Maybe one of us will get this one someday

One of my projects right now is to help a guy in my neighborhood to clean up something similar. Picture 1 to 2 acres of scrap metal waist high.

He is disabled and cannot do it himself. I stepped up and have agreed to work on it as I have time and Code Enforcement has agreed to drop the almost $18,000 in fines for having an illegal junkyard if he cleans it up.

They asked me when they could return to see real progress and about fell over when I said 4 to 6 weeks. I told them they needed to look in the woods in the back of the property because this wasn't going to be a weekend project.

So far we have hauled over 2,000 pounds of aluminum, and about 1,000 pounds of steel, tranformers, brass, copper, computer parts and other stuff. It will be at least a month before we can even think about tackling the three vehicles, lawn mowers, tractors, and other stuff.

What took 28 years to amass it going to take some time to get rid of.

SwiftRes said:

http://www.kcci.com/video/30514700/detail.html

Click to expand...

after reviewing your photos...

Don't know the area, the zoning, the history or the circumstances.
Just my first impression...really? Sending the guy to prison?
Did they do an early release on a drug dealer to make room for him?
In a previous life I worked in code enforcement and know that some
local entities can become gestapo like. Just seems like another case of big brother knowing better.

Well, if they can do that to you for property YOU OWN, there's pretty much NO LIMIT to what they can do. At MOST, they should have required a privacy fence for the neighbors so they didn't have to look at it like actual junk-yards do... As long as he is not leaking fluids into the ground that would affect others, I don't see the violation...

We had a friend of the family who used to fix bikes for EVERYONE for little to no money. Great lady. Her yard was full of bikes, and tires, but they were given to her by people who knew she did this for people. According to these numb-nuts, she should have gone to prison... :no:

If she did, I would have never gotten my green and white Schwinn, which rode great... lol

What they do is classify it as an illegal junkyard. That is what they have done to the guy I am helping.

Then they can charge fines and send you to jail for not paying them.

I don't get that, send someone to jail costs the local municipality whereas fining them brings revenue in...why send to jail for this? I think a heft fine is more of a deterrent than jail time...

72 there is a lot about gooberment that makes no sense.

Hence the bucket of crap we are in today as a country.

Prison seems a little excessive... but I think if all other avenues have failed (fines, police citations, not appearing at court) then the justice system will run its course! No matter how petty the crime may be.