Making My 800 Gal.... Bigger

Ok... So I'm a little fired up at the moment... Let me explain... I went to the village of Orwell (my home town) to ask if I could put out my Monster Fish Rescue.com sign in the front yard because I was hosting a board meeting for the Ohio Cichlid Association as I'm a board member and voulonteered to host a meeting. The sign is 18" x 24".

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I went to the village and I asked if there was a permit I needed to get to put the sign out, she (Vicki Thomson who is the zoning inspector) said she wasn't sure but if I wanted to put it out this one time that was fine and then we'd talk about it at a later date... This came in the mail for me:

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After calling this morning she tells me people were complaining about the sign... Likely story. No one has ever complained about the sign before I brought it to her attention. When I brought it to her attention I also told her that we're not open to the public and that rescues were performed over the internet and that at a last resort fish would come here. And 99% of the time I go get the fish IF the fish even needs to come here. Thankfully most rescues are resolved before even making it to the website or here! The last time someone came here and brought a fish that needed rescued was four months ago. And the sign was out for a couple of weeks at that time... Not a single complaint then...



So now I've got 90 days to shut down my non-profit LLC for running a buisiness out of my home. There's a Planning and Zoning Meeting April 21st @ 6:30 P.M. at:



179 West Main Street

Orwell Ohio 44076



They want me to come and ask for a conditional use permit which costs $175 because I run an internet fish rescue.



I'm asking for your support. If you believe that what I do is a good thing, if you're a supporter of Monster Fish Rescue then come to the meeting, it's open to the public. If you can't come to the meeting write a letter and send it to:



Orwell Zoning Commision

c/o Vicki Thomson

179 West Main Street

Orwell Ohio 44076



I'm not asking for donations, I'm asking for your support in any way you can. Personally I find the entire situation rediculous. No good deed goes unpunished.



If you sell Avon, or Creative Memories supplies, or have ever sold a single thing on eBay or Aquabid you're an internet buisiness. If you've ever babysat for someone, you're running a buisiness out of your home. Better run out and get that permit!



On a lighter note, youtube has pulled their head from their !@#% Here's some videos of the tank and our latest rescue!!!!



[URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJN3661BQjs"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJN3661BQjs[/URL]



[URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jKOvdnT7pg"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jKOvdnT7pg[/URL]
 
No Way! Do you have this jobsworth's email address, I feel a rant coming on. Please PM me it if you have it - I'll keep it confidential as you wouldn't want a torrent of spam to upset the bovine even more. She's probably on a bonus just for posting a red sign, sheesh some people. :shout: :flex: :devil: Is it not possible to register what you do as a charity in your state? This way they would be morally obliged to accept your sign? :p If not, PM me your paypal and I will contribute to the $175 if you need.

On a more happier note, fantastic job with the rescue tank dude - seriously well done looks awesome. I feel a song coming on...



:band:
 
Thank you for the song! LOL

I am currently registered with the state as a non profit LLC. This had to be established first in order to become a full fledged non profit organization. Then my name will change again... I think...

Here's the village of Orwells website:
[URL="http://www.orwellvillage.org/"]http://www.orwellvillage.org/[/URL]

The issue is MFR is an internet business. We are not open to the public. As for the sign. It's an advertisement for the website and that is all. It does NOT say "open for business" or anything of that sort.

I cannot stop anyone from emailing or writing letters. If you email... Tell them what part of the world you're from... It's not like you flew over here and took a tour of the place... Which by the way I just shot some more videos of all the tanks and hopefully youtube will continue to cooperate :)

Thank you for the support!

Jonathan
 
That sucks about the legal stuff but....

Your tank rocks! :good:

How many fish you got in there?
 
Here’s a list of what’s been put in so far:
Paco the pacu 22”
Female Jaguar 8”
Iridescent shark 15”
Iridescent shark 12”
Mad Barb 15”
Common pleco 17”
Leopard Sailfin Pleco 16”
Synodontis euptrus 7.5”
Tiger Oscar 10”
Common Oscar 12”
Tiger Oscar 9”
Silver Dollar 5”
Fire Mouth 5.5”
Bocourti 11”
Lemon Severum 4”
Green Severum 7.5”
Midas 9”
Black Belt 10”
Bocourti 10.5”
Jack Dempsey 6.5”
w/c Midas 10”
Convict 8”
Female Nicaraguan cichlid 5”
Uaru 5”
Male Nicaraguan Cichlid 6”
Male Robertsoni “Bob” 9.5”
Midas/???? Hybrid 8.5”
Belly Crawler pike cichlid 6”
Male Salvanii 6”
Black Belt 9”
Black belt 8.5”
Synodontis Notata 10”
Synpilum 11”
Male Jaguar cichlid 9”
Male Red Terror 8”
Black Belt 9.5”
Female Jaguar cichlid 7.5”
Silver Dollar 5.5”
Silver Dollar 5.5”
Midas 8.5”
Midas 8.5”
Intermedious 8.5”
Intermedious 8.5”
Midas 8.5”
Tilapia Mamfe 7.5”
Red Bay Snook 5”
Blue Acara 5”
Pim Cat 10” Silver Dollar 7”
Female Nicaraguan Cichlid 4”
Today I did water changes on all the other tanks and moved some more fish in:
Male Paratilapia polleni 8”
Female Paratilapia pollen 7”
Female Paratilapia pollen 6”
Tilapia Marae 4.5”
Tilapia buttikoferi 5”
Synodontis ocellifer 8”
Ctenopoma Kingsleyae 8.5”
Ctenopoma Kingsleyae 7.5”
Ctenopoma Kingsleyae 7”
Ctenopoma Kingsleyae 6”
Siamese bumble bee catfish 7.5”
Leopard Sailfin Catfish 16”

