RANT: Parking in back/rear yard allowed…

[wsn00b]

When discussing a neighborhood complaint, the DPD inspector says parking cars in the backyard is fine as long as there are no more than 3 cars. I read the code on seattle.gov. There is some vagueness that I can’t understand about the “rear yard”. They also seem to accept that cars in the yard that haven’t moved for 2+ years are considered operable as long as “a wheel isn’t off”.

3 cars or less, parking in the backyard makes the neighborhood look like a slum.

If that mostly absentee neighbor follows up on the complaint, I might have the pleasure of viewing *only* 3 junk cars instead of 6.

FFS, so many people need to get their crap out of their garages and/or hoard their crap in some desolate farm barn.

Thanks for listening. Time for a beer.

END RANT.

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[JoB]

wsn00b

my garage is in the back yard..

so that’s where we park the cars

though i now only have room for two

i converted half of the parking strip to a pop up potted veggie garden

so far nobody has complained about me growing things out there

but i am sure someone will

growing actual food on a parking strip could make the neighborhood look like a slum

after all.. i am not allowed to hang my wash out there

hanging wash is so .. pedestrian

i put a pop up container veggie garden on the parking strip out front too ..

it’s my protest to the city

they took down my trees

they aren’t putting in a parking lot

they decided on a bioswale instead…

next year

one of my neighbors calls that rat habitat

he’s not so very wrong

but heck .. maybe they will crowd out the ants

who knows?

that could be a good thing

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[Seattle Trash]

It’s “illegal” to hang dry laundry? Please god no.

I hear ya on the car tackiness. We have a neighbor with a car that hasn’t moved in years in his back lawn, pulled up mostly between his house and a neighbors so you can see it from the front. Sure, it looks like crap, but it’s also harmless and likely not hazardous.

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[wsn00b]

This is not about laundry, vegetable gardens, bioswales, garaged backyard cars. All of those things indicate good ownership/investment in the neighborhood. I’m not advocating for draconian HOA enforced dreary “picture-perfect” suburbia. I’m sure each one of us have an opinion on what looks good or not but that is not the point here.

In this case the junk cars are attracting racoons and are, by any definition, trash. This house would probably fit into an episode of Hoarders to give you a better picture. It is also physically falling apart (roof missing shingles, broken eaves, dangling shingles).

I know (for a fact) that health conditions are not a factor. Person generally does not give a hoot.

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[JoB]

Seattle..

no laundry hanging on the line was still written into the standard lease agreement for houses in Seattle when i rented 5 years ago… i don’t know if it still is

i tried to have it eliminated from my personal lease with no success although my landlady did tell me i could hang laundry under the eaves on the porch and under the covered patio since the lease specifies “yards” :)

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[JoB]

wsn00b

so cars are not really the issue here.. are they?

an unsightly neighbor is.

i used to bemoan the myriad cars and boats and blackberries adorning the 3 properties with which i share my end of an alley…

until the one behind me became vacant and the developers started sniffing around.

those lots are double deep… and double wide..

and in the case of the one behind me… the property consists of two double wide double deep lots… a developers dream..

To say i am not looking forward to the day that property is sold is an understatement.

My little alley is likely to become parking access to at least 6 residences .. that is if i still get to live here.. because rezoning will greatly enhance the temptation for my landlord to sell this double wide double deep lot.. as it will those of the neighbors at my end of this block :(

be very very careful what you wish for.

perhaps racoons are not such bad neighbors after all.

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[Raincity]

Parking a “junk car” in a back yard is not legal. Look here: http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattle911/2009/08/27/how-does-seattle-law-define-a-junk-motor-vehicle/

and here:

http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattle911/2009/05/01/when-do-junker-cars-in-a-yard-become-illegal/

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[Seattle Trash]

JoB

Gotcha! Thought for first it was a silly city law. If we ever rent our home, we’ll be certain to remove that from our lease agreement–no need to waste the energy and money on our lovely sunny days (i.e. not today!)

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[PangolinPie]

JoB, I enjoyed your lovely poem in this thread and thought I’d typeset it (clearly I have too much free time today). I don’t know how to post image links, but here it is for you:

http://i.imgur.com/yp7f9AJ.jpg

Thanks for the inspiration!!

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[wsn00b]

@Raincity: Thanks for the useful link. I’ve printed it out/bookmarked it for my next followup with DPD (whenever that happens).

@PangolinPie: LOL. Now JoB’s post makes more sense :)

@JoB: This is first about junk cars. The other secondary complaints are also there. If I were to abstract out my rant to a higher layer, then sure, it is about more than just junk cars. Perhaps, my RANT is about general disregard of the neighborhood by this neighbor.

I see your point about your fears of development. Contrarily, I’d probably throw a big party if that house (SF 5000, non-urban village, non-splittable lot) was replaced by new modern box.

However, I’d prefer if that neighbor just cleaned up and did basic 101 fixing primarily for their own improved health and well being and secondarily, for the improvement of the neighborhood.

This is not really much to ask and not an insidious request in any way.

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[JoB]

PangolinPie

thank you

that’s the nicest gift i have received in a long time

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[JoB]

wsn00b

in my case.. the developer’s dream is to replace the 3 somewhat derelict houses on my alleyway with

at least 12 ugly boxes :(

not my idea of urban renewal..

btw.. if he gets all the properties he wants… including the one i live in.. 5 houses will be replaced by at least 14 and my gardens will be gone.

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[PangolinPie]

Thanks, JoB; glad you liked it! Hoping for the best for your gardens, as a fellow gardener.

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[anonyme]

wsn, I feel for you. I don’t know where you’re located, but Arbor Heights seems especially hard hit by this disease. One individual has at least 7 vehicles on the street (one hasn’t moved in 2 years) and more in his yard. The tarp-covered fence and 25 foot laurels are a nice touch as well. It’s ridiculous that code enforcement considers the vehicle “working” as long as it has any kind of wheels or engine – even if the piece of junk is not drivable. It would make sense if the total number of vehicles per residential property were restricted; that would take care of these car ranchers. These codes need to be revised. This ain’t Kansas any more.

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[sophistatiki]

Control freak much. FYI some residents and property owners have been here long before the gentriciation nazis showed up. Being a bithcy nosey neighborood is a much bigger discrace and blight on the hood than what someone does with their back yard. Get over yourself. There are ways to problem solve your personal likes and dislikes without being Mrs Kravits.

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[JanS]

so Ms. S, in post 15. You waited 4 weeks after the last post to be snarky and nasty to another poster? Classy….

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[anonyme]

sophistatiki, you’re hilarious! How ironic that you apparently feel compelled to call someone else a control freak and a nosey, Nazi “B” for expressing an opinion on a neighborhood issue. If your post is any indication of your own problem solving skills, I’ll stick with Mrs. Kravits any day. Perhaps I’m not the one who needs to “get over” myself? Heck, at least I can spell. Of course, that probably makes me a grammar Nazi, too…

You might also reconsider the wisdom of posting your vitriol under your business name.

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[wsn00b]

yowza. If that vitriol was directed at me, then thanks for the counter response JanS and anonyme.

Meanwhile, comment 15 made me think of this:

You are welcome.

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[anonyme]

wsn00b, don’t know if it was directed at you or at me, but I appreciate your humor!

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