Whaddya think about...a residential lawn parking regulation?

Not anyone's home in Chetek...but it could be

“The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this division, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:

Disassembled, inoperable, scrap or wrecked motor vehicles, truck bodies, tractors, trailers means motor vehicles, recreational vehicles, truck bodies, tractors, farm machinery or trailers in such state of physical or mechanical ruin as to be incapable of propulsion, being operated upon the public streets or highways or which is otherwise not in a safe or legal condition for operation on public streets or highways due to missing or inoperative parts, flat or removed tires, expired or missing license plates or other defects.

Unlicensed motor vehicles, truck bodies, tractors or trailers means motor vehicles, truck bodies, tractors, recreational vehicles or trailers which do not bear lawful current license plates.

(Code 2005, § 10-5-8(b))

Sec. 102-363. - Definitions in the City of Chetek Code of Ordinances

In her mind, it looks like this...

In my nearly two years in office I really haven't received a lot of complaints. But of the ones I have received definitely the most common is a neighbor complaining about another neighbor whose yard is full of cars or other assorted stuff. At last month's city council meeting during the Public Comment time, in fact, a neighbor went on record about her neighbor. In her words, “When I look out my kitchen window I feel like I'm looking into a salvage yard” (or words to that effect). When I suggested that she take up the matter with City Inspector Joe Atwood she assured me that she already had and both her and Joe informed me that it was, in fact, a police matter (Chief Ron was out of town at a police seminar and not present).

When it comes to our city ordinances about vehicles as far as I understand it there are essentially two requirements for the things that we drive around in: they have to be currently licensed and they have to move (i.e., they have to be working vehicles). If they don't run or if they're not licensed the owner can be cited. (In my experience with the city, the owner is normally given ample warning and time to move any vehicle or license it before a citation is issued.)

This is how you can read our local "Bible" on
everything about living in Chetek

(If you care to research this for yourself go to our city's website, click on the “Government” tab and then click on “Code of Ordinances” and you can have access to our “Bible” that covers all the rules, restrictions, and requirements that govern all of us who live within the city limits.) I inserted the word “vehicles” in the search window and found the group of ordinances that govern what can and cannot be stored in our driveways or our yards, including:

• Section 102-363 – Definitions (see above) and the rule that says if it's in on your property it has to run and it has to be currently licensed. The prohibition against people storing old washers, dryers, refrigerators, etc. in their backyard is also found here. If it's junk, it shouldn't be stored in plain sight.
• Sec. 102-364. - Storage of scrap vehicles and appliances on private property.

That '57 that you have been meaning to work on in your spare time, it better have a license and it has to be road ready if one of our officers responds to a complaint from one of your neighbors.

Great weekend project but if it's in your driveway,
it has to work

• Sec. 102-366. - Enforcement. Joe was right, of course. It is a police matter. But again, the guys are not about to crash in like stormtroopers to get you to clean up your yard. They usually begin in low gear and encourage people to either have a plan to move the vehicle within the next few days after they stop by the first time.

• Sec. 118-171. - Storage of trucks, tractors and road machinery. A bus driver can't park their bus in their driveway overnight or for any extended period of time. That goes for your tractor that you picked up at an auction somewhere.

Stopping by for lunch? Sure.
 Parking there at night? No can do.

The point behind these ordinances, of course, is to keep our neighborhoods from descending into the appearance of salvage yards from the “collectors” in our community who either can't afford to dispose of an old appliance or sees potential in an old beater that just needs a little TLC. My neighbor used to have a yard full of collector cars in varied states of repair or disrepair. Honestly, it looked like a car lot most of the time. And he once quipped that if I got tired of cutting our grass he had a few more cars he could store there. Someone must have complained because now he cuts his grass like I have continued to cut mine.

Looks a little sketchy to me

Here's the thing: while we do have ordinances that limit the kind of vehicle we can store at our home we have no ordinance that limits how many we can store at our home. If I could afford to license and insure, say, eight vehicles I certainly have the yard to park them on. But maybe we should have an ordinance that limits vehicles per household according to how many can be parked in our driveway or designated parking area. We have an ordinance that limits how many cats or dogs I can own (2). It's essentially to prevent me from creating an animal shelter in my backyard. If anything more than two dogs or cats is considered a nuisance, wouldn't it be fair to say that if it can't be parked in a driveway or other designated parking area it's potentially an eyesore as well? We have an aesthetics ordinance (so people keep their house painted) and even a weed ordinance (so people cut their grass). Why not a residential lawn parking regulation?

I asked Joe Atwood if anything like this had ever been kicked around and he told me that to the best of his knowledge it hadn't. He went on line and found that the city of South Bend, Indiana (a wee bit bigger than our town obviously) does have such an ordinance and reads like this:

Sec. 14-42. - Parking prohibited in residential lawn areas; limited exceptions.
(a) It shall be unlawful to park a motor vehicle in a front yard, in a side yard, or in a rear yard which abuts a street of a lot zoned for a residential use or dwelling, except that parking shall be permitted on a hard-surfaced driveway or approved parking space. 
(b) Parking of any motor vehicle in violation of the regulations set forth in this article is deemed a public nuisance. 

I'd like to know your thoughts on this. Maybe it's not a good idea. Maybe I should let sleeping dogs lie and allow Chief Ambrozaitis to handle these things on a case by case basis according to the ordinances already in place. But I also know that Ron has a lot more weightier things to do than to make sure I don't collect junk in my driveway. I know of at least five neighborhoods in our town where this very thing is an ongoing issue. Joe Atwood assures me there are far more than five.

I realize that at certain households there are four or more drivers who each own a vehicle and we certainly wouldn't want to penalize them for doing so (I know when all our kids come home at Christmas our driveway looks like a parking lot and some of us have to park off-site for the weekend.) I also recognize that some folks might resent the city wanting to have any more say than what it already has on what we can and cannot do at our home and in our yard. But on the principle that one man's garbage is another man's gold some of us seem to collect more than our fair share of gold – or garbage, as the case may be, and who's to say which is which? Obviously, it's a matter of perspective and a lot of us see things very differently.