On Monday, the Seattle City Council unanimously adopted legislation to streamline enforcement of overgrown vegetation and junk storage on residential properties.
From the press release:
The new changes create a consistent set of standards to help negligent property owners understand the rules and clean up their yards.
“Neighbors rightly get riled when nearby owners turn their properties into junk yards or car storage depots,” said Councilmember Sally J. Clark, Chair of the Committee on the Built Environment.
Currently, different types of violations are regulated under different sections of the city code, which have different enforcement procedures. This legislation creates one unified code section making the rules and fines levied more understandable so owners can comply with the laws as quickly as possible.
In 2007, Council passed the “Clean Up Your Act” legislation that requires property owners to keep their lots in decent condition, for the sake of neighborhood character and safety. The ordinance adopted on Monday improves and refines the original legislation.
You can report a problem property online, or call the Department of Planning & Development’s violation complaint line at 206-615-0808. Reports can be made anonymously.
Wonder what will happen with the junk house on Lake City Way. You know, the one with all the signs just east of La Case Del Mojito.
If neighbors were disabled or elderly, I would be happy to help, but that isnt the case. They just keep like junk cars and a mess. No reason they can’t clean up.
“The only yard maintenance provisions apply to vegetation that grows off your property and onto someone else’s property or into the sidewalk or into another public space”
Yeah that is simple. I could walk two blocks in any direction of my house and guarantee I find at least 10 houses that violate that code. Of course I have better things to do that run around and tattletale on my neighbors.
I fully understand the need for some codes, but when does it cross the line. Things like garbage and chemicals are a health hazard, but if someone has an old vehicle in their yard because they don’t have a garage and it is not leaking oil or gas into the ground, I don’t think its the cities/gov’ts place to say they can’t do that. Don’t get me wrong, I would not like that, but if they own the land and are not damaging it from an environmental standpoint, then I believe storing a car or some building materials is their free choice. I choose not to do that and keep a very well maintained house and yard, but that is my personal choice. I also know of some old people who can’t afford help and can’t physically maintain their properties vegetation and I hope their neighbors choose to help them instead of whining and filing a complaint.
I live next door to a blackberry patch, 3 dead cars, garage with busted out Windows, garbage, old appliances, huge rats, raccoons, mice and other assorted varmits. The house is falling apart. When we live so close together a little consideration would be nice.
I agree with Simon, this is not a government version of a HOA. I despise HOAs BTW. This is meant solely for real problem properties that represent a significant public safety or neighborhood nuisance.
MapleLeafBob I suppose you wouldn’t mind having to deal with all the rats, mice, raccoons and the summertime stench if your neighbor decided to start dumping all their garbage in their backyard. You also wouldn’t mind taking a $50,000 price reduction on the sale of your house because your neighbor is hoarding a dozen F150 pickups in his front yard.
The only thing I wish the new rules would cover is a citation for people that leave their Christmas lights up after Valentine’s day, I’m also thinking community service if they’re caught with them on.
It might be worth one’s trouble to actually read the statutes before going hysteric about government dictating how you manicure your lawn. The rules in no way do that.
In reality, the new rules simply make it easier for the city to cite people who are in violation of a fairly narrow set of violations:
http://www.seattle.gov/dpd/Compliance/Codes_We_Enforce/default.asp
The only yard maintenance provisions apply to vegetation that grows off your property and onto someone else’s property or into the sidewalk or into another public space. Duh. You’re supposed to control that.
The other rules are no-brainers: landlords have to maintain their rentals, you can’t use your yard to store garbage, you have to abide by permits, and you can’t make too much noise.
I’m not seeing Big Brother in any of these rules, and I’m not seeing any “slippery slope.”
This is a tough issue for me. Nobody wants to live next to a place that is trashed and not taken care of. That being said, where do we draw the line? Most people would say you are nuts if you tried to restrict what a person says, yet we feel we can dictate how well they have to manicure their own PRIVATE piece of legally owned property.
If we keep inching away year after year at such small rights pretty soon we will wake up and say “hey, what the heck happened to personal freedom’s and private property rights”. It’s one thing to prevent someone from dumping or storing toxic chemicals on their land, but trying to dictate how long their grass and weeds should be………give me a break. If you want that go move into a gated housing development and pay HOA dues and let them tell you what you can park in your driveway, what color to paint your house, and how your lawn should look.
What if I said I can’t stand how sloppy some people dress around the neighborhood and that is makes us all look bad, so we should put in place a basic outdoor dress code in Maple Leaf for the better of the neighborhood and its image? You would say I was crazy. Well, it really is not that far off from dictating how someone should maintain their lawn.