Military Veteran Taken To Court By City Over ‘Off-Grid’ Lifestyle

by | Jun 17, 2015 | Headline News | 75 comments

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    27-year-old Tyler Truitt and his girlfriend have become totally independent of reliance on city utilities, hooking up solar panels and rainwater collectors on their two acre property, but the city of Huntsville, Alabama claims the structure is unsafe because of sanitation issues.

    “They came and they condemned our house and told us if we stayed here we’d be arrested for trespassing on our own property, and the reason why is, they said, it was unsafe living conditions because we don’t have city utilities hooked up,” Truitt told WAFF48.

    The city asserts Truitt’s property must be connected to the city’s treatment facility for the safety of Truitt and his neighbors and to comply with health codes.

    “The absence of a connection to a sanitary sewer system (whether a septic system or sanitary sewer outfall line connected, ultimately, to a treatment facility, is not only a health and safety issue for the occupants, it’s a health and safety issue for others who may live around him/her,” said Kelly Schrimsher, communications director for Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle. “There are both benefits to be obtained, and compromises to be made, when people choose to live in an urban community.”

    Truitt has vowed to stay on the property until he is physically hauled away by police, asserting that he is upholding the oath he swore to protect constitutional rights.

    “You have to stand up for what you believe in,” he said. “They could come out here today if they wanted to and take us to jail for trespassing, if that’s what they want to call it. … That’d be fine with me. I’ll still come back the next day and the next day and the next day because it’s my home and because I live here. Where else am I supposed to go really?”

    Huntsville officials claim that living off grid is not illegal, but that Truitt has violated an ordinance which states that he cannot live in a trailer that’s not in a designated trailer park. Truitt’s next court date is set for July 29.

    As we have previously reported, the clash between Americans choosing to live off-grid lifestyles and city authorities who insist they comply with sanitation codes has been intensifying.

    All ten of the children seized from “off grid” parents Joe and Nicole Naugler in Breckinridge County, Kentucky remain in state custody 6 weeks after they were first taken.

    The children were removed from the family by Sheriff’s deputies on May 6 as a result of the Naugler’s “free range” lifestyle on a rural 27 acre property. Photos posted on the family’s Facebook page suggested the children were growing up in an idyllic environment, but authorities claimed that living and sanitary conditions on the property were dangerous.

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      75 Comments

      1. Like it or not, cities have the right to establish zoning and building codes for residences in their jurisdiction.

        And, like it or not, you have to comply with them if you choose to live there.

        This is long established law, not something new.

        • “Where else am I to go really?”

          Not very imaginative when there
          is land throughout the country
          where no one gives a shit how
          or where you shit.

          • This is Huntsville. The liberals have infested that place pretty bad. Apparently they want it to be more like California than Alabama.

            If there is one city this state could do completely without, and be better off for it, it’s Huntsville.

            I say that with some regret, because there is a huge concentration of Ph.Ds up there…one of the highest in the nation, if not THE highest, actually. Some of the biggest high tech companies in the country are there….and there is also Redstone Arsenal, which is/was the #1 target on the Soviets’ radar to be nuked in WW3.

            Personally I think it would be worth the loss of Ph.Ds and potential radioactive fallout, for us to be rid of the liberal influence in that area. I do feel sorry for those who grew up their entire lives there and have watched that beautiful city turn into a Nazi shithole.

            • I lived in Alabama the first 30 years of my life. Now I’m in the midwest and I have no desire to go back. You are right about Huntsville. It attempts to be a liberal bastion in a very red state. I don’t know if there is more to this story, but I’m not surprised a story like this in Alabama is coming from the city importing more statists than any other place for 100 miles around.

          • People in the South are so browbeaten by irreligion’s brainwashing: that they must “serve the master” (the earthly masters–not the real Master, God, Whom the “religious” powers-that-be there claim will “punish” them if they don’t obey their earthly masters. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? …The cops telling us to obey them or they’ll send us to our eternity….).

