neighbors

[Tommy Traylor]

Congratulations on your solution which appears to be at your fingertips. Remember with the husband/wife situation it aint done til its done. If it falls apart again 1, Listen to George. 2. Pursue the idea of building your shop with one or more rental spaces. 3 or 4 spaces might carry most or all of your payments. Immediately start talking to several tenants about your new facility. This will get back to the landlord and tend to reinforce his morals. Best of luck to you.

[ironwolfforgeca]

BGD there is a model railroad club in town I know one of the members they meet on sat 10 am for coffee @ Apple Peddlers

[ironstein]

Thanks to all for the advice! Yesterday i was approached by a man outside my shop, he offered me tickets to a boxing match, and as we introduced ourselves, he stated that he was the owner of the gym. I explained what the landlords wife told me, he recoiled in horror! It turns out he is in construction, and he had no idea his wife, daughter and my landlords counterpart were scheming about my shop! As we talked, i brought him in the shop to see my wares and tools, he was very apologetic and explained that he was going to have a serious talk with his wife and daughter, and the landlord. I even ran the hammer for him, and he told me i had nothing to worry about. He told me that if he knew about any of this it would have been handled differently. He said that their boxing classes start at 5 pm and that i was free to make as much noise as i wanted, that they could just turn the music up in the gym. He said his daughter was doing injury massage a few times a week, but it will end at the beginning of november. Now that he has my info he will communicate with me, and i with him about any issues. I told him it might be best if the landlord moved me to another unit, he insisted that i stay, and that he was gong to rent the unit next to me so it would just be the two of us in this building, and not to worry about noise. He is a super nice guy, and was really upset that these women were trying to strong arm a fledgling small business owner. I told him we all need to sit down with the owner and make sure all the issue are solved. Now i need to sit down with the owner and get my lease squared away.
George,
Thanks for all your advice, i will definitely get the lease written for my protection. Yesterday the code enforcement official was here checking business licenses in the entire complex (4 buildings, 20 units)! When the code official came to my shop she checked my licenses and winked at me like she had made some inquiries! I didn't have the chance to speak with her about anything since she had an assistant with her, but i suspect she may have played a part in resolving all of this. Thanks for your advice, i will keep you all posted as to how the lease arrangement turns out.
@ Tommy and others who have suggested building my own shop. I can't swing this right now, but we will be looking to buy a home at some point in the next few years. When we do it will have enough room to be able to build my shop, and be away from any noise issues.

[george m.]

Dear Ironstein,

I'm glad it is all working out well. One last bit of advice: When you are looking for property for a home/shop make sure that there aren't any zoning issues. There may be problems with a commercial shop in residential zones. Many places allow home occupations but there cannot be any employees. Sometimes you can do it if you get a special permit which usually requires the consent of the neighbors. Often, a rural location has fewer restictions for this sort of thing because there are fewer folk which might be impacted.

If you have any specific questions or issues contact me via a private message.

Best wishes,
George