In a message dated 97-07-29 15:34:12 EDT, rfeibusch@loop.com (Rick Feibusch)
writes:
> >Rick,
> >One of the prime responsibilities of a journalist is to Really make sure
> you
> >have your facts straight. What state are you referring to? I heard the
> >same rumors about N.J. and it wasn't true. We still have the concept of
> >"private property". I think it was Jefferson that said there can be no
> >democracy without private property. I don't think there is anywhere in
the
> >U.S. that your property can be impounded unless it is associated with the
> >sale of illegal drugs. I enjoyed your writing but I'm having trouble
> >separating the fact from opinion.
> >Cheers-Don Mathis <donmathis@lucent.com>
>
> Don,
> The State is California and the municipality is San Pablo in a recent
> situation. A few years ago a friend in San Jose was sued by the city to
> remove the 16 Morris Minors AND all of his spare parts from his backyard.
> They won and he lost. If he hadn't sold off or stored what he wanted to
> keep OFF of his property by a particular deadline, the city would have
> hauled it away and sold it as scrap, deducted the scrap value from the
cost
> of removal and billed him for the difference. This was all due to a real
> estate agent who was selling a house on the next street and felt that it
> was the reason the house wasn't selling.
>
> One of my other jobs is as an appraiser for the Peterson Automotive
Museum.
> I also free-lance. I have been called in to a number of court cases
> involving abated cars & parts in both Orange and Riverside Counties where
> the city was abated an "eyesore" and sold "valuable" cars for scrap.
> Sometimes I'm called in after the fact and have to testify using videos of
> the stuff before abatment. Most of this stuff is junk and how do you value
> a four foot tall pile of "rare" mixed exhaust manifolds? But I've also
> seen a '56 Chevy and most of a Bugeye sent to the scrappers. Now we all
> know that with the California lien sale laws, the scrappers eventually
sold
> these cars back into the system, BUT the law allowed the cars to be abated
> in the first place. There are public nusence and public health laws
already
> on the books in most communities that are not being enforced because there
> is no community action to cause them to - YET. This is not a state law
like
> the smog laws. These are a number of local ordinances, some more severe
> than others. To blow this off as opinion or rabble rousing is to ignore
the
> future. Alot of the stuff I've examined IS junk and most of these people
> SHOULD be ashamed of themselves to have such messes. BUT, who determines
> what a mess is since it is not defined within these laws? Is ten broken
> cars and a ton of parts too much or is two complete but not running or
> registered MGBs and a Sprite ribcase too much? See you on the Funway! -
> Rick Feibusch, Venice, CA
>
I can say that Rick is right, also outside of Cali. In Daytona Beach, FL,
there is a law that prohibits any vehicle without a valid lisence plate or
inspection from being in view from the road for more than one day. First
offense is a penalty, second is towing. There is also something about a
vehicle and it's ability to fit into a garage, but I might be wrong on that.
Anyone live near Daytona that might know specifics want to clue me in?
When I bought my first 'B, we had to push it into the guy's garage
overnight to keep from getting a ticket.
~Mike Lishego
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