Added has been a rescued midas and the giant gourami along with three small midas.

Here's what I'll be reading and handing out at the meeting:

Monster Fish Rescue.com

Pertaining to the matter of the Monster Fish Rescue.com sign that was in the front yard of 113 South Maple Street, where I, Jonathan Strazinsky reside, I would like to clarify (1) the signs purpose, and (2) Monster Fish Rescue as a business.

1.) I contacted zoning the week of March 9th to ask about placing the sign in my front yard as a simple land mark for fellow board members of the Ohio Cichlid Association so they could easily find where our board meeting was going to take place. Each month a board member of the OCA volunteers to host a board meeting at their residence. I volunteered to host Marches meeting. I wanted to make sure there were no issues with the village of Orwell with me wanted to put the sign up. Vicki Thomson informed me that I could set up the sign on the day of the meeting (March 14th 2009) and she then would bring it up to her boss about possibly keeping the sign up on a permanent basis which I was told would cost $10. Initially I just wanted to have the sign out to use as a land mark for when people would come over for any reason what so ever. Then Vicki told me that it was only $10 for a sign permit.
Admittedly I forgot to take the sign down. The meeting ended late and we had family over the following day. My priority was not to get the sign down but to prepare our home for visitors. I apologize if the sign offended someone in the village but I find it interesting that the first time I bring the sign up to a village employee all of a sudden there’s “Complaints about the sign” when last year I had a 4’x2’ blue box with the exact same wording on it out in the front yard for a few weeks and never had a single complaint.
As for the sign it’s self it is simply an advertisement for a website, my website. No where on the sign does it say “open for business” or “please come in”. In short, I am willing to pay the $10 permit fee in order to be able to have the sign up in my front yard on a more permanent basis even though the sign is easily removed.


2.) Reasons why I will NOT be asking for a conditional use permit:
Monster Fish Rescue has been registered with the state to eventually be a non profit organization. According to state law an organization seeking non profit “organization” status needs to register its name as an LLC before the process can start. Fred Green is my lawyer and has been in the process of attaining Monster Fish Rescue’s status as a non profit organization. His number is (440) 286-4770.

Monster Fish Rescue is an internet based non profit LLC that I run to rescue fish and reptiles. Ninety-nine percent of these rescues are orchestrated via the internet or by phone. Our home is not open to public traffic. Friends that I have met online do stop by from time to time to view my aquariums as I’ve got a 1500 gallon aquarium that I built myself. This is exactly the time I would like to have the sign out so these people can find the house easily. The last time someone was here dropping off a fish in need of rescue was some time in October of 2008. If a fish or reptile needs to come here it’s because all other options have been exhausted and there’s no other place for it to go. Owners of these fish have driven here from as far away as Long Island New York to ensure their fish will have a proper home. Monster Fish Rescue is not a pet store or any sort of public arena. People simply bring me their fish to give them a good home or to allow me more time to place the fish into an appropriate home. I see no difference between this and someone wanting to take their dog to a farm because they don’t want it any longer or can’t keep it any longer, much like freecycle.org. If you were to walk into our residence you would not see for sale signs on my tanks or price lists or a cash register.

On a side note and to have it on record I was personally offended that the Zoning inspector (Vicki Thomson) insinuated that the dead fish found in the water treatment facility was mine. I am 100% confident that we are not the only residents in the village of Orwell that own aquarium fish. I do not typically dispose of dead fish by flushing them down the toilet. Fish are frozen triple bagged then added to the out going trash early on Tuesday mornings. Although it is common practice for aquarists to flush their dead fish, especially the concerned parent of a child who owns a goldfish that has passed on. Thank you for taking the time to listen to my concerns and please consider the points I’ve made before deciding to shut down my internet non profit LLC on June 16th 2009.
 
