Permission to detect...

[NHBrian]

I sent an e-mail to town chief of police about getting permission to MD town park and this was his reply.
Tell me whats your take on this.

City Ordinance
(f) Defacing Park Property. No person shall cut, break, injure, deface, or disturb any tree, shrub, plant, rock, building, cage, pen, monument, fence, bench or other structure, apparatus or property or pluck, pull up, out, take or remove any shrub, bush, plant or flower or mark, or write upon any building, monument, fence, bench or other structure, or injure, deface or remove any property real or personal or any natural growth, structure, equipment, animals, signs or other park property.
Brian

[del]

i see nothing about metal detecting at all , i'd ask him (in a very polite way) where in that ordinance it states that metal detecting is breaking that city ordinance.

[carl2112]

id print out his email and carry it with you and make sure you dont pull a plug with a dandelion on it that could be considered removeing a flower

[NHBrian]

id print out his email and carry it with you and make sure you dont pull a plug with a dandelion on it that could be considered removeing a flower

I probably shot myself in the foot for asking. It would have eaier if he flat out said NO!!!
The area I had questioned about was the Commons in Rochester NH. (Where Obama spoke last week). I've never seen anyone detecting there.
I'm new to this hobby. Just trying to do what I thought was the right thing.

[carl2112]

when it comes to public property and i know they dont out right have a rule against it i say its always easier to beg for forgivness then ask for premission

[aloldstuff]

Personally I would not detect there. With that wording, or remove any property real or personal I think that is the killer here. My sister owns a horse farm in South Hampton NH and the chief there gave me a flat out NO when I asked about it.

[NHBrian]

Personally I would not detect there. With that wording, or remove any property real or personal I think that is the killer here. My sister owns a horse farm in South Hampton NH and the chief there gave me a flat out NO when I asked about it.

I'm probably not going to hunt there. There are plenty of school around. I wish he said flat out NO. It would take out all the gray areas.

[tanacat]

:-\ Wow that's some serious response.

I think cut, plant and pull up would be the key words relating to MDing. You could explain that you would replace the plug and water the plug afterwards... But, probably best to not even try- he sounds like a grumpy guy \:[

[Sal66]

I think Grumpy is an understatement. More like a tool-Bag !
Another option to detect there is wait until the grounds are not so well kept. If they have Monuments and other things like that, they may want to keep it that way. I say in the fall when the grass is in rougher shape may be better. The grounds crew work hard to keep the grass in good shape right now. When it looks worse later it may not be a big issue. That's why I like Town Commons that aren't as well kept up because nobody cares as much. Is the Town Hall right next to it? The further away it is the better so you won't have those snobby town workers watching you. A Pic of the commons would be nice because it may show why he was quick to say no.
Tanacat was right with her idea about digging carefully which means using a cloth around the hole, cutting a 3/4 cut so the grass is not disturbed and having some water to put on it with a little grass seed maybe. This shows you care about the Commons as others do and your going the extra steps to keep it the way it was when you arrived which is one of the Code of Ethics of MD'ing. If there was an Encampment there a long time ago, I'm sure the items are very deep. The town probably have a good layer of topsoil over the original dirt, so listen to the very faint signals for older finds. I hope this helps and good luck !

[Epi-hunter]

I think that he gave you the safe answer. He didn't say no or yes. And he didn't do that because he does not want to be in the middle of a legal issue of what the passage means.

Meaning -- he too cannot determine whether what you are asking is against the regulations. He just made sure you knew the rules, and then left it up to you to interpret it.

[del]

I think that he gave you the safe answer. He didn't say no or yes. And he didn't do that because he does not want to be in the middle of a legal issue of what the passage means.

Meaning -- he too cannot determine whether what you are asking is against the regulations. He just made sure you knew the rules, and then left it up to you to interpret it.

i agree with Epi-hunter completely but its just the way rules an ordinaces are written these days , so you and i are confused and lawyers and city officials can interpret to work in their favor.

[CousinEddie]

I say hunt the place. The ordinance says nothing about detecting. Hunt respectfully and if asked to leave, simply leave.

[firstring]

Isn't it a shame when the intent of an ordinance or law is subject to change without notice. I have permission to detect in my hometown parks from the park supervisor even with those same ordinances. At least he said the ordinances were put into place to prevent vandalizing. Go figure. Yes, I keep his business card with me at all times. It pays to volunteer on cleanup day at the local parks. A person sure can get into some good conversations with the local officials on some of these issues.

[Dry Holes]

When in doubt, I find another spot. I always ask, and sometimes I get told no. But you did right. The fines and loss of equipment is enough for me to not push the rules.

[Sal66]

Hey Guys !! I told you before, the only reason the post those is to keep the Teen-agers from destroying the place. Or stop people from picking flowers I guess. Those signs are so GENERAC you can find them in any town in any state and you just happened to get stuck talking to D-Bag who thinks he owns the Town. Who pays Taxes and his Paycheck. That's why they have parks and Town Commons. FOR PEOPLE TO USE. I was worried about State Land before and met up with the President and Vic-pres. of the State Forestry and they said NO PROBLEM and even sent me a letter for my efforts to keep our land cleaner because I told them I always take my trash and had some on me to prove to them while they were at as site looking for ideas to access the stream nearby from the road. They even asked my opinion. I also recieved a letter from the State for my concerns about the Property I was at and what was going to become of it. There used to be an old House there that was knocked down and they bought the land.

Just a matter of who you speak to I guess. I say Detect and forget about that guy.

[Dry Holes]

Absolutely right there, never got a response like the original poster did. Have been given some great links and emails from the BLM guys too. I have found many places to detect and maps are available too. Sounds like one person trying to ruin it for other. Having fun is a bad thing lol.