MY BLOOD IS BOILING with bylaw

[threeforthree]

got a notice on my front door that's says back alley is UNSIGHTLY, even though wife was home they did not knock on door, but placed on a ran back to vehicle, neighbours were watching them, two ladies. I called the number on the card and she looked at the pics that were down loaded, and it was like she was reading off a cue card on what to say, finally she says it two summer students the city has hired to check back alleys..glad my $4200 in taxes is going to a worthy cause.. she says to me (you must admit the boat and trailer are unsightly) its hard to keep a mans cool with answers like that. I said no I do not believe it is.. asked about the process and she says I got till June 28 to clean up or we send in the officers.. I asked her to send them today,,she says sorry you feel this way. Have a good day.

Here is the photos of my back alley.





Here is turning, and looking down my alley to the WEST.

[ETOWNCANUCK]

Take those photos right to their manager or supervisor, as soon as possible.
Be proactive and get him / her to reconsider.

Although it appears cluttered there is an organization there, that anyone can see, and who cares if the trailer and boat is unsightly in her eyes.

would it be a problem if it was a $100 K cruiser? Probably not.

[Sooner]

Had the same a few years back before emails and interweb with the space everyone has behind their garage. I chain link fenced it with slats and had some misc old car parts, etc back there but it was all nicely organised, stacked and covered by tarps. Same wording, unsightly. Someone complained I guess or it was a bylaw drive by.

I called the number, oh, the guy who gave me the notice was off for two weeks. Said well I want to ask him why and some questions but that takes up my deadline. So they gave me extra time to talk. When I did talk, same wording, unsightly, not allowed by bylaws, should be out of sight, like in my garage. Said if I put all that in the garage, I would not be able to park or do much in there. It would be a big shed.

He dug in his heels so I said fine, you come by one day and we will go for a walk and I will show you some unsightly yards in the hood. When I see them cleaned up, I will do the same to my little storage area within a week.

We agreed that I would "straighten" it up a bit more and I would be good.

Rent a cop mentality. Your driveway don't look unsightly at all.

[Jimvinny]

Put the trailer on a block, in line with the boat and truck, and call it good. Damn pencil pushers. Nothing better to do than waste MORE tax dollars.

[Sask Bearman]

Good grief. They obviously have nothing better to do.

[bobtodrick]

Had this happen about three weeks ago.
Come spring I did some tree trimming and had a brush pile in my the area next to my garage. On my property, and in no way 'huge'...maybe 8'x8' and about 4' high. Figured the first long weekend to come (Victoria Day) I'd rent a chipper and deal with it.
But no...the pile had been there no more than 10 days (about 2 weeks previous to Victoria Day) when I get a notice from the city (Edmonton) telling me that if it isn't dealt with within 10 days I will be subject to a $250 fine plus the costs of the city dealing with it.
Called the number on the notice and asked what the issue was since it had only been there about 10 days, was on my property and in no ones way. Was told that it could interfere with garbage collection. Being that my garbage bins are about 15' away from the brush, how would that hinder the collectors?
Anyway, they were 'nice' enough to grant me an extension till after Victoria Day...but I wonder...doesn't the city have bigger fish to fry...or are they that desperate to generate cash?

[Au revoir, Gopher]

Not sure what is wrong with the trailer or the boat, the Chev on the other hand

One of my neighbour's driveway looks worse than that... hell, if I'm honest, there are days my driveway is worse than that.

ARG

[Zip]

Originally Posted by threeforthree

got a notice on my front door that's says back alley is UNSIGHTLY, even though wife was home they did not knock on door, but placed on a ran back to vehicle, neighbours were watching them, two ladies. I called the number on the card and she looked at the pics that were down loaded, and it was like she was reading off a cue card on what to say, finally she says it two summer students the city has hired to check back alleys..glad my $4200 in taxes is going to a worthy cause.. she says to me (you must admit the boat and trailer are unsightly) its hard to keep a mans cool with answers like that. I said no I do not believe it is.. asked about the process and she says I got till June 28 to clean up or we send in the officers.. I asked her to send them today,,she says sorry you feel this way. Have a good day.