OK if anyone wants to help support the MonsterFishRescue.com project please see the email a the bottom of this post. :good:

I'm sure a little spammage from TFF will soon sort them out and we can enjoy some more vids.
Replace the "etc" at the end of the mail with your name...my mail is going as soon as I post this.

First copy this code into your email then email to the address below...

[codebox]
Dear Sir / Madam

It has recently come to my attention that you have recently served Lora & Jonathan Strazinsky (address unknown) with a “stop zoning and/or building violation” order via:
Orwell Zoning Commision
c/o Vicki Thomson
179 West Main Street
Orwell Ohio 44076

Whilst I understand that the laws of your county must be upheld, I think I must internationally state my disagreement regarding the issues surrounding this zoning order.
Lora and Jonathan Strazinsky, in my opinion, do a particularly great service locally and to the wider USA community, as they re-house large to very large tropical fish that
any negligent previous owner did not realize would grow so big for their fish tank upon buying them. This negligence is routed in fish shop supplying these creatures but there
is no jurisdiction in place to stop these shops from doing so.

Lora and Jonathan Strazinsky do not ask for any profit nor recompense for their valued service and seek to further re-house said rescued fish into local attractions and beauty spots
that will accommodate them comfortably in time.

For some while now I have been an admirer of Jonathan Strazinsky’s excellent work online, as I believe it embodies the true meaning of the word charity.
Charity that is aimed at fish-keepers less knowledgeable than himself, who, in the act of fish keeping, and who decide to try to keep large adult fish in an uncomfortable,
near death state in their homes wish to re-house their mistakes. I do not believe he seeks recompense from your juristiction nor from the USA government in the upkeep of these animals,
yet.

In short, Jonathan’s work, in my opinion should be admired by your community and much more widely appreciated also, as he is running a non profit organization,
I implore you to remove the zoning order. I am a fish keeper and animal owner / lover myself and cannot abide when a creature is destroyed because the owner is negligent.

I hope that you will have the good sense to understand the work of Lora and Jonathan Strazinsky, understand what they do and therefore remove the zoning order and uphold
the removal as soon as possible.
Yours faithfully

etc
[/codebox]

If you want to support this guy email the above code to:

[email protected] unfortunately poor Cindy is the only point of contact on their contact page... she'll be busy then...
 
That is excellent! Thank you so much! I'm going to release you letter to the world as I belong to about 36 forums.
 
i need my youtube fix :big_boss:
 
I should mention that they misspelled my wifes name.... Not a big deal so I've edited your email a bit as her name is Lora :)

Dear Sir / Madam

It has recently come to my attention that you have recently served Lora& Jonathan Strazinsky (address unknown) with a “stop zoning and/or building violation” order via:
Orwell Zoning Commision
c/o Vicki Thomson
179 West Main Street
Orwell Ohio 44076

Whilst I understand that the laws of your county must be upheld, I think I must internationally state my disagreement regarding the issues surrounding this zoning order. Lora and Jonathan Strazinsky, in my opinion, do a particularly great service locally and to the wider USA community, as they re-house large to very large tropical fish that any negligent previous owner did not realize would grow so big for their fish tank upon buying them. This negligence is routed in fish shop supplying these creatures but there is no jurisdiction in place to stop these shops from doing so.
Lora and Jonathan Strazinsky do not ask for any profit nor recompense for their valued service and seek to further re-house said rescued fish into local attractions and beauty spots that will accommodate them comfortably in time.
For some while now I have been an admirer of Jonathan Strazinsky’s excellent work online, as I believe it embodies the true meaning of the word charity. Charity that is aimed at fish-keepers less knowledgeable than himself, who, in the act of fish keeping, and who decide to try to keep large adult fish in an uncomfortable, near death state in their homes wish to re-house their mistakes. I do not belive he seeks recompense from your juristiction nor from the USA government in the upkeep of these animals, yet.
In short, Jonathan’s work, in my opinion should be admired by your community and much more widely appreciated also, as he is running a non profit organization, I implore you to remove the zoning order. I am a fish keeper and animal owner / lover myself and cannot abide when a creature is destroyed because the owner is negligent. I hope that you will have the good sense to understand the work of Lora and Jonathan Strazinsky, understand what they do and therefore remove the zoning order and uphold the removal as soon as possible.
Yours faithfully

etc


Hope that's ok with you as it was very well written, thank you again for the very kind words about us.
Jonathan.
 
you should also explane that to flush fish like that gurami and its tank mates down the loo youd need a heck of a plumbin system
 
Just read your thread and its taken a while! The boyfriend is not looking amused. never mind!

The tank is amazing!!! I thought my tank was quite big you have put it to shame! Keep up all your good work!!!

YOU ARE A LEGEND!!!!!

:yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo:
 

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