFE feeling, either. I keep an eye out for my neighbor's daughter (who is also my sitter). She's a very pretty young girl who drives to school...she gets home in the afternoon and often forgets to close the garage door. I worry that just one of those men will take an opportunity. I feel for Cindy more, too...she's got a sliding glass door on the lower level...which is about 10 feet from where there will be a road...and parking. our lease, but who else in their right mind is going to rent this place when they see the mess next door? So we are stuck. She did contact the contractors and tell them they can not, under ANY circumstances, block or park in our driveways...that is OUR private property and part of what we pay rent for. If they need to access portions of the property, they need to park out on the road and WALK to where ever they need to be. Small victory. Pat also looked at the plans and we we both horrified to discover that the builder plans to put the dumpster for his unit right here...outside my kitchen window. It'll be about 20 feet away. This also affects my neighbor Cindy, whose duplex sits at a right angle from mine. The builder was contacted about that. They That's just too scary. But there's nothing we can do. Except complain on my blog.

But...here's a FUNNY...what happens when you cut corners? Why, LOTS of stuff. They dug a big hole in the back yard (this will eventually have a 3 unit cottage set up.) They needed to build a retaining wall. And they started. And they cut corners, using their little bobcat to backfill...and this is what happened.



OOOPS! this is what happens when you don't do things the right way. Building a retaining wall is a skill...this wall is NOT for looks, it is to prevent erosion of the mountain above. NOT a good start, if you ask me!!!!