        • Government does not have ANY rights. They only have whatever authority is granted to them by the people.
          Id be willing to bet there is no authority granted to the local government for this. Zoning boards in general must approve a situation that is contrary to existing rules unless they can prove it its unsafe. Ive won this battle myself. If he has 2 acres there is no reason why he cannot install a septic system of some sort unless he is living in a swamp with no drainage.

          • Everything we see going on can be viewed under social psychology. Just as the alpha female harasses the other females so they will not have successful pregnancies, the STATE harasses its citizens so they cannot gain any level of sovereignty. The goal of Huntsville is NOT sanitation. If it were, then what about those thousands of dogs and cats that crap all over the place. Its simple domination tactics. Truthfully, their authority is simple right of might; but, if the marine were to team with 100 others and establish their own power of right, then they would be just as justified, in my opinion. In fact, if they are acting based on freedom, then they are in the right. Huntsville politicians could very well find themselves evicted from their own homes for not bowing down themselves.

        • I’d like to know how they are disposing of their sewage. No sewer, no septic, must be a cesspool, or worse.

          Gotta go with the gubmint on this one, with 27 acres he’s got plenty of room for a septic design good for a family and still keep his wellsite clean.

          You want to live off the ‘grid’, that’ fine, but don’t create a cholera epidemic downslope.

          • If you truly looked into the story instead of just reading the blurb they put here, you would know they have a composting toilet.

            • OK, they’re running all their waste water through a composting toilet. That’s certainly meeting some health and sanitation requirements for a family.

              Sorry, folks. Pony up for a septic system. You can rent a Dingo walk-behind loader and dig it yourself over a weekend for $400, then get the system installed.

          • Well before the invention of plumbing and zoning ordinances, people have been shitting in the woods without much fuss…and he had 2 acres not 27, that was the other family with the “free range” children.

        • The title of the article should have read. Idiot Vet tries to pull Military rank to skirt local zoning laws. They should put him in prison just for being a war criminal for illegal invasion of another sovereign country, murder and genocide.

          • Since you are a direct descendant of war criminals who invaded North America, committing murder and genocide of downtrodden native Americans, you should also be put in prison for your crimes against humanity.

            You live on stolen ground. Give it back, hypocrite, and pay your penalty. If your father willed you an oil painting stolen during WWII, you would lose it to the rightful owners. What makes you different?

        • Cities have NO “rights.” City, State and Federal “jurisdiction” ONLY applies to land owned by that entity.

          Look up the definition of “authority” in Black’s Law Dictionary and in the 6th edition you will find the primary definition is a single word: “permission.” ALL “authority” flows from the CONSENT of the “governed” and without consent there is NO “authority.”

          Even if the majority of people want something it doesn’t matter. If I can’t order you to do something on your own land then it doesn’t matter if a million people vote to order you to do it. A million times NO authority is STILL NO AUTHORITY!

      2. Hook up and there is nothing says you have use it. On meter pole breaker box and a weather proof light switch.
        Sewer put a pot on an up right and as for water run line to it. There they have what they want all hooked-up. Nothing says you have to use it. I for one say f’n and feed them beans. Who the HELL do these people think they are. Let the revolution begin.

      3. Thanks, Obama.

      4. If it was me, I would “hook” up to the utilities and just not use anymore than the minimum.. city codes, whether right or wrong ( and I think it is VERY wrong ), allow them to require that. What they can not do is dictate usage. I expect that I will be forced to hook to city water someday.. I will.. but I’ll have a valve on my side and it will be turned off since I have 3 water wells. If I loose power for an extended time, I’ll open the valve.

        • I am not within city limits.. if I am forced to hook to the water utility, it will be a county wide thing.. and it’s coming.

      5. Why don’t these people just put a damn septic system in? It would keep the law off their back and they can still live “off grid”.

        • Septic is five grand

          • Five grand is cheap, the dumb bunny can make payments for that. No sympathy for these folks, they can make payments, borrow from family, sell something, whatever, instead of trying to hide behind some constitutional smokescreen about their god-given right to pollute the local groundwater.

            Hell, he can dig the dirt himself and save half of that five grand right there.

