Tired of seeing all those wrecked cars??

Albacore Tuna Captain · 12-23-2003, 08:36 AM

Whenever I drive across our beautiful country, I see cars on peoples property that are wrecked and/or being dismantled for parts. Almost every home that has one will usually have many. HOw many neighbors are sick of seeing this done in their neighborhoods?

HOw many people know that this is against the law?

HOw many people know that all they have to do is make a complaint to their local police agencies to have this cleaned up?

Often the police don't know how to go about doing this or in rare cases, are inclined to just ignore it. But the offense is a class A misdemeanor! A serious offense. Here are the ORS chapters and titles that cover the violation;

819.010 Failure to comply with requirements for destruction of vehicle

819.012 Failure to follow procedures for a totaled vehicle

When I was a Deputy Sheriff, I dealt with the proplem quite often. Most offenders didn't know they were breaking the law and usually just contacting them got the problem cleaned up. But if they don't, all an officer has to do is issue a criminal citation. Most police officers don't even know they are obligated to deal with this. That's why you see so many wrecked cars everywhere.

I love this land and would love to see it cleaned up some more.

And further on this note, do you know that all wrecking yards have to have a fence high enough to hide their business from public view? ANd did you know they cannot have wrecked cars out in front of their business??

FYI

fishuntr2 · 12-23-2003, 08:49 AM

Stay away from my property...My wrecked cars are bought and paid for and my business. If anyone driving by can see them and then complain to the police..thats chicken <petunia>.{posies} :smile:
And my only neighbor has several himself.

[ 12-23-2003, 10:05 AM: Message edited by: fishuntr2 ]

kamloops · 12-23-2003, 08:54 AM

ATC

I agree, sounds like you had better stay away from Hwy 101 through Shelton than on up to Port
Angeles.

They claim spirits will be lost if they get rid of them. What a crock.

My neighbor at the coast keeps a garbage scow
(beat up old van)(too cheap to pay garbage man) parked in his front yard full of garbage, when the thing starts stinking he drives it to the dump, or says he does. :shocked: We called the police, they won't do anything. I thought about getting some rats and tieing strings around their filthy little necks and taking pictures.

[ 12-23-2003, 10:01 AM: Message edited by: kamloops ]

SafetyChain · 12-23-2003, 08:56 AM

But what can I do about my neighbors who have at least 13(there's been more) cars parked in their driveway and the street at any given time?

Here's the story. I have two neighbors and they are the same family, two different homes. We live on a cul-de-sac. At any point in time you can find as many as 15 cars parked in the street and their driveway. Mind you, the driveways here were designed for 2 cars and the neighbors will pack up to six. The rest are parked along the street.

These cars run most of the time. But they are also constantly working on them. I wondered if some of them were stolen at one point because they were always different. I think the just bring their work home.

I tried to talk to them face to face, but they do not speak english. I have also tried to hint by having the cars ticketed when parked blocking the fire hydrant.

Anything I can do about this? Makes it difficult to sell your home when the Real Estate agent and potential buyers can't find a place to park.

outdoor.spec.ops · 12-23-2003, 08:58 AM

I personally do not have any junk cars as you describe, but I do not want someone policing my yard and property either. My wife is from an area with strict home owner associations, and they drive me nuts with their fines and rules. I understand you dont want to look at a mess, but personal freedom comes first in my book, and if my neighbor wants to part out a wrecked car, and he pays his taxes, good for him.

fish assassin · 12-23-2003, 08:58 AM

What about old boats that are sitting in the yard rotting away? Any laws against
them? Personally, I think having an old boat in the yard is kinda classy. Do you
suppose that folks that have old cars in their yards think the same way, but about
cars instead of boats? So many questions ... so little time!! :grin: :grin: :grin: :grin:

-assAssin-

outdoor.spec.ops · 12-23-2003, 09:03 AM

I get tired of the people with over manicured lawns, perfectly painted fences, and both cars in the garage. Sometimes I want my grass to grow over 3 inches, I like my old fence, and no my vehicles wont fit in the garage, the bait freezer is to big. :grin:

CATCH AND EAT · 12-23-2003, 09:25 AM

Stinks pretty much when the entire neighborhood keeps their property up and on person decides to muck it all up. Pretty selfish attitude. I have a neighbor that is a wonderful person, looks out for everyone, and I actually like him. Trouble is he is a collector. Junk cars, junk airstream trailers, Junk boats and the list goes on and on. It looks horrible.

