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Old 04-05-2019, 08:30 AM   #1
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Apr 2019
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Smile Florida Skoolie questions.

I live in space coast Florida, and am looking to start converting my second bus within the year. When I had my last bus I lived in a far more rural area where I parked my bus on my property for years and lived there with no issues.

Looks like Florida is a different issue.
Is anyone living on their own land with no issues down here? Seems like code enforcement would find out quickly and make me clear off. I thought about buying some land zoned Agricultural because you are allowed to build a steel building with no permit or oversight if it is for your registered farm, and I thought about just parking the bus inside a steel building during the winters (when I would be here)

Anyone have any ideas or creative solutions?

I even thought about buying a small piece of land in Orange, Volusia, and Brevard counties and just staying until someone complained, and then going to another county until someone complained there, and rinse and repeat. If I got a year or two on each, I would probably be able to just cycle through them since it takes a while for someone to notice and then complain and then go through the code enforcement cycle.

Just looking for ideas, I would like to be down here during the school year, and then elsewhere during the summer. Also, if anyone has some conversion space they would like to rent out in the space coast area let me know. Or perhaps land for sale or lease for living on. Any other skoolies in the area?

-StrayPoet

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Old 04-05-2019, 09:20 AM   #2
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You got it, it's down to local ordinances. You wouldn't have any trouble in the country, but in a typical neighborhood you an expect to be protected and served. I built my first bus on commercial property I was leasing, my second bus I built in a field off a dirt road. I didn't have any trouble with either, but my friends who tried to build a bus in the driveway had a very different experience.
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Old 04-05-2019, 09:32 AM   #3
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Originally Posted by brokedown View Post
You got it, it's down to local ordinances. You wouldn't have any trouble in the country, but in a typical neighborhood you an expect to be protected and served. I built my first bus on commercial property I was leasing, my second bus I built in a field off a dirt road. I didn't have any trouble with either, but my friends who tried to build a bus in the driveway had a very different experience.
I am selling the house I currently have within a few months, and plan to do the conversion elsewhere. not sure where yet, so not doing it in a driveway in a neighborhood, so I should avoid those issues.

I have found several pieces of land that are about an acre in size with dirt road access, I am thinking of getting one or two of them and after the bus is converted I would move onto the land and see what happened. If someone complains I would have to leave, but it could take a long time before that happened if ever. I would be coming and going fairly often, so I would think that people would realize I am not there 100% of the time, so they might just leave me alone.

I thought about buying the land now, and planting a circle of bamboo around where I plan to park the bus, after a year or so it would be a large screen of green that should dissuade prying eyes.

I don't plan to be in FL longer than about 8 more years (until my youngest is out of school) so I really don't want to buy another house just so I have a place to park the bus, but I might just get a cheap piece of property with an old double wide already on it, and then just use it as a place to park the bus. Ideally though I would prefer just uncleared land and peace and quiet.

I plan to be off grid, and use only a grey-water tank, which I would possibly hand-dig my own disposal/settlement tank for. I only need to be here during the school year for 8 years or so, which hopefully means I can get away with it.

It is too populated in FL
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Old 04-05-2019, 09:38 AM   #4
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8 more years! We're leaving in something like 10 more days.

if you look around northern Florida you can find rental lots for cheap. Maybe cheap enough to rent all year even if you're only there during the winter.
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Old 04-05-2019, 09:46 AM   #5
Mini-Skoolie
 
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8 more years! We're leaving in something like 10 more days.

if you look around northern Florida you can find rental lots for cheap. Maybe cheap enough to rent all year even if you're only there during the winter.
Unfortunately I am locked into the area I am in now for family reasons. I have to stay close to the school that they are in now, so for me that is Titusville, Cocoa, Christmas or somewhere near there.

If I was free to take them wherever I wanted, we would be on our way out west right now.... but I have to deal with the situation as it is. Atleast I can take them adventuring out of the area during the summer.

Only 8 more years... I tell myself that every morning.
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Old 04-05-2019, 10:06 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by StrayPoet View Post
I live in space coast Florida, and am looking to start converting my second bus within the year. When I had my last bus I lived in a far more rural area where I parked my bus on my property for years and lived there with no issues.

Looks like Florida is a different issue.
Is anyone living on their own land with no issues down here? Seems like code enforcement would find out quickly and make me clear off. I thought about buying some land zoned Agricultural because you are allowed to build a steel building with no permit or oversight if it is for your registered farm, and I thought about just parking the bus inside a steel building during the winters (when I would be here)

Anyone have any ideas or creative solutions?

I even thought about buying a small piece of land in Orange, Volusia, and Brevard counties and just staying until someone complained, and then going to another county until someone complained there, and rinse and repeat. If I got a year or two on each, I would probably be able to just cycle through them since it takes a while for someone to notice and then complain and then go through the code enforcement cycle.

Just looking for ideas, I would like to be down here during the school year, and then elsewhere during the summer. Also, if anyone has some conversion space they would like to rent out in the space coast area let me know. Or perhaps land for sale or lease for living on. Any other skoolies in the area?

-StrayPoet
I've had a bus sitting in the outskirts of Apopka for years and no one's said anything. I don't live in it, though.

I know folks live in RV's up in Astor. There's cheap land there but its in the boonies.
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