        • It is against City Ordinance and Code to put in a septic system in city limits. Unless, a home has already been established before such codes were put into place {grandfathered in}. Even if a home has a septic system already in place, and it has access to a city sewer system – it is not unusual for city officials to force those into the city utility system.

          This is one of many reasons why living in a city {large or small} You play by their rules, or don’t live there at all.

          • That’s bullshit. It’s a 2 acre property. Why I’m back in the country.

            • 27 acres.

              • 2 acres…”hooking up solar panels and rainwater collectors on their two acre property, but the city of Huntsville, Alabama claims the structure is unsafe because of sanitation issues.”

                • Yep, I read 27 acres further down, that was a different property, not the 2 acres here.

        • Agree With You ” D ” if ya want to live off Grid ? Fine, I. am all for it , but be smart , work a little bit with the system if ya don’t want to draw attention to what your doing then ultimately costing you $$$$ in Lawyer fees when you could have just simply paid for a Septic a Tank .

      6. So if this guys sewer running out onto the ground? Appears so… All he has to do is install a septic system, like everybody else in this country, then he would not be in violation of the city code.

        So what is the problem here? I don’ want a neighbor who has raw sewage running onto the ground only to be swept away when it rains.

        This idiot is using the facade of off grid and constitutional rights to illegally dump fecal material on the open ground.

        The other solution, don’t live inside a city, with city ordinances.

        • LoL @ the level of ignorance running rampant through here.

          You dolts that keep crying about polluting the water downstream and all that are forgetting how much shit you’re already getting downstream by all the other living animals that shit in the woods.

          STFU already and go find a nice liberal city to live in. You don’t belong here with the critical thinking crowd.

          • You are 100% correct about the level of ignorance in this thread, Billy Hill. For some reason or other, I expected a level of intellect here at SHTFplan to be above that at yahoo.

      7. They’ll keep coming back until you bury them or they’ll bury you. When you make that choice to live that kind of lifestyle you better be all in no matter what it brings. This fellow talks about whether they take him to jail he’ll just come back. While he’s in jail they’ll just demolish his house/mobile home.

      8. Lesson here is learn when and how to fight the system. Pick and choose your battles, then fight the one you know in advance that you are going to win. Just because you are hooked up to a system does not mean that you actually have to use it.
        Now they have drawn attention to themselves which is the LAST thing you want to do. Proper sanitation is a must, so here I do have to side with the city. Also there usually is a very sound reason why cities have their codes. Improper sanitation will make you just as dead as any bullet will.

        • Good thing you people don’t live out
          in the country where they spread cow,
          horse, chicken, pig, and human shit
          on the fields to make the corn grow.

          What a bunch of pussies we’ve become.

          • Human waste is different from “Herbivore” waste, you can compost it but its needs to cook at 160 degrees or better. Just be glad its the city on you instead of a HOA.

          • Its sad Agenda 21 stuff, spreading everywhere.

            • Oh, we and the rest of the civilized world had zoning and sanitation laws long before Agenda 21 was even conceived.

        • Good thing you people don’t live out
          in the country where they spread cow,
          horse, chicken, pig, and human shit
          on the fields to make the corn grow.

          What a bunch of pussies we’ve become.

          • OutWest, human shit is not a good idea to be used as a fertilizer, unless it has been *thoroughly* composted in an *aerobic* digester. In other words, pile it up in a big pile of leaves and let it rot fully into compost, and it’s OK…otherwise, human disease can actually be taken up by your crops’ roots.

            Agreed with your overall philosophy. Huntsville is not representative of Alabama at all. That city is surrounded on all sides by farmers doing just as you describe, big chickenhouses, etc. When Huntsville disappears off the map, lots of those folks won’t be missed.

            • Don’t tell that to the Germans! Ever go over there. Most of us got sick right away as our systems are not used to human feces fertilized products.

            • Even at that, it slowly concentrates heavy metals and other serious toxic chemicals as composting them does not destroy them and using them as fertilizer adds ever increasing quantities to the plants grown in them and consumed afterwards.

              You use it to fertilize animal feed and the same process occurs through their systems.

