
Soylent CEO Could Face Criminal Charges for LA Hilltop 'Experiment' - SCAQTony
http://la.curbed.com/2016/7/21/12245620/soylent-illegal-shipping-container-home-lincoln-heights
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gravypod
Wait, if he bought the land then I don't really see a problem. I know that
"it's an eye sore" but that is subjective.

Can I say "your orchard is an eye sore, you have to flatten it"?

If he bought the land then I don't see a reason to press criminal charges. I
could see them saying "you need to maintain the property," but I don't
understand "you need to remove it."

I think it's crazy that people can come on to your private property and say
"remove this" and make you comply. If anything, why the hell aren't the cops
arresting people who are destroying his private property? In my eyes they are
coming after a victim.

~~~
rcthompson
Owning a plot of land doesn't mean you can do anything you want with it. I
can't buy a plot in the suburbs and build a skyscraper on it. Buildings
require permits, even buildings made of shipping containers.

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seizethecheese
So putting a shipping container in my yard should require a permit?

~~~
verytrivial
Just to be clear, you are arguing that all land, regardless of topology,
existing use and zoning, and adjacent interest is equivalent, right?

~~~
seizethecheese
Not at all, clearly building into the ground or adding stilts should require
permit. In the pictures it looks like the container is on flat ground.

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joshuakcockrell
> "If an earthquake comes, that thing’s going to roll right down the hill and
> crush everything in its path" \- public safety chairman

From the looks of the pictures, it would take a pretty huge earthquake to get
that container even to a spot where it could start rolling; the container
would be the least of your problems.

~~~
justin66
You know this is all taking place in Los Angeles? They're right to worry about
what happens during a huge earthquake.

~~~
dmix
I also found that a curious comment to make given that the structure is not
close to the edge and would have to move quite a far distance to be at risk of
causing any significant damage. Homes need to factor in earthquake risks but
at the same time you need to be realistic about those risks. I hope the person
making that statement has a little more to back it up than just speculation of
extreme worse case scenarios (ie: level 8-9 earthquakes).

Particularly because the other statements also seem like they are grasping at
straws for anything to use against him.

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seizethecheese
Much ado about nothing. He put a shipping container on a flat piece of land
that he owns. It's now graffitied so it bothers the neighbors. Why are we
supposed to care?

~~~
aaron-lebo
He doesn't own it any more than any human being owns any spot of land. He's
renting it until he dies or sells the land to someone else.

He didn't live there for decades unlike his neighbors. He also doesn't have to
deal with the results of what he's doing, unlike his neighbors who are dealing
with at very least vandalism, possibly worse, and he's obviously in denial
about it. But it doesn't really matter to him because he's making millions and
the spot is a place where him and is friends party and then don't deal with
the results.

It's common courtesy. Nobody has to comply with unreasonable demands of
neighbors, but they can try not being a dick. It's entitlement to do
otherwise.

He came up with a meal replacement drink. Great. That doesn't entitle him to
move into a community and disregard everyone else. That's how communities get
destroyed. Worse, when that stuff is encouraged (or shrugged off), cultures
get destroyed. Being a dick is not sustainable.

~~~
gravypod
> He's renting it until he dies or sells the land to someone else.

So he owns it. It's his land and the next person that comes around can do what
they want with it. If that's remove or maintain the container that's up to
them.

It's not up to the government to decide what buildings should be allowed based
on their looks. If they want to claim it's a fire hazard, then yes. But
they'll be hard pressed to do that. If they want to claim it's a public safety
hazard they can do that. But they'll be hard pressed to do that: it's private
property.

Seems like they are pulling the common government card of pulling a law out
that hasn't been used in a while to make someone comply with some unreasonable
demands.

~~~
swang
> It's not up to the government to decide what buildings should be allowed
> based on their looks.

That is exactly what governments decide.

Private property does not mean, "do whatever you want" it merely gives you
certain rights that the government enforces. They also enforce certain
standards for the properties they sell to you.

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apalmer
I thought he was pretty douche until i got to the part where it says he bought
the land... if he bought the land whats the beef?

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rosser
Would you be so sanguine about "if he bought it he can do what he wants with
it" if he were upwind of you, and kept a pig farm or something? What if your
child were allergic to bee stings, and he kept bees on land he owned near you?

Ownership isn't a free pass to do whatever you want, and the neighbors can
suck it.

~~~
darpa_escapee
There are people here who think property rights trump all rights and even form
ideologies where all rights stem from property rights.

~~~
rosser
There are also people here who think climate change is propaganda, and
probably even some that think the moon landing was faked. That doesn't make
any of these things true.

~~~
darpa_escapee
I agree. However, if you posted on Prison Planet something that might seem
blasphemous to that line of thought, you might run into some backlash. Here,
you might run into someone who thinks your property rights trump the rights
and needs of others. I'm not one of them.

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maxander
This reads like a satire of the out-of-touch Silicon Valley archetype. Guy
buys a bit of land in the middle of a pristine public park and puts a big day-
glo orange box in it for abstruse reasons, and wonders why people are annoyed
at him.

After all, its legal! ...Or, well, no, its not necessarily legal, but the
reasons why it's illegal aren't immediately obvious! Shouldn't that mean I get
to do whatever I want?

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toodlebunions
> Rhinehart bought the parcel of land beneath the shipping container at
> auction in December for $21,300, property records show.

Wow that's some auction luck. Is anyone else amazed someone was able to buy
stellar La real estate for so cheap?

