A US Marine Corps Veteran had his property condemned by the City of Huntsville for living off grid.
He is now fighting city hall to stand up for his right to live on his two acres of land in a self sufficient manner.
The property owner, Tyler Truitt, said this issue is about his rights under the US Constitution, which he took an oath to uphold and protect.
“Give people the most freedom and liberty as possible without infringing on anyone else’s rights. I just don’t see how we are hurting anyone by being here”.
Truitt and his girlfriend Soraya Hamar are currently refusing to leave the property and the city is threatening to arrest them! Truitt says he will come back every day and they can arrest him over and over, because this is his home and he has a right to be there.
They live on the land 100% off the grid. They use 550 gallons of rain water collection, a composting toilet, and solar panels instead of municipal utilities. The home was structurally sound, but condemned because he is not using city utilities.
There is currently a gofundme to raise money to support the couple and their efforts to live off the grid. As of this moment they have raised $510 of their $10k goal. Please comment here if you decide to donate so we can let him know! You can also follow the fight on facebook by liking this page.
Watch the original news piece here:
His support team has notified our blog that he will be making a video update to this story today or tomorrow. Check back here for the update.
Have any of our readers faced ramifications like this for trying to homestead or live off grid on your own property? Tell us your story!
In my personal opinion, this shows how important it is to make sure you know the codes, regulations, and laws of the city, county and state when you buy land and plan to live off grid.
I honor Tyler’s fight, but will probably look for un-zoned land when it is time for me to buy so I can live off grid hassle-free.
I wonder if it is actually because they’re not using city utilities, or because it doesn’t sound like they may have gotten permitting and inspections. You’re better off living off grid in county not city limits anyway.
agreed!
That is my suspicion, though it could very well be that there is some set of ordinances requiring hooking up to local waste lines instead of digging a cesspool or septic tank.
He is probably better off selling and researching a new spot that is more amenable to his lifestyle.
I live in Huntsville, Alabama. I was locked up for a year and my Mother got fined for having my pickup parked under her carport during that time (I let her sell it before the year was even up to pay for the fine – I lost about $2500 on that truck). I had one friend who lost her inherited house because she wanted to live mostly off-grid. She still had city water and waste (they are combined here in the city) so she wouldn’t have to convert to chemical toilets, but refused to use city electricity. The house was… Read more »
and your totally ignorant of a composting toilet it would seem. Or a govt sheep. Which is it
Isn’t it funny how the government won’t lift finger to help the homeless, and they don’t seem to care that the homeless are “living off-grid” so to speak. But when they find someone with a home- someone who CAN pay corporations for utilities but choose NOT to- well, they can’t stand for that. And their solution is to make that person homeless as well??? The take-away here is this: the government is perfectly fine with people living off-grid… as long as they don’t have money or shelter.
Most homeless are not parking trailer houses on lots within city limits (apparent offense #1), most homeless aren’t operating a cistern which cities have rules against for public health reasons – learned the hard way (likely offense #2), most homeless don’t have electrical or sewage treatment solutions which need to meet code and be inspected (offenses #3 & 4). And educate yourself just how much the government attempts to help the homeless from the police officer to the shelters to the free medical. The problem is this proud Marine was either too ignorant to know there are rules to living… Read more »
Could you please educate us on how much help there is from the government for the homeless? And please make sure that your answers are verifiable.
Emergency shelters, soup kitchens, food pantrys, warming/cooling centers, clothing closets, transitional housing programs, low-income housing vouchers, CDBG grants used to build low income housing, VA housing vouchers, work training programs, mental health services, Medicaid, case management – these are all services paid entirely for or supported by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), through the use of need based funding allocation or competitive grants.
As far as verifiable, goggle is your friend. May I suggest you start at the HUD website?
Don the douche. Nuff said.
You are the most ignorant loser and clearly don’t understand. Obviously homeless people dont have those amenities. They are living in the streets polluting. He is a man living right you as whole. Living the way we lived before all this crap was invented.
You, apparently, have never seen a “tent city”. We have many of them here in Huntsville. They use the toilet behind bushes, tents, etc., or in buckets that they dump behind bushes, etc…… Oh, and there are many house trailers here….
Being a good sheeple is what the city is looking for, people like Don do as they are told and will never rebel against the system. The Marine should be asking what in the hell he risked his life for, as he has no freedoms left. Don it sounds like you are a government employee and have never held a real job in the private sector.
Hey Don, did you not read the article? They did not dig a cistern or have a septic tank… they wee using a COMPOSTING Toilet. so no problems there.
NNo, this issue is ALL about the requirement to be connected to utlities. Usually that means water and electricity sometimes natural gas. These types of regulations are put in place most often in areas that either own the utilities, or that have a monopolistic contract with utility companies.
Most such city codes require a home to be connected and pay a monthly minimum hook-up fee, even if there is no usage.
Having Water and Electricity hooked up to your house DOES NOT mean that you have to use them. If that is the only reason that he had his land Condemned, than have them hooked up at no cost and just not use them.
You are correct, although I think he is probably taking a principled stand!
I don’t know how things are there, but every place I’ve ever had utilities there is a minimum charge. You pay whether you use it or not, and in my opinion, that’s the real issue here. The government is either the provider of the services (and profiting directly) or is collecting franchise taxes from the utility suppliers. As always, it’s all about the money!
