What a Weekend

[Bonnie]

Not knowing how large a town you live in or anything else about the area I think I would have gone the route of getting the OLD ordinance changed.
Gerry the canoebuilder
As Pete said Keep an eye on that neighbor for any...ANY infractions they have.
If I knew who she was exactly, I'd be too tempted. Right now, I am pretty sure everyone of my adjacent block mates are as upset as I am over this. Stupid, really.

Bonnie
Sorry to hear about the ongoing and Bizarre troubles with this.

Is that giant Bus RV still parked down the street? Yes. They got tagged too. Haven't moved it yet, though.

I am amazed that some people feel that there way is the only way.
As far as I could tell your tiny egg was as far from the street and being any kind if eyesore as is possible for your street.
I think the fact that they complained about your Jeep really says it all......CRAZY!

I guess they don't even think you should have a car? Just a car they approve of, apparently. I'm going to use that tidbit in the request for variance. Clearly the woman doesn't think before she acts. The Jeep is fully function, new top, no rust, good tires, etc. It makes the 110 mile round trip to work and back each day. it's quite probable that since the Jeep is parked in the driveway every day (I work 3rd shift) she assumed it didn't run. We all know what happens when we assume.

Anyway good luck,all this will even out someday.

Ed

Well, to get it off the driveway, I took the trailer to Camper Exchange to have the 120v wiring done. And Ed, it comes off the driveway much better than it goes up. The trailer has developed quite the leak around the street side window, so after the 120v is done it goes to the local fiberglass wizards body shop for possible window replacement. Just the one. That certainly wasn't in the budget.

I have been sucked into a real issue though. I am really attached to that little hunk of fiberglass and want it close by, so much so, I'm looking into redoing the garage so that it will fit in there.

Thank you for your support. I'm trying to deal with it like an adult. But, boy, it's hard.

[Bonnie]

The city says, RVs must not only be on your property but 15 feet back from the imaginary sidewalk line. And a carport needs to be that far back too. Driving around one block we saw 29 rv's and car ports that violate that rule but the city says, until someone complains, they don't have time to act. We finally found a way to construct a carport sideways to cover our trailer so at least we are legal but it sure isn't what we wanted. I'm just glad we did because it just takes one complainer to make everyone in the neighborhood be under attack.

Please keep us informed of your developments.

Thank you for the support. Our zoning says in back or in a shed. I don't have the room to put it behind the house and the easement in the back is a gully. I didn't own the trailer when I bought the house. What really burns me is that the zoning inspectors assume guilt. They wrote up the Jeep just because it was mentioned. No asking, no checking, nothing. Just trouble for me and everyone else in the 'hood.

[Orlen Wolf]

Hi Bonnie and the rest of the forum

Sorry to hear about your problem with the zoning folks.

First the trivia question. In what part of Belleville do you live? I'm originally from Belleville but left a long time ago (about 1969) to join the military. Lived out on N. Illinois St. near the North Belt Line. I now live in Golden Colorado but this week I'm in Arizona. I found it's harder to hit a moving target so I moved!

Regarding the zoning problem - I have had several problems over the years with like agencies since, in addition to owning RVs and utility trailers, I am a ham radio operator who likes a tower or two in my yard and have a big 4WD that is only used in the winter. It seems these are common targets of the asthetics police in any area. About once a year I'd get a notice from the county zoning inspector noting my inoperable vehicles, illegal towers, prohibited dish antennas and of course my camper. It got to the point that I have a "canned" e-mail response to send to him. When I talked to him on the phone a few years ago he also stated that the zoning code enforcement people only respond to complaints, they don't go out looking for violations. I also found that they don't check out a complaint, they just open a case, send out a notice of violation and wait for a response. The last time I had a problem I had my lawyer send in a notification of intent to sue the county for harassment along with my response. They just responded with a form letter saying the case had been closed but I've never received another notice.

BTW, my neighbor had a similar problem with the zoning folks and turned it on them. He is a retired fire chief who owns an old fire truck, fully functional and in good shape. He received a notice of violation for parking a "commercial vehicle" in a residential zone. The county didn't want to listen to his argument that it was not a commercial vehicle so he got a letter from the current chief of the volunteer fire department stating that he was still a volunteer fire fighter and that the truck was an "auxiliary response vehicle" for grass fires. Now the county has to provide license plates for the truck and every time there is a snow storm they have to dispatch a county snow plow to clear the guy's driveway so the "emergency vehicle" can respond. And they have to do that before they clear the other streets.

