Isn’t the HOA civil though? Like they could assess a bunch of fine and send them to you, but they couldn’t enforce some kind of removal from your land as some kind of criminal offense the police would enforce?
I still kind of think in most places in the US, this might not be illegal. (Someone else brought up HOAs, but that’s kind of a different story.) But now I’m curious and hoping someone who knows better can weigh in.
Oh for sure HOAs and CC&Rs. But assuming those aren’t in place, I’m still thinking this might be ok. And I suppose that’s a civil matter anyway, no cop would enforce that. And even if there was something on the books, I don’t think a cop would enforce that unless you were doing something else to piss them off or someone else. Like cooking meth for example.
In the US, we do having the concept of “residential” zoning. Though I’m thinking that applies more to the structures being built there. I’m thinking building this kind of thing and living in it might not actually be illegal? Depending on what you are doing with your waste (like piss and shit) they might get you for some kind of health code violation. But barring that I think you might be able to get away with this. (But who would want to?) Maybe someone who knows better than me can weigh in.
I’m guessing it was a small company and/or super legacy systems and processes. I didn’t read the article.