Glad You Asked: Zoning rules for fences; did Hitler invent the Volkswagen?

By Chris Bennett

Saturday, October 14, 2006 2:15 AM CDT

Do I need a zoning permit if I want to put up a fence between me and my neighbor? Probably not, but you better get your butt to work. It's getting cold and you're burning daylight hours reading this nonsense. As the great American poet Robert Frost said, good fences make good neighbors.

People with a pool or a pickup truck you can borrow also make good neighbors.

According to the Frequently Asked Questions section of Racine County's Web site - http://www.racineco.com - non-residential security fences require a permit. A fence between you and your neighbor is residential.

Residential fences are only controlled if they obstruct traffic visibility on corner lots, will be located near a navigable body of water or will be located in a shoreland, wetland or flood plain area.

And all fences are supposed to be designed so they don't obstruct traffic visibility at street intersections.

Contact Code Administration for further details at (262) 886-8475. Contact the municipal building inspector in your area for local fence regulations.

Did Hitler really invent the Volkswagen? According to various online sources, Hitler didn't invent the Volkswagen, but he certainly provided the "oomph" the project needed to move forward.

Cars cost more than most people made in the 1930s. Hitler assumed the position of chancellor of Germany in 1933 and promoted the notion of a car affordable for everyone.

Remember that before plunging the world into war and committing genocide on an alarming scale, people knew Hitler as a politician and not a dictator. The "people's car," which is what Volkswagen means in German, was a campaign promise from Hitler to the German people.

To that end, Hitler and automobile designer Ferdinand Porsche met in 1933, and Hitler decided the criteria for his dream car. Hitler required the VW to carry two adults and three children, reach 60 miles per hour, get at least 33 miles per gallon of gas and cost less than 1,000 reischmarks.

Porsche designed what came to later be known as the VW Beetle, a strange feat for a man who even later gave life to some of the most beautiful cars on wheels under the auto make that carries the Porsche name.

In 1938, Hitler ordered the KdF Wagen factory built to produce cars. Hitler invaded Poland and Czechoslovakia before the factory's completion, though, and the facility eventually produced military vehicles.

Hitler's dream car fell by the side of the road.

After the war, once the Allies forced all of Hitler's dreams by the side of the road, the KdF Wagen factory ended up in the British section of occupied Germany. The Brits reopened the factory, named it "Volkswagen" and eventually turned the operation over to the German government.

VW introduced new models all over Europe after 1948 and built 1 million cars by 1955. And in 1972, the VW Beetle overtook Ford's Model T as the most popular car ever produced.

The book "Small Wonder: The Amazing Story of the Volkswagen Beetle," by Walter Henry Nelson is a terrific read if you're interested in the history of the VW Beetle. Look for it on http://www Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble's Web site, which is http://www.barnesandnoble.com.

Don't type "Small Wonder" in Google, because all you'll get in return are pages about that weird TV show from the 1980s starring some little girl who acted like a robot.

What is Glad You Asked?

Glad You Asked finds answers to the questions that keep you up at night. I doubt either of these questions keep you awake at night, but I hooked you-up big time if they do. Don't lose sleep. Send your questions to ask@journaltimes.com or call (262) 631-1758.

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