City eases rules on storing vehicles

Lolita Harper

City Council members voted unanimously Monday to loosen

regulations regarding the storage of cars that don’t run, saying the

real problem was not the cars but the unkempt properties that are

often littered with abandoned or dismantled vehicles.

In putting an end to a months-long debate, council members said

they were confident the city had a sufficient arsenal of health and

safety codes to fight what code enforcement staff presented as the

most egregious examples of inoperable car offenders. The presented

pictures illustrated rusted, dismantled pieces of cars strewn across

untidy yards.

“I would not be comfortable knowing that that was in my neighbor’s

backyard,” Councilwoman Libby Cowan said, but added that the city

should be able to combat that kind of junk based on other codes.

City planner Kim Brandt agreed.

“There is more than one tool available to the city,” Brandt said.

The council agreed it was important to combat unsightly properties

while not punishing those who restore classic cars or work on more

modern vehicles. Inoperative vehicles are now permitted in a garage

or a paved area that is screened by a 6-foot wall or fence, and even

in driveways, provided the car is maintained in good condition and

covered.

The recent changes are similar to codes before the summer of 2000.

Codes passed in 2000 banned those options and made it legal to

store an inoperable vehicle only in a garage or another enclosed

building. City code enforcement officials have said the law also

applies to backyards, if the car can be seen from a second-story

window of an adjacent home and is the subject of a complaint.

Councilman Gary Monahan, who has a paved section of his side yard

shielded by a fence where he used to house a couple of race cars,

asked his colleagues in March to reconsider the strict rules, leading

the council to send the issue to the Planning Commission.

Planning commissioners refused to loosen the restrictions, and

Monahan appealed.

The councilman’s efforts were bolstered by a group of

self-proclaimed “gear heads” who said the more stringent requirements

were a threat to car restoration enthusiasts.

Mitch Barrie, the leader of Costa Mesa Cruisers, met with city

staffers late last week to discuss possible alternatives, which

include a distinction between cars that simply don’t run and those

that are wrecked and dismantled.

Barrie spoke at Monday’s meeting in favor of the compromise and

encouraged the city to combat blight using other codes.

“There seem to be other problems that are at the root of the issue

at the root of these complaints, but the cars are the most obvious

target,” Barrie said. “The vehicles aren’t the problem, it’s the

general upkeep of the yard.”

Others who were concerned about portions of city codes that

imposed rules on backyards also joined the fray.

Former Mayor Sandra Genis said the city should not be concerned

with anything that is below the view of a 6-foot wall or fence.

“If somebody is offended by what I’m doing in my backyard, I think

we should be looking into a peeping Tom ordinance and not this,”

Genis said.

* LOLITA HARPER covers Costa Mesa. She may be reached at (949)

574-4275 or by e-mail at [email protected].