Before I moved into my present location 12 years ago I worked on cars at my home. I never left cars outside until they were finished and I worked with the door down of the garage. I cared that my neighbors did not have to look at junk cars and parts laying around and they have repected my for it.

Those of you that live in neighborhoods and are the pirhea of disrespect by keeping your yards junky well...... shame on ya. Its wrong, its ugly and it is against the law.

TheRogue · 12-23-2003, 09:39 AM

Quote:

Those of you that live in neighborhoods and are the pirhea of disrespect by keeping your yards junky well...... shame on ya. Its wrong, its ugly and it is against the law.

<font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helvetica">Thank you for putting it so succinctly!! My thought exactly.

[img]graemlins/applause.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/applause.gif[/img]

TR

GutshotApe · 12-23-2003, 09:59 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by SafetyChain:
Anything I can do about this? Makes it difficult to sell your home when the Real Estate agent and potential buyers can't find a place to park.

<font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helvetica">I feel your pain!

I'm trying to sell my place but the guy across the road (its a "rural residential area") started bringing his 18-wheeler home and parking it right in front of my place but across the road on his land. I talked to the guy...offered to cut some brush along his driveway and to buy him a load of gravel so he could park his rig off the road in a less conspicuous spot. He said "no". I called the county road dept and complained...but nothing happened. So I took pictures and sent them to the county roadmaster and requested this guy be held to the same standards as everyone else i.e. make him stop or make him get a r/w permit and require him to pave his new driveway's approach apron. After a while the county must have contacted him because he stopped bringing the rig home...I think they passed an ordinance prohibiting large truck parking in rural residential areas in general, county wide.

The neighbor then made a crude sign with even cruder references to yours truly and hung it across from my driveway. It blew down after a few rainstorms. Occasionally, over the next month or so, I'd pull my newspaper out of my mailbox tube only to discover someone had put dog doo doo in the tube. Gee...wonder who did that? :whazzup:

Shortly after that the guy brought home another wrecked car (he has 12 more down by his trailerhouse but you can't really see them from the road)...this one he parked in the hole where he'd been parking his 18-wheeler. About 2 weeks ago I noticed two sheriff's cars & deputies stopped in front of the guy's illegal parking area...he still hasn't paved his approach...checking vehicle ID, I guessed. But, so far, nothing has happened and the wreck is still there. I don't know who called the sheriff or if the sheriff intends to do anything...but since then, every night when the guy comes home about 1:30AM after leaving his big rig elsewhere, he repeatedly honks his car's shrill, loud horn as he goes past my house.

Ahhh....country living!

Pyramid · 12-23-2003, 10:12 AM

Sheesh, I heard once if you dont have any bad neighbors than it's probably you! :grin:
But seriously, on my way over to Hebo or any highway to the coast, I see the most beautiful land with the biggest junkyards ever. I just dont understand.

TheRogue · 12-23-2003, 10:15 AM

Here's an extreme case:

Clackamas County takes the land it had to clean up.

In my mind, good for the County!! It should happen more often.

TR

Albacore Tuna Captain · 12-23-2003, 12:43 PM

I guess these nuisance abatement laws were passed for sanitary, visual and noise pollution. Some people say it is their right to have their property on their land in any state they want. Garbage is paid for but is it okay to keep a mountain of it in your front yard? Would it be okay to pile tons of manure alongside your neighbors fense if you first pay for it?

The point is that all these laws that deal with nuisance abatement are there because the MAJORITY of the people find the subject of the law objectionable. A lot of wrecked cars not only are an eyesore, but they lower property values. So where does the wrecker get the right to influence his neighbors home value?