My suggestion is, if you continue to have a problem is to talk to your neighbors, especially those who have also received complaints. In some juristictions the complaints are a matter of public record and the name of the person making the complaint could be on the document. If nothing else, you can usually, by a process of elimination, find out who is making the complaints because he (or she) will find something wrong with everybody and will, no doubt, not complain about themselves. Then band together and talk to that person as a group. Finding out who it is can also make it easier to see if that person is in violation of any zoning ordinances. The one in our neighborhood had four dogs and about a dozen cats when the ordinances limited her to a total of three cats and dogs combined. In addition, her son had four unregistered, inoperable incomplete cars parked at her house. (He didn't live there) and she only mowed her lawn about twice a year (whether it needed it or not). Talking to her didn't do any good in our case but at least she got to participate in answering violation notices too. HeHe!

Keep us informed on your saga of fighting city hall. And Lots of Luck.

73
Orlen

[Gerry]

Taking around the afore mentioned petition, to get the ordinance changed, may be a sure fire way to find out who put in the complaint.
Usually they wont sign it.
Gerry the canoebuilder

[ted saxton]

Dear Bonnie,
So sorry about your troubles with the Zoning Broad. They tried that ordinance here too a few years back about parking TT & RV's on your property here in Independence Mo. It didn't fly fortunately. (along with the one wanting us to pave our driveways ) I think there was just too many for them to fight. Here you see just about in every neighborhood a TT, RV or a Fifth Wheel parked somewhere.
It just takes one whiner to mess it up for everyone. Good Luck!

Ted & Vera

[CD Smith]

I too have had a few rounds with the local zoning police.

As the result of a complaint from a local realtor, the house down the street went up for sale, I had to move our Casita from the back yard to a spot by the driveway. It wasn't that the Casita was able to be seen from the street, we have a 6' privacy fence. It was because the Casita was not on a "dust free surface". When parked in the back yard I put the wheels and tongue jack up on concrete stepping stones. The zoning police wanted me to put it on a concrete slab, but I didn't want to pave my back yard.

We had a Pavestone parking area, which meets the dust free surface requirement, added beside the driveway. This puts the Casita out by the street where everyone can see it instead of behind the privacy fence out of sight.

Go figure!

[Kevin K]

My brother could not leave his 17' Crestliner boat outside , so he put the boat in his garage and left his car outside. He also could not have a cloths line pole outside or a shed. He had a dog house outside but had to get that OK'ed by the city. Rules are rules , I guess.

[John Mc]

This is a tough issue from all sides. Imagine the worst case, as lawmakers are wont to do. You live in a ranch house on a 60-foot wide lot, and one day the neighbors bring home a pair of 30-foot trailers, parked in the driveway. Suddenly you're living in a box canyon. Few of us would accept that, and that's what the law's aimed to prevent. They're not drawing distinctions for "cute little trailers like ours.

Traditional municipal practice tends toward simple, concrete rules, like "one trailer" or "none."
When our suburban planning commission was wrestling with these regs a few years ago, city staff proposed a single-trailer-or-RV limit. This approach was both too tight and too loose. You couldn't park a VW camper bus beside a canoe trailer on any residential lot, but you could leave a single large travel trailer in the front driveway of the smallest home.

The best modern zoning practices emphasize "performance-based zoning" (that's a professional buzzword that will gain you some instant 'cred with any city planner trained in the last 20 years). Rules like the 15-foot front street setback are based on the benefit you want , i.e. ensuring good sight lines along the street. But there was considerable resistance to any rule that required actual measurement, or inspection, or discretion on the part of the inspectors. We all agreed it was better if RVs, boat trailers and the like were parked out back or at the side. For some anti-trailer folks, it made a difference if RVs were covered or uncovered. It was hard to convince anyone to draw distinctions between large and small trailers, though- I don't think many folks are aware that the small ones exist!

I think every neighborhood or town sets its own standard for accessory vehicle parking (or, is apparently the case in eastern Kentucky, no standard at all). If nobody on your street has a trailer out front at least part of the season, there may be a reason. Our city attorney often warns us of the limitations of city power in denying rezonings or other development measures, but he drew virtually no limits on our authority to regulate RV parking.

After all, who wants to live next door to Robin Williams? Or Clarence Thomas?

[Bonnie]

After all, who wants to live next door to Robin Williams? Or Clarence Thomas?

Well, right now, given my druthers....

Bonnie

Oh, and I'm putting off the variance request. The Jeep needs to go into the shop. It's more important at this point.