Here is the photos of my back alley.





Here is turning, and looking down my alley to the WEST.

If that little 4 sided trailer was in the background and then if your car can be parked a bit more to the right...that's about all I can see needs doing, you park your stuff same as I did and I was on 160 acres...good job on your use of the property you have in the back yard...hope they leave you alone, but if not dig in!!
Zip

[Dewey Cox]

City life.
I don’t miss it.
You can have it.

[reddeerguy2015]

Originally Posted by Dewey Cox

City life.
I don’t miss it.
You can have it.

Very useful reply...

[Dewey Cox]

You can have it too.
There’s lots of city to go around.

[Big Sky]

Doesn't look that bad, but ........

It appears that you have a nice house. Your neighbor appears to have a nice house. You pay a lot of property tax. My guess is that you live in a nice neighborhood. This generally comes along with neighbors who are particular about upkeep. This is certainly the case where I live.

The angle of the photo makes it tough to see where the property line is relative to your parking area. Here's a little list of things that would get called on in my neighborhood.

The red car seems to be parked in the lane. This would be ignored for the day, but if left overnight, it would get reported.
The pile of logs appears to be in the lane. That would get reported.
Are the trailer tongues extending into the lane? The angle of the photo makes it tough to tell. If they are, someone on my block would report that for sure.
Someone in my neighborhood has a ha**-on for garbage bins left out on non pickup days. That would get a call.

It doesn't look like it would take a long time to straighten things up.

[Kim473]

Move the wood by the truck. Move the red car from there. Maybe put a tarp over the boat and trailer. Done deal.

[artie]

Saw in the news that someone in B.C. is getting fined for putting their garbage bin out to early. Maybe the guy had to go to work and make money to pay city taxes. No common sense any more. On the other hand my neighbors that thank god moved to in their terms a better neighborhood would drive around and report many things to bylaw. I am so happy they moved. So in your case I wonder if someone complained.

[TBD]

if they do take you to court, for the fine, keep pics like these and defend yourself vigoursly.


TBD




PS ... you've prolly got some busy body neighbor that has felt slighted by you in some way


... worse case, if you lose, you'll end up paying the orig fine - but you'll get the opportunity to stand up in court before the judge - along side your accusers.

[260 Rem]

By the looks of your pics on either side, all other properties are fenced at the rear property line ... except for your parking lot? Is your parking lot actually in your back yard?

[threeforthree]

Originally Posted by 260 Rem

By the looks of your pics on either side, all other properties are fenced at the rear property line ... except for your parking lot? Is your parking lot actually in your back yard?

Yes it is all in my yard, nobody in out area has garages in the alley.

[hal53]

Originally Posted by threeforthree

Yes it is all in my yard, nobody in out area has garages in the alley.

So in your town you can be fined due to the perception of a couple summer students?? What's with that?..... what are their guidelines for "unsightly"?. I would be seeing the two of them in court. Wow!!!

[Grizzly Adams]

Originally Posted by TBD

if they do take you to court, for the fine, keep pics like these and defend yourself vigoursly.


TBD




PS ... you've prolly got some busy body neighbor that has felt slighted by you in some way


... worse case, if you lose, you'll end up paying the orig fine - but you'll get the opportunity to stand up in court before the judge - along side your accusers.

Nah, sounds like one of those make work projects for students, governments are so fond of. Probably won't even make it to court, kids will be back East by the time it goes to court.

[Trochu]

Lot of people getting worked up about this first world problem. Someone thinks you boat and trailer are ugly, big deal, straighten them up, move the wood pile and your likely good to go. Looks like it would take 5-10 minutes of effort, and people are suggesting going to court over this, taking time out of your day/work to go to city hall? If you want to fight it on "principal" go ahead, you might win. If this is what makes you blood boil though, in all honesty, your a pretty lucky guy.

[Sledhead71]

Absolutely ridiculous... Your a bigger man than I to hold your tongue...

[expedition]

Someone is trying to justify their job .