Living in city/town limits you get hit with all manner if costs. You can be required to mow your lawn, paint your house, replace batteries in your fire alarm, hook up to town septic etc. We can look to reducing the size of government, but in some more populated places it will be involved in daily life in a way that one cannot escape. And honestly, no man is an island. For example, were he to not empty a container with standing water, he could be fined for the health hazard posed by resulting mosquitoes. Believe my I am entirely… Read more »
True you don’t have to use them, but you still have to pay to have them hooked up, which requires permits and inspection and if you pass all that you will still be paying the minimum monthly fee and that is soon going to skyrocket under Obama’s new agreement to eliminate global warming (excuse me, “climate change”). You know, kinda like banning sunshine… The agreement will kill the entire coal industry where we get most of our electricity. Only the rich will be able to afford it!
You are an idiot.
there are still “fees” for having the hookup even if you don’t use them. Look at your utility bills those fees are there. If you don’t pay the fees, they will come out and unhook you. A.K.A. you must pay the corporations/gooberment to live on you own land!!
Where I live you can’t just get “hooked up at no cost”. It would have cost me over $12,000 to hook up to electricity. Nothing to done for free anymore
It wouldn’t be no cost. All utilities have mandatory minimum charges. Where I live that would be about 100 dollars each month.
There’s definitely a cost to install them and sometimes it’s thousands of dollars
It costs Thousands of dollars to do that. The reason they want you connected to the grid is because you can still be charged for water, sewer and power even if you don’t use it. As a member of the taxpaying population of that city or county, you are still expected to support the schools and infrastructure even if you don’t use them!
Most utilities charge a certain amount for initial hook up, and they also charge a minimum monthly fee for service even if you use none of the utilities water or electric. I live in rural southeast Kansas and pay $35 per month service fee for electric whether I use any electricity or not.
We have Amish families living in the same way, and they do just fine, nice hard working, God fearing people.
I bet they live outside city limits.
right right the Amish lol wtf are they not kicked off there lands, if i was thew guy id grow a bigger beard and get me one those funny hats 😀 just sayn. tranny is comming be prepared
This is the problem in America. Even when you are spending your own money after paying your taxes, and being a responsible citizen – is not tolerated if you are not giving your business to these government people.
Just WOW…..
This guy is not following the laws that were likely set in place BEFORE he bought his land and parked his trailer. He then set everything up likely with no permits or city inspections. We have laws like this to protect the surrounding people and properties. It’s not about simply making things difficult. He could have avoided these issues by buying a piece of property just outside city limits.
You are assuming facts not in evidence. Maybe he bought the property outside city limits and the city incorporated more land into the city limits to increase property values and increase taxes. They condemned the property saying unsafe living conditions. Not permit or city inspection issues. Not being hooked up to city utilities is considered unsafe living conditions. Some people think you can hook up to these utilities for free but in fact there are fees and monthly charges whether you use the utilities or not. Cities constantly change their laws and zoning regulations and most times without notifying the… Read more »
[…] Living off grid is illegal in some states […]
[…] Living off grid is illegal in some states […]
[…] Living off grid is illegal in some states […]
[…] Living off grid is illegal in some states […]
[…] Living off grid is illegal in some states […]
No victim, no crime = no one’s business.
No harm done = no one’s business.
Revolution is the only way governments ever relinquish power back to the people.
-flek
[…] Living off grid is illegal in some states […]
Not in California! Here you are required a building permit just to buy a sea cargo container, when the supplier and buyer are not in an incorporated area. Now this is to purchase one. A lot of residences were using these containers for storage and some used for shops. It had been an area and item that was exempt from permitting. I do not know why El Dorado County changed their policy, I see no issue of life and safety with a purchase or for using such a structure. Maybe aesthetics was an issue. Or just maybe to justify their… Read more »
Why do they need 10k if they are living off the grid?
They need to do this in the country, not the city. If they aren’t using sewer, where are they going to the restroom?
The article plainly states they had a compost toilet.
[…] Living off grid is illegal in some states […]
[…] Living off grid is illegal in some states […]
[…] Living off grid is illegal in some states […]
[…] Living off grid is illegal in some states […]
[…] Living off grid is illegal in some states […]
[…] Living off grid is illegal in some states […]
[…] Living off grid is illegal in some states […]
[…] Living off grid is illegal in some states […]
[…] Living off grid is illegal in some states […]
[…] Living off grid is illegal in some states […]
[…] Living off grid is illegal in some states […]
[…] Living off grid is illegal in some states […]
Most cities have restrictions on mobile homes locations, because neighbors fear they affect the value of their regular constructed homes. So I think this article is misleading by stating the problem is because the residents are living off the greed, when the actual problem is the resident insists in living in a mobile home in an area forbidden for this purpose.
It is the loss of value of the neighbors residences why he’s asked to refrain from living there, not the fact he’s disconnected from city utilities.
And how is the neighbors home values of any relevancy? IF their home value drops that is the markets fault, not an individual across the street doing no harm to any of the properties. If they want more value then they should put money into it, nobody’s problem but their own narcissistic and egotistical selves who cannot stand to look at anyone who looks or lives differently than they do. Its called institutional racism. To the system and the policy makers who benefit from the racket, this man is nothing but a nigger not worthy to live amongst them. Why… Read more »
The city might have enlarged there area and caused his land now to be in the city limits. So now he is required to follow city regs and they would not grandfather him in. Or they need his land to developer a larger tract of land around him and they want it for free.
This is a money deal he is not paying for utilities so the local government isn’t getting tax money. He did not apply for a permit so the local government again didn’t get any money. When the Government don’t get there unfair share of the pie you will go to court and jail even.