Most laws have someone who doesn't like them. But as long as the majority of the population agrees, then you are obligated to obey the law.

The price we pay to live in a free society is to obey that societies laws. And if you don't like it, change it.

[ 12-23-2003, 01:44 PM: Message edited by: Albacore Tuna Captain ]

farm5 · 12-23-2003, 12:54 PM

Reminds me of the little old lady who lived next door to the town school. She called the principal and complained about having a view into the boys locker room and seeing what boys normally do in a locker room. The principal responsibly thinking that wasn't quite right had an 8 foot high fence constructed between the adjoining properties. A couple of days later the lady calls the principal and says "I can still see into the boys locker room from my up stairs window."

lost_sailor · 12-23-2003, 12:58 PM

This is a revered Pacific Northwest tradition you're messing with here!

Noah II · 12-23-2003, 01:40 PM

Yes, and how else are we going to be able to tell the good neighborhoods from the bad?

In the good neighborhoods you are only allowed to have TWO cars up on blocks in your frontyard!

Freighter Bait · 12-23-2003, 04:42 PM

OK
So who is the bad guy when the "junk" has been in your back yard, in the middle of the country, exposed to nobody but the occasion vacuum cleaner salesman and all the sudden the country is a neighborhood, with your "junk" creating eyesores, diminishing property values, yadda yadda yadda.
Who's neighborhood got trashed? Fodder for the mill.
FB

TheRogue · 12-23-2003, 05:04 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Freighter Bait:
OK
So who is the bad guy when the "junk" has been in your back yard, in the middle of the country, exposed to nobody but the occasion vacuum cleaner salesman and all the sudden the country is a neighborhood, with your "junk" creating eyesores, diminishing property values, yadda yadda yadda.
Who's neighborhood got trashed? Fodder for the mill.
FB

<font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helvetica">good point, but, again...this junk is an eyesore, often illegal, and reduces property values around the area.

Old rusty cars and piles of tires are junk, plain and simple (IMHO). Being born and raised in Curry County to a true "packrat", I have a highly-developed hatred toward JUNK.

TR

Big TULE · 12-23-2003, 06:28 PM

I just grow my grass high enough to hide them....

farm5 · 12-23-2003, 06:29 PM

I know we have all heard the saying "What is one man's junk is another man's treasure". Truth or not, I don't know, but it is kind of fun to rummage through someone elses junk. Sometimes you find some good stuff. Sometimes the junk is in a fieled or sometimes it's a barn full of stuff, it's just interesting stuff.

The root cause of all this is the fact we are all becoming forced to live too close together. We all create "junk". Some is left out for all to see and some is hauled away that most of us can't see, but the fact remains it is still with us. One day if society continues as it is there won't be any out of site places to put it. I doubt that society will prevail but if it does, those who don't like looking at it better get use to it.

1pump · 12-23-2003, 11:54 PM

Quote:

I get tired of the people with over manicured lawns, perfectly painted fences, and both cars in the garage.

<font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helvetica">Yeah, really! You just described my parent's house. Thank God that gene didn't get passed along to me. :grin:
They complain non-stop about their neighbors lack of yard maintenance. The house on one side is an eyesore (shingles blow off the roof in an east wind and land in my parent's yard) so I don't blame them there. The house on the other side is neat as a pin, but the landscaping isn't to my parent's taste (river rock and funky-looking shrubs) so they complain about that all the time. I told them to lighten up once and they looked at me as if I had just renounced God and country and asked them to share a pipeload of crack with me.

GSA, that was a pretty decent offer you made to your neighbor. He should have taken you up on it, or at least taken the hint. I occasionally park my truck on my street but I keep it as low profile as I can.
I had one guy start to complain, but we had a civil conversation about it (despite the fact that he was drunk) and then he was OK with it.

For those of you with issues about junk collectors, don't move to Alaska. I think it's a state law that you must have at least 3 junk cars, 2 junk snowmobiles and a boat that hasn't seen water in 10 years if you're going to live there.
"He who dies with the most blue tarp wins!"