He sold the land to the concrete company and then fought them on building a plant? Did I read that right? This was all over a shortcut that was being taken away?
He’d purchased the land on which his shop was built in 1992, and over the years had agreed to sell the land to a concrete company to build a plant. The negotiations hadn’t been easy, and he’d been having trouble agreeing with the company on a suitable price.
In 2001, the city approved construction of a concrete plant, zoning the land next to Heemeyer’s for the use. Heemeyer was furious, as he’d used the land for the past nine years as a shortcut between his home and his muffler shop. He petitioned the city to have the property rezoned to prevent the construction of the plant, but was rejected on multiple occasions.
In 1992, Heemeyer purchased 2 acres (0.8 ha) of land from the Resolution Trust Corporation, the federal agency organized to handle the assets of failed savings and loan associations. He purchased the land for $42,000 to build a muffler shop and subsequently agreed to sell the land to Cody Docheff to build a concrete batch plant, Mountain Park Concrete. The agreed price was $250,000. According to Susan Docheff, Heemeyer changed his mind and increased the price to $375,000, and later demanded a deal worth approximately $1 million. Some believed that this negotiation happened before the rezoning proposal was heard by the town council.[5]
In 2001, Granby's zoning commission and trustees approved the construction of the concrete plant. Heemeyer attempted to appeal the decision but was unsuccessful. It was claimed by Heemeyer that the construction blocked access to his shop. He was subsequently fined $2,500[6] by the town council and a city judge for various violations, including "not being hooked up to the sewer line;" he had initially been unable to connect to the new sewer line as the line ran some sixty feet away from his property and the city expected him to pay the nearly $80,000 cost of laying the connector, and after the concrete plant was built the city council denied him the easement necessary to join to the new line underneath the plant.[7]
Wait, wait, wait.
The guy bought dirt for $42,000. Found a prospective buyer for roughly 600% over his initial purchase price, but then decided to
bulldoze his potential buyer stating he wanted 25 times more money ($1,000,000) than his original purchase price.
Then the 'reasonable' individual ultimately sold and was mad because HIS TRANSACTION cut himself off from getting access to sewer service AND lost his shortcut to work?
Are those facts correct?
He then threw a tantrum of epic proportions and destroyed his community when he couldn't have his cake and eat it, too?
Yes, Heemeyer "...was always willing to be reasonable until I had to be unreasonable. Sometimes reasonable men must do unreasonable things." There is no reasoning with a man with a mentality like that. I am sure he was a peach of a human.
Just save and except an access and utility easement take the quarter million, reinvest it in a modest growth vessel for 20 years at 10% and you've got over $1.5 mil. A reasonably humble man could then live off the interest and never touch the principal.
But, I get it. Going on a rampage that ends with sucking buckshot out of a twelve gauge like a straw is the reasonable legacy to pass down to your subsequent generations. THAT IS COMPLETELY REASONABLE.
