How to get long-distance permissions

[Stringtyer]

I live in Cary, NC and there many,many acres of land being developed in our area. Much of the land has or had old houses on it, some of which are significantly old. I have used the county GIS system to discover the owners of the land. Many of the parcels are owned by corporations out of state.

Do any of y'all have any ideas or suggestions as to how to get permission to search these parcels? I'm almost willing to search without permission but think that would not be ethical and could have some legal issues.

 

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[IDXMonster]

Just keep in mind that all land is owned by someone or an entity whether it be private,corporate,a village,a township,a state,a country....
To be “safe” there should be documented permission from someone who is authorized to give that permission, but in some instances,it makes no sense to ask. I can’t think of one of those instances,but I can say they do exist. To me,detecting is NEVER worth a huge hassle or feeling as if I have to look over my shoulder. I just don’t hunt those kinds of places.
A “corporate” permission may be hard to gain as they know that legalities can arise from injury or worse. Perhaps if you see someone working around these properties you could get an “extension permission”...the worker says it’s OK,even if they technically don’t own it. But even then,realize you are still running a certain risk. Each situation like this must be approached differently,dependent on your tolerance for risk and what your own “ethics” are,because there is no one definitive set of ethics.
Do what YOU feel is right,and let your conscience be your guide.

 

[Stringtyer]

IDX...

I have gotten permission to hunt an area around a 120 year old house on a corporately owned property from the manager of the company that was relocating the house. While that may not be the most preferred permission, at least it gives me some comfort level should I be approached by site management or law enforcement. BTW, my only interaction with LEO is when they stop to ask what I am doing followed by the usual, “have you found anything good yet?”

 

[1942 merc]

I would not mess with it . You will go through a lot of trouble for nothing .That is me though and from my experiences . I live in a small town in south dakota and there is a dozen houses just sitting there . You NEVER see anyone at them and they need pushed in and taken to the dump . Same thing every time . Bob in California owns it and the city keeps mowing it because the neighbors complain and he never pays his bill . Bob still owns it and the minute I set foot on the property someone will call the law because they are sick of Bob . I know where a 1900 school is no windows on a whole block lot and same thing jerry in florida owns it . I would never just decide I am going there with out asking .

 

[Phishfarmer]

1942 Merc.... you have the perfect opportunity. You need the yard mowed to detect well anyway... contact the owner and tell him you will mow for permission to metal detect. But that's me.

 

[Stringtyer]

I don't want to infringe on anyone's right to property and I certainly don't want to catch a trespassing charge so I am not likely to detect where I don't have permission. So far, I've had only one rejection in six requests.

One of the properties I want to search (approximately 600 acres of overgrown farms and an old country store) is owned by a development company in New York but has a local presence in the form of a sales/development office. Since the project has been in development for nearly a decade, it is difficult to find anyone in the local office. I'll keep trying. I figure that whatever is in the ground today will still be there if I ever get permission.

 

[1942 merc]

No one wants to help me find the owner and I can not find the owner / owners . I would be mowing for the county or city on half of the properties and still would not be able to detect . I have been turned down the last two times I have asked and that is for the people I could find . I offer to split my findings or help with some chores and that works most of the time . One of the places I was turned down at is an ole 1880s house and the new owners are rich and stuck up . They acted like they were to good for me to be talking to them .They are tearing down a remodeled house with new roof and windows and scrapping the entire yard for a parking lot and a small business . They were to call me a week ago and let me know if I can detect or not .I went by the next day after asking and there are keep out signs everywhere . Hint taken .

1942 Merc.... you have the perfect opportunity. You need the yard mowed to detect well anyway... contact the owner and tell him you will mow for permission to metal detect. But that's me.

 

[Texas Jay]

I live in Cary, NC and there many,many acres of land being developed in our area. Much of the land has or had old houses on it, some of which are significantly old. I have used the county GIS system to discover the owners of the land. Many of the parcels are owned by corporations out of state.

Do any of y'all have any ideas or suggestions as to how to get permission to search these parcels? I'm almost willing to search without permission but think that would not be ethical and could have some legal issues.

Only a week ago, I would have agreed with the naysayers and felt that you probably shouldn't bother trying to get permission from the development companies. My outlook has drastically changed in the past 24 hours. A few months ago, I learned that a large area of land in my town was owned by a big development company in another county. I had many good reasons for wanting to hunt the acreage as it was the site of a lot of traffic during the late 1800s and very early 1900s. When I found out that it was owned by a big operation, my hopes sank but I wrote down the company's name, the owner's name, and their business phone number and filed it away. Well, last week, my hunting buddy's and my detecting sites were drying up and I was feeling desperate to find new places to hunt so I thought "what do I have to lose by giving this man a call?" I called yesterday and talked to his secretary and explained that my detecting partner and I enjoy metal detecting and that we love to retrieve relics and coins of our past and preserve them so that they can be enjoyed by younger generations for many years to come. She said that he was in a meeting but that she'd ask him and call me back. About an hour later, she did call back and delivered the news that I was expecting - he said "no" to our proposition. Rather than cut the conversation off at that point, I plunged on ahead with the secretary and assured her that we would not damage the property in any way, that it would only be the two of us hunting on it, that we carefully refill our holes so that no one can even tell we had dug there, and that it would be a shame if all of our history, under that land, was to be covered up permanently when the property is developed. She was very nice and said she'd give him that additional information. I also gave her a little of the historical research that I have done on that property over the years. I figured that would be the last I heard from them but my little dog alerted me that my phone was ringing this morning when I was taking a bath. As soon as I got out, I checked my Caller ID and there was the landowner's name and area code for his company's headquarters. I immediately returned the call and he said that he'd reconsidered and would allow only my buddy and I to detect the entire 13 acre property before development begins in a few months. He asked me if I had grown up in Brownwood so I said I had and that I had graduated from high school here. We talked a little about the hobby and the reasons I've wanted to detect the land for so long and just generally had a very nice conversation.
I believe the keys to getting exclusive permission to hunt this site was my emphasis on wanting to preserve the bits of local history that lay beneath the land that they are about to develop, our promise to do a professional job of retrieving targets from the ground and always carefully refilling our holes. He mentioned, early in our conversation, that some years back he gave someone permission to look for arrowheads on some of his other property. Before he knew it, the guy brought a group of people with him and they disturbed some ancient burial sites, took a lot of artifacts from them, and generally left a mess of the place.
So I recommend that you give it a try and remind yourself that you have nothing to lose and a lot of good detecting to gain if you're successful.
~Texas Jay
Central Texas Treasure Club

 

[Stringtyer]

TexasJay ... Thank you for the words of encouragement. I am working toward finding more than a cursory address for the corporation that owns the property. When I make that discovery, I will certainly contact them. The worst thing that can happen is that I will get rejected.

I'm also trying to contact someone in the local office for the pending development. My only problem on that front is the fact that the development has been in the works for quite a few years so local contact is sporadic. Persistence is key and I will persist until I get either permission or rejection.