Roseland cracks down on zoning laws(private property right?What private property rights?)

www.southbendtribune.com ^ | 5 16 05 | NANCY J. SULOK

[freepatriot32]

The Roseland police chief recently knocked on Trish Lane's door and told her that her front-yard parking pad was illegal.

"It was the weirdest thing,'' Lane said.

K.C. Pocius, the Roseland zoning czar, said the visit to Lane's home is part of an ongoing effort to clean up the town.

Town Council Member David Snyder echoed Pocius' comment. He said too many Roseland homeowners have let their properties deteriorate, and something needs to be done to tidy up the town.

The problem with Lane's supposed violation is that the town doesn't have an ordinance that prohibits parking in the front yard. Both Snyder and Pocius admitted that.

They said they are trying to enforce a county ordinance that governs yard parking.

Most towns don't do that. They have their own zoning codes. They don't enforce county laws.

For example, "in the town of Osceola, that's never happened," said Police Chief Phillip Brown.

Most town ordinances are a copy of the county laws, he said. In Osceola, the zoning administrator and code enforcer can only enforce town and state laws, Brown said.

Lane isn't sure where she and her husband will park if not in the front. Their modest house on Roseland's west side does not have a driveway or garage.

Their choices are to park their car and van in the street, impeding traffic, or to pull off onto their lawn.

Snyder said it would not be illegal for them to park in the street, although it might not be practical on their narrow street.

The Lanes can't park behind their house, because they have no driveway or garage back there. Not only that, but a fallen tree blocks access to their backyard.

Snyder used the Lanes' fallen tree as an example of the code violations the Town Council wants to crack down on.

During a visit to the neighborhood Friday afternoon, Snyder pointed out several alleged code violations on the Lanes' property. Then he took me on a tour of the town's west side to point out violations at almost every house.

Some had rotted and sagging roofs, while others had piles of debris; swimming pools with improper fencing; illegal fences; and other problems.

"You see all this crap?" he said. "Who the hell wants to live like that?''

The Lanes understand that and say they are trying to keep their property neat.

About two years ago, Mickey and Gerry Lane, Trish's in-laws, bought the gravel and helped create the parking spot. Mickey Lane said she and her husband actually own the house where Trish and their son Eric live. The elder Lanes live next door.

The gravel area is just big enough to hold two vehicles parked perpendicular to the street. The idea was to have a parking area that was off the street and not subject to becoming muddy every time it rains, Trish Lane said.

Whether the parking area is part of the front yard could be debated. Many homes in Roseland have driveways -- some of them unpaved -- that traverse their front yards.

If a homeowner parks on a dirt driveway near the front of his property, could that be defined as parking in the front yard?

If not, why would a gravel parking pad be a violation?

If the parking pad were paved with blacktop or concrete, would it still be considered illegal?

Pocius said the Lanes aren't the only residents warned about parking in the yard. The Town Council is trying to clean up Roseland's image by cracking down on scofflaws, he said.

As the zoning czar, Pocius said, he has had trouble keeping up with the workload. While the town police hand out warnings or citations for violations, Pocius does the follow-up.

He said he is behind in that task, and he is working now on cases from mid-April.

Nancy J. Sulok's columns appear on Sundays, Mondays and Thursdays. You can reach her at nsulok@sbtinfo.com, or by writing c/o South Bend Tribune, 225 W. Colfax Ave., South Bend, IN 46626, telephone (574) 235-6234.

[freepatriot32]

Trish and Eric Lane park their vehicles on a gravel pad in front of their Roseland home. The town's police chief visited them recently to warn them that a county ordinance prohibits parking in their front yard. Tribune Photo/NANCY J. SULOK

This brownshirt busybody really needs to be deported to china or Massachusetts or some other communist country where he will be happier then a pig in slop up to the day he gets shot by some other sniiveling beuracrat for some asinine rules violation in order for the bureaucrat to justify thier agency's exsistence. People like this asshalf "czar" tick me off to no end

[freepatriot32]

ping

[freepatriot32]

Libertarian ping.To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here

[camle]

all you properties are belong to us!

[tnlibertarian]

Looking at the picture, tell them it's your very short driveway and that they can go Cheney themselves.

[jonascord]

What's even worse is that in a few years, this "czar" is going to have his name in the paper again for accepting kickbacks, or kiting checks, or bid rigging, and he is going to be in front of the cameras, batting his baby blues, denying that he has EVER abused his office...

[nathanbedford]

Too many people, too few parking places. The solution is to reduce population. Tax children 'cause what you tax you get less of. End most immigration now.

[Dallas59]

Doesn't look to bad to me. Looks like any rural setting. I wished I had a house.

[BenLurkin]

Hey -- they look operational and they ar NOT on the lawn ... so . . .

[Fixit]

Breeding a thousand Carl Drega's, a FR classic thread.

[freebilly]

"You see all this crap?" he said. "Who the hell wants to live like that?''

Mr. Snyder, I think you should give every homeowner, out of your own pocket and the goodness of your heart, an extra $20,000. so they can put in driveways and fix their sagging roofs....

[TYVets]

Tribune Photo/NANCY J. SULOK

No curbing at the edge of the street ?

Every time a heavy rain occurs does the city get sued for allowing the water from THEIR street to flood private property ?

[CSM]

Per that picture, it doesn't look bad at all. From what I can tell, this is nothing but a revenue generating scheme.

[TexasTransplant]

Great Tag

[BBell]

I used to live in Northern Indiana. A lot of A-holes up there.

[FreedomFarmer]

Claire Wolfe is wrong. It is not too early.

[longtermmemmory]

I see this all the time with government lawyers (includes judges) vs private lawyers. The government people expect everyone to comply with absurd overregulation with no concept of the real world.

I suspect what is really going on is that some developer wants the properties and is trying to push some of the poor people out via desperation.

[longtermmemmory]

I wonder what would be less expensive.

Going around giving citations and tying up the administrative courts

ORRRRR

Taking the same money on inspectors and courts and resources, and just FIXING the properties via grants?

Instead of a code enforcement ticketer, hire a code enforcement FIXER.

I think these socialists want the problem not the solution.

[longtermmemmory]

Mr. Snyder, "let them eat cake."

Socialist aristocracy

[SouthParkRepublican]

"Hey -- they look operational and they ar NOT on the lawn ... so . . ."

This just came up in my neighborhood. About three years ago an old woman who lived two houses away from me passed on and for some personal, sentimental reason, her son has decided to leave everything exactly the way it was. The yard is overgrown, there is almost no paint left on the house, and there is a rusting hulk of a 60's era Buick with four flat tires, sitting in the driveway.

So a bunch of the neighbors decide it's an eyesore and find out that there is a local ordinance that forbids storing an unregistered vehicle in ones driveway. The township sends him a notice that he has to either sell it, remove it, have it registered or face daily fines.

God bless this kook. He put a car cover on it, stuck a for sale sign on it, and if you call him, you find out his asking price is 25,000 dollars! Turns out that this is perfectly legal and there is nothing anyone can do about it.