[whiteout]

Originally Posted by hal53

So in your town you can be fined due to the perception of a couple summer students?? What's with that?..... what are their guidelines for "unsightly"?. I would be seeing the two of them in court. Wow!!!

The summer students would not be writing tickets.

Most likely they were going out in response to specific complaints and taking pictures, an actual officer would be the one to interpret the bylaw and issue the ticket.

In my mind, they issue bylaw has is that OP is using their backyard as a parking lot. Something that most people in a residential area would have an issue with. A lot of people would agree that in a city, the garage or street is for parking, not the backyard. If this was out of the city on a larger piece of land, I doubt there would be complaints.

[vcmm]

Go to court and fight it. Who decides what unsightly is? You want to see you accuser. Probably a bitchy neighbour. Trailers up and blocked for safety. Make sure everything is in your yard. Not past your property line. It is your right to go to court. Someone has nothing better to do. After court and all is said and done cover with the ugliest fluorescent pink or lime green cover you can find.

[whiteout]

Originally Posted by vcmm

Go to court and fight it. Who decides what unsightly is? You want to see you accuser. Probably a bitchy neighbour.

If he goes to court, it would be the bylaw officer showing up, the person who called the complaint in wouldn't go.

[260 Rem]

Originally Posted by whiteout

In my mind, they issue bylaw has is that OP is using their backyard as a parking lot. Something that most people in a residential area would have an issue with. A lot of people would agree that in a city, the garage or street is for parking, not the backyard. If this was out of the city on a larger piece of land, I doubt there would be complaints.

X2 on the backyard parking lot.

[2 Tollers]

Well both the boat and trailer could use a coat of paint. A good job with a camo theme and they would not see them next time around. Problem solved.

[RavYak]

Vehicles, trailers, ugly wood pile, alien thing. Based on your pictures when a person drives down the alley it is pretty obvious that your place sticks out like a sore thumb hence why you were likely reported.

As others mentioned spend the 10 minutes and clean the place up a bit. Get rid of wood pile or stack it up nice and build a cover to hide it from view. I'd get rid of alien thing and anything else like that. Figure out a way to park vehicles and trailers better, it seems the red car is pretty much out in the alley way and looks like crap parked like that. Not sure what is on the other side so I assume you just don't have enough room, maybe you would if you cleaned up the wood and could squeeze everything in? Or find somewhere else to park one of the vehicles or utility trailer.

[Wolftrapper]

Originally Posted by RavYak

Vehicles, trailers, ugly wood pile, alien thing. Based on your pictures when a person drives down the alley it is pretty obvious that your place sticks out like a sore thumb hence why you were likely reported.

As others mentioned spend the 10 minutes and clean the place up a bit. Get rid of wood pile or stack it up nice and build a cover to hide it from view. I'd get rid of alien thing and anything else like that. Figure out a way to park vehicles and trailers better, it seems the red car is pretty much out in the alley way and looks like crap parked like that. Not sure what is on the other side so I assume you just don't have enough room, maybe you would if you cleaned up the wood and could squeeze everything in? Or find somewhere else to park one of the vehicles or utility trailer.

This is what I thought to if I'm being honest.
I would never complain about it myself if I was a neighbor, but a lot would in this day and age.

[Big Sky]

Originally Posted by whiteout

In my mind, they issue bylaw has is that OP is using their backyard as a parking lot. Something that most people in a residential area would have an issue with. A lot of people would agree that in a city, the garage or street is for parking, not the backyard. If this was out of the city on a larger piece of land, I doubt there would be complaints.

Not sure where the OP lives. In Calgary, the OP's parking area would require a development permit because it is a second driveway (assuming he has a front attached garage ). In order to be granted the permit, you have to pay a fee and submit plans. We went through the process. There are quite a few people in the neighborhood that have rear parking. If they were granted the permit, all is good.

I'm pretty sure that all of the rear parking pads near us are gated. Some have a gate that matches the existing fence, some have a swinging or cantilever chain link. It tidies things up and depending on the style, can keep things out of sight.