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Location: Sometimes Maryland, sometimes NoVA. Depends on the day of the week
1,501 posts, read 11,752,493 times
Reputation: 1135
I think we need pictures. The first post said it moved from one side of the street to the other. Now the OP says its right in the middle of her porch entrance. From that description, I have a vision of a fire hydrant up close to the house, in the middle of a private sidewalk, maybe even in the middle of stairs. That cannot be correct. How exactly does one put a fire hydrant in the middle of a porch entrance?
I can see the irony of this later. The OP complains, the city moves the Fire hydrant back across the street. 2 months later her house catches fire, then either the Firefighters can't find it, or come to find out the city did it wrong and the hydrant no longer works!
I think olcapt is off base in a couple of ways. First of all, I assume the hydrant is not on the OP's property, or if it is, it's in a utility easement. I know I don't even own the first 15 or so feet off the curb, the city does. I mow it for them. Second, it's tough to believe the hydrant was relocated just because of an incorrectly installed valve. Moving the hydrant required a lot of work on both lines, the one it was on originally and the one it was moved two, an extra excavation, and a lot of labor. But none of this really matters if the hydrant is in a public right of way.
It's true that government action that diminishes property value can, in some circumstances, be considered a "taking" of private property that requires compensation, but I don't see that in these circumstances. It's one thing if the city builds a landfill next to your house, but a single hydrant in front of one's home in a public right of way is almost certainly not the kind of action that will entitle the property owner to recover damages.
Hiring a lawyer to fight this will cost far more than $250 - it would likely require the lawyer to send a few letters, file a lawsuit, and eventually lose, which will cost thousands and take months. And no, you can't just destroy the hydrant since it's not on your property. While it may not be a felony (might just be a misdemeanor), deliberate destruction of public property, even if you think it's incorrectly located, is almost certainly a crime, not a civil infraction.
It all comes down to where the hydrant is located. If it's on public property or in a utility easement the OP is pretty much out of luck.
Do you mean literally your front yard, i.e., the lawn, or do you mean the sidewalk? I suspect it's the latter (unless your lawn goes down to the curb).
Personally, I'm all in favor of a fire hydrant in front of my house. Because the first thing firefighters will look at aside from where to hook up the hose is whether any flames are licking at my abode. And if there are you can bet there will be water heading for the flames real quick like.
10-1 as most pointed out it's located on a utility easement and nothing you can do about it; except find a solution so it doesn't hinder your curb appeal. Paint it so it blends in more with grass and put some flowers around it - maybe even paint it a combo of greenery and the color of the flowers. Thing is - it is what it is. If I came home, yeah, I'd right off the bat go WTH? But then move on to finding a solution I can live with. If you just google fire hydrants painted you'll see some very pretty ones (not garish) and one I found had all of these beautiful flowers around it - so make it more like a statuary with flowers, then it won't detract from your curb appeal.
To put this in a little perspective, imagine coming home to find out that the muni exercised eminent domain and took a huge chunk of your land to put in a bike path? This happened, thank God not to ours, but our poor neighbors in our little townhouse project in the mountains. They lost a big chunk of the back portion of their land because the city wanted to put in a bike path, though you couldn't walk on it - which made no sense since people were getting hit by cars walking down the hill, but that's another story.
Point being, after you've gotten over your initial WTH - then work on solutions so it's attractive and again paint and utilize like a statue with some flowers - then no one will really even notice it because it will blend into the flowers.
If you're going to paint it, I would call either the city or the local fire department for permission. Some cities and even states have regulations about the color or hydrants. And get that permission in WRITING!
If you're going to paint it, I would call either the city or the local fire department for permission. Some cities and even states have regulations about the color or hydrants. And get that permission in WRITING!
It'd be much easier to just paint it without letting anyone know. Getting permission could take months or even years. One local official may say yes while another may say no. It's a total crapshoot. Just paint it and hope they don't notice or don't care. It's not like they noticed the OP's porch there or the incorrect valve installation... Besides, the OP can just paint it back if they don't like the new colors. I know they arrest children for bringing Skittles to school these days, but the OP is probably safe. Just be sure to pick up some paint in the original color! Also, if you paint it and someone throws a fit about it, you can make a big stink in the local paper and people will rally in support of a good paint job or artistic design.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chet everett
Tampering with fire protection equipment and/or the municipal water supply is basically terrorism.
For some reason I find this absolutely hilarious. You're absolutely right, but it's still hilarious. It's like those TSA agents that did a strip search on some 92 year old woman who somehow wound up on a watch list. Imagine the feds arresting someone for just trying to make their house look nice while some middle-eastern men next door stare out the windows and watch.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chet everett
You gonna bring suit against the phone company for upgrading their service boxes from analog tech in olive drab to digital in beige?
The cable company for getting rid of the old skinny coax for the the fatter stuff?
If the cable company is Comcast, then yes, absolutely. They deserve it, especially after implementing these ridiculous bandwidth limits and providing such poor service.
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They deserve it, especially after implementing these ridiculous bandwidth limits and providing such poor service. 