        • NewVegasBadger,
          I agree. Bad sanitation is deadly.
          Glad we have counties here that are unrestricted, but you still have to proper sanitation, depending on how much ground you have it’s septic, or a lagoon system, or even a composting toilets. Depends on your property size.

      9. Any worthwhile comments have been stated.

      10. just remember you american dumbfuks vote for this 🙂

        • NO WE DID NOT CHARLIEFUCKING-HIS2DOGS!

          • SofaKingWeeTodd….

            What a lovely, lovely comment to another human being.
            Now, go back and satisfy yourself by peeing on your sofa.
            Happy fathers day, futher mucker.

      11. If they did this to me I would Find out who is responsible for this bad decision and visit their home and do my own inspection. I bet I would find “A LOT” of “broken & damaged” stuff that would make their home unsafe for them to live in.
        Karma is a royal bitch!

        • We.., as Forrest Gump’s mother said “Stupid is as stupid does”.

      12. just tied into the sewer about a year ago the sespool failed to drain properly so i had an emergency tie in only had to pay drain layer because the assesment was paid.i would take city sewer anyday if its available i just flush my worries away no worries and its cheaper the sewwer bill is attached to your property tax. getting the tank pumped was $225 twice a year thats $450 a year the sewer for the year is about $250 for the year for all the water i want to put down the drain. you have to move the waste away from people that is shit and full of bacteria and the crap people eat nowadays filth. if we were eating grass like the cows you might be able to sell your shit.

        • asshat, A properly working septic system never needs to be pumped. At the least, your drain field wasn’t working. Probably clogged up with roots or driven all over and smashed. We have had ours pumped one time in 25 years, and it works just fine.

          • Mine failed after 43 years. Clay tile, tar paper, I think Charles Dickens had a septic system made exactly the same way. New one is open-bottom piping, should never clog.

            Prior owners had planted trees in the middle of the field, always a stupid idea. Never put a large tree in your drain field, or near the house.

            Replacement cost was $7,000. Sewer hookup over 43 years would have been about the same cost, and certainly doesn’t hit the bank account hard.

      13. Don’t look now, the CBO has issues a statement saying that if we stay on the current path, the USA will no longer exist due to economic disaster. It’s on O Reilly on faux news.

        Btw, packing preps SUCKS. Flew back to CT to complete the move and I’ve been packing preps all day.

        • If like me you have been prepping for a few years now and it is really a mind blower when you start packing it up to realize just how much you have accumulated over the years. We moved to our BOL almost a month ago and getting all the preps packed up was really a chore, right now we are still putting up shelves and building a pantry for it all. When you step back and look at it all it is a sight so heart warming I almost cried. Out in the boonies just us and the squirrels, come what may we are ready to live out our lives in peace. At 77 it was quite a chore and it took almost a year in the planning stage alone, the move was a 3 month deal; so we are so glad for it to be all done.

          Wish everyone the good fortune we have found in the coming months I think it’s going to be a rough ride. Take care everyone.

      14. Simple question and answer here ….

        Who was there first? …. Huntsville and their city ordinances or this yahoo wanting to live in a trailer and shit in the front yard ….

        You choose to move into an area governed by certain laws & ordinances that you don’t intend to observe … don’t bitch

        MOVE!!!!!

        • “You choose to move into an area governed by certain laws & ordinances that you don’t intend to observe … don’t bitch ”

          Someone should have told the people of Huntsville that, before they decided to build their shithole city on Cherokee land.

      15. Trailer
        He`s living in a trailer in a town that only allows them in trailer parks. Did anyone read the whole thing or just a couple lines.

        • I vote for a few lines or at a minimum sub-par reading comprehension. The first paragraph says he lives on 2 acres yet the first flow of comments people are saying 27 acres…

      16. out of sight…out of mind.

        move farther out into the county where the zoning law is lax and on yur’ own land away from the beaten trail would be best if going off grid.

      17. There are alternitives to septic,cleavis multridge is one example.I would never choose to buy anywhere there was city water/sewer,too many people for me.Plenty of places to live that one can be off the grid,but,have had it with all forms of govt. and hope this guy and for that matter the country win against govt.,the war that is coming and in some places already here.

