Planners leave backyards void of clunkers

Lolita Harper

COSTA MESA -- Whether it’s an old clunker, fixer-upper or classic

beauty, if the car doesn’t run, it must be stored in a garage, the

Planning Commission decided this week.

Planning commissioners voted unanimously Monday to uphold existing

property maintenance requirements, which mandate that inoperable vehicles

be stored in an “enclosed building” -- most likely a garage.

Sandi Benson, chief of code enforcement, has said inoperative cars can

be an eyesore and are the basis of many complaints to her department.

Cars that have sat in a driveway for a long time, have flat tires,

cobwebs or are up on blocks contribute to blight in the community, she

said.

Planning Commission Chairwoman Katrina Foley agreed.

“The whole point is that people are complaining that there is a bunch

of junk around their neighborhood and they want it cleaned up,” she said.

Before the summer of 2000, city codes allowed residents to store cars

that didn’t run on a driveway leading to a garage -- provided it was

covered with an acceptable cover -- or in a yard area that was screened

by a six-foot high wall or fence, a staff report states.

New codes passed in 2000 banned those options and made it legal to

store an inoperable vehicle only in a garage, or another enclosed

building.

When minor revisions to other parts of the same property maintenance

code came before the City Council in March 2002, Councilman Gary Monahan

asked the Planning Commission to review the law and consider lessening

the restrictions.

Monahan, who has a paved section of his side yard -- shielded by a

fence -- where he used to house a couple of race cars, said he was

disappointed in the commission’s decision. He promised the issue would be

further scrutinized at the council level.

“I didn’t believe it was right and I wanted them to look at fenced-in

areas,” Monahan said. “They didn’t listen to what the council directed

and just turned around and kept the ban.”

The councilman was also opposed to the portion of the code that

outlaws inoperative cars in backyards. Monahan questioned what aesthetic

motive could possibly drive an ordinance to monitor the conditions

outside of the public view.

“Where does the city get off telling people what they can keep in

their backyards, as long as it doesn’t pose a considerable health or

safety risk?” Monahan asked. “Once again, it all comes down to personal

property rights.”

Benson said code enforcement officers would have no way of knowing of

such violations because the cars would not be visible from the street,

however once a car was visible to others it would be considered in the

public view. Enforcement would be complaint driven, she said.

Mayor Linda Dixon defended the Planning Commission, saying it did as

council instructed and reviewed the possibility of a more lenient code.

“They obviously decided against it and that is perfectly within their

right,” she said. “I think they did what was best for the entire

community and not just for a select few. Why should people be looking

down into backyards where there are junky cars?”

An inoperative vehicle is defined as “mechanically incapable of being

driven” or prohibited from being operated on a public street for reasons

relating to expired license plates, registration or equipment, according

to a staff report.

The issue will come before the council, but a date has not yet been

scheduled.

* Lolita Harper covers Costa Mesa. She may be reached at (949)

574-4275 or by e-mail at o7 lolita.harper@latimes.comf7 .