~~~
masonhensley
Sometimes land bought at auction for cheap isn't really that cheap. The sale
could require the payment of years or decades of back taxes.

Source - I've bought a lot of land at a city tax auction.

edit: (a lot = single lot of land)

~~~
toodlebunions
Even with many years of back taxes that would be way under market value. A
view lot like that in LA is easily 7 figures.

Out of curiosity, why do you buy land? Are you a property developer?

~~~
masonhensley
Bought my parcel of land next to a large city's medical district as an
investment. Might eventually build on it - tbd.

Most of the tax delinquent pieces of property that I've come across that go to
auction are sometimes 5-10+ years delinquent & in "blighted" neighborhoods.
The patience and laws of cities and states varies in how fast they take action
on foreclosing on delinquent taxes.

From my basic research, a sizable number of properties fall behind on taxes
due to the death of an owner and an out of state heir essentially "giving up"
on the property as it wasn't worth the trouble.

In the case of my property - the city acquired it via a tax foreclosure, used
it as an access point for some infrastructure construction, let it sit for 10+
years after they were done with it then lumped it in with an auction.

On another note - Some cities will also sell land with requirements that low
income / affordable housing be build on it.

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ChuckMcM
Wow. I get that the permitting process is painful but rather than simply
ignoring it one could try to make it either easier or more transparent.

~~~
mc32
Growing up and having a little exposure to people who tagged, I find it
hilarious he thinks there "There is no evidence of illegal activity taking
place on the property... I have private security conduct regular inspections."
given the whole container is tagged inside and out and the windows are now all
smashed in.

The guy has his head in the sand.

~~~
nchelluri
I think he was just saying that stuff to get the people asking those questions
off his back.

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marcusgarvey
>"I feel like I'm living in the movie Brazil."

Says the Soylent salesman. Irony!

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sitkack
If he wanted to be a total asshole, he'd remove his crappy little container
and build an eye-sore of mansion, lights, guard dogs, etc, all the trappings
of wealth and resource consumption that make people "happy" with development
over a temporary metal box.

~~~
mcbits
I suppose they would be happy enough if he just planted a bunch of silly
turfgrass and spritzed it with poison once a week like any respectable citizen
would.

~~~
sitkack
Chemlawn hits so many points. We have a winner.

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blackguardx
Why was this open space land for sale?

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discardorama
Came here to ask this. Why was the land sold in the first place, if it's a
public piece of land? Why doesn't the City of LA buy the land and place it in
the public trust?

I hate these half-assed pieces of reporting. I don't like the guy, he sounds
like Ehrlich from SV, but if you're reporting this as news, at least fill in
the blanks!

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dkarapetyan
Makes the guy sound like a grade-A douchebag but then again this is pretty bad
gossip rag reporting. Maybe he's pulling a Shia LaBeouf and doing some avant-
garde thing?

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joeyspn
_> [...] the food-replacement guru—known for surviving for months on nothing
but Soylent—apparently roasted a whole pig during the party [...]_

I guess soylent is not that cool for parties and social gatherings...

~~~
dopu
I believe he's talked about how Soylent, for a lot of people, is meant to
replace meals that you'd rather not spend time cooking and cleaning for. i.e.,
not social gatherings and BBQs.

~~~
terinjokes
Indeed. They blogged about it back in December before the holiday season.

[http://blog.soylent.com/post/133807501267/go-
feast](http://blog.soylent.com/post/133807501267/go-feast)

> Connection to the past is a powerful thing, and it’s important to take time
> to renew our social bonds. We at Soylent encourage you to enjoy your feasts
> of choice, and hope that they will be made all the more festive with the
> knowledge that your everyday sustenance can be obtained with far less
> effort. When the dust settles and you’re tired of leftovers, we’ll be here
> for you.

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rdlecler1
So you do a Series A these days and you get fuck-you money just like that.
Good to know the pension fund LPs money is going to good use with over
inflated salaries.

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jonnybgood
After his blog post about perpetually buying new clothes and never washing his
donated clothing as an act of goodwill is really starting to make me think he
is either a douche, lived his entire life in a bubble, or he is just
delusional.

~~~
darpa_escapee
Anyone have a link to this post?

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heyalexej
[http://robrhinehart.com/?p=1331](http://robrhinehart.com/?p=1331) in the
"Clothing" section.

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drewrv
Yet another article that makes me think the show Silicon Valley writes itself.

~~~
mikebelanger
That's what I was thinking too. Mike Judge probably just has to read the local
news to figure out the story arcs.

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simbalion
Guy sounds like a douchebag. He knows why what he's doing is wrong.

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maceo
This guy is an absolute douchebag. He's a disrespectful piece of shit and
anyone involved with Soylent in any capacity ought to be ashamed with his
antics. For those who don't know, Lincoln Heights is a working class
neighborhood, that as of the last 2-3 years is undergoing rapid
gentrification.

~~~
icebraining
_For those who don 't know, Lincoln Heights is a working class neighborhood,
that as of the last 2-3 years is undergoing rapid gentrification._

Sounds like he's helping to counteract that by reducing the neighborhood
value.

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untilHellbanned
Seems like YC continues to miss Jessica Livingston's social radar. Racking up
lots of antics.

[http://www.paulgraham.com/jessica.html](http://www.paulgraham.com/jessica.html)