      18. Won’t Matter …

        It won’t matter (given time) about any of this. The city government, then the town government, then the county government, (etc) will do exactly the same thing. No one anywhere will be able to “Live off the Land” in any shape of form without the “Rule of Thumb” from our perceived masters with large Thumbs…

      19. And we call ourselves a free country!

      20. Why qualify this with “a military veteran”. Would this article not have as much validity if it was about a non-veteran? Are people who aren’t military not as important? I’m sorry, but this military worship has just got to stop – it is literally destroying the world. Jingoism and warmongering are not something to celebrate.

        • They are just stating the facts…he was in the military at some point in his life. If he was the CEO of a billion dollar company…they would say “CEO of company X hook(ed) up solar panels and rainwater collectors on (his/her)two acre property, but the city of Huntsville, Alabama claims the structure is unsafe because of sanitation issues.”

        • Warmongers are those who give the orders, not the soldiers that only follow them.

          Left to their own devices with no one ordering them into action, armies have a strong tendency to sit around and do nothing.

          No country on earth at any time in history has ever existed without a military of some kind to keep it from being taken over by one that had one.

      21. What an odd bunch of comments supporting the “statists”.

        Ever hear of an outhouse? They once were used by everyone and, no, they don’t spread disease. I once lived in the center of a small town with water and sewage hookups available yet the shithouse was an outhouse and the .gov pigs never cared.

        They will never leave you alone if you choose not to participate in their system to their satisfaction.

        .gov pigs hate freemen.

        • Sort of makes you wonder why “they” (which is the citizens of the towns) ever decided to do away with outhouses and replace them with sewer systems in the first place.

          I can’t see any need for sewer systems, all kinds of third world countries do without them, just dump it in the river and let mother nature take over.

          • Dump your waste in the creeks and rivers and Mother Nature will take over, all right.

            There’s a reason why Third World countries are called Turd World countries. Disease in many forms directly related to sanitation is rampant and kills millions.

          • No thanks on dumping waste into creeks or rivers. We don’t want this state to become India. I do agree though that a good outhouse should be perfectly fine.

      22. I live in one of the poorest counties in Alabama and I have seen the consequences of poor santation practices. I am also an environmental scientist for the state and I totally agree with the city officials.City codes for sanitation are in place to prevent disease transmission within a population. Living off the grid in an unpopulated area may be different. If you think we can do as we please, without rules then drink from a stream without treating the water first. I believe you will then understand.

        • When SHTF, and an outbreak of Cholera is traced back to a property, guess what’s going to happen to the owner and everyone else living there?

          • What makes you think anyone in this country has high enough intelligence to trace anything back to anywhere?

      23. If you want to be free of city ordinances, do not buy within the city limits. However one still must meet county codes, and many have reasonable regulations regarding septic tanks.

      24. And the “court”, their police and military (if he defeats the police) will declare and wage war on him to make him live their way. His best option would be to leave them with their doomed civilization.

      25. No specific mention, but way too many off-gridders know more about grey water than they do about being a grey man. Once you go out on social media or bring attention to yourself, some do-gooder calls the authorities and they converge on you. Either maintain good family op sec or bite the bullet and hook up to city utilities or at least well and septic. You don’t have to use them, but the utilities are cheaper and less of a hassle than trying to get you kids back, or fighting in the courts.

      26. Americans are very ignorant!” There are no two ways about. I bet he can tell me the score of the latest game played by the team he follows or what other fade he’s into, But ask him about the maxim of law and he is clueless. And because of that he has no way of asking the (hard) correct question. And collectively we all suffer because of this ignorants. If you know this vet or someone like him or just want to know for your own protection I suggest you read or listen to Knowledge is power!

      27. So, did I miss it? What are they doing with their poop? The article doesn’t say. No, outhouses are not safe in an urban environment. Outhouses are only suitable in rural environments where people are spread pretty far apart. Composting toilets are fine though and approved in most places inn the country.

        The article doesn’t give enough information to support one side or the other in this story.

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