Project truck storage: City at your Throat?

[blue 72 gmc 4x4]

Originally Posted by John Gilbert

Hey Ryan, good to hear from you! In case you guys didn't know Ryan took over editing Custom Classic Trucks when I retired.

I've got a fence, a $40,000 Taco Bell block wall all the way around my property. This isn't going to be enough though because the city lady told me they are now going to use aerial photos to patrol folks property.

Like it or not guys, this is a preview of what's going to happen nationwide. This is why we all need to get behind initiating SEMA's Pro-Hobbiest inoperable vehicle law in the state we live in.

By the way I am not the model of what someone's yard should look like to please the most discerning nosy neighbor yard Nazi. I'm scrambling as fast as I can to get a handle on this situation.

You've got to be kidding me!!!! Aerial photos to "patrol" people's own property?! I think thats a huge violation of privacy. I'd have a big middle finger cut into my lawn out back Thats why I don't live in California either.

[67ChevyRedneck]

One neighbor owns a towing company and sometimes has up to 3 rollbacks in his yard. I talk to my surrounding neighors somewhat often. I keep my yard/ house nice but i have had a 69 firebird subframe complete w/ motor in front of my garage for a couple years now. I also have quite a few body panels stashed in the backyard. Being nice goes a long way. I don' t live in an HOA but its a nice hood where everyone has +/- an acre so were not on top of each other either. I'm a firm believer in clean front yards and fenced backyards... whats back there is nobodys business.
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[mrolds88]

Where I used to live, we had a neighborhood nazi. For several years straight, she would call the county on me when the weather got bad. The first time was right after I blew my knee out. After that I haven't heard anything out of her. Turns out that the county got tired of her. Apparently she must have been calling in on a whole bunch of people about everything.

[sleepertruck72]

Ive been a repeat offender of City of Turlock's "Public Nuisance" letter in the mail 30 days to get rid of the vehicle/chassis or face fines/fees. That was at my old house. Two streets over in the same subdivision I have nicer neighbors that dont mind a day or two of tearing up cars or trucks

[Boog]

I bought my place 20 years ago several miles out of the city limits and for good reason. There was pasture land on 2 sides. Looked like we'd be ok here for a long time to come. Nobody minding MY business. Well things change and one of the pastures was sold out of an estate and developed super fast. Now a gated hood. There is only an ugly hedgerow between us. Their's by the way. And now we've been anexed into the city. And now our road is being made a highway bypass to route big truck traffic around the city.
My 69 hasn't been outside the shop since 97. I do occasionally fire it up and let it run for a while. The bed however is parked behind the shop and in view so it's probably the worst looking thing on my land. It's my current avatar.
One of the new neighbors has several late models and a bike all with loud pipes and they use the road in front of my house as a launching pad. Oh and he starts the bike up early on weekend mornings and lets it warm for 15 minutes or so before he leaves out before 7 am. Well, we do have a couple of things in common I guess. But it's also ammunition if I need it.
Point of this is we pick out a just right place and things change. The city found us!

[kaynnon]

im poor so i dont live in neighborhoods where that stuff is an issue, we all keep our yards mowed, with the exception of a couple of people and we all laugh about it and wonder how tall it will get. i couldnt live somewhere that i couldnt do what i wanted around my own place, people have all kinds of cars and stuff around there house here which is why we dont have to worry about snobby people with money moving in here trying to tell us what to do. one guy running for council had his old dodge dump truck parked by the road with his signs on it. were not trash but were laid back. after reading some of these stories i can say i see one upside to being broke.

[prostreetC-10]

Originally Posted by kaynnon

im poor so i dont live in neighborhoods where that stuff is an issue,

You may be broke by the terms of finance but you are are a rich man for you own a 67-72 chevy/gmc truck!!!

[kaynnon]

oops double post

[kaynnon]

Originally Posted by prostreetC-10

You may be broke by the terms of finance but you are are a rich man for you own a 67-72 chevy/gmc truck!!!

yeah, when i finally build me a garage ill probably start walking around in a velvet smoking jacket.

[prostreetC-10]

LOL.....and you have a great sense of humor!

[pbro]

most city codes allow parking on the side yard or rear, sometimes require approved (gravel) surface or behind a fence. There are ways to meet their requirements and continue to have fun. what defines an inoperable vehicle? For your neighbor, remember every home has a code violation some are just more obvious.

i have a 69 gmc that i have to hide in my garage to set the standard but the city prius sits out side :-)
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[cubber]

Originally Posted by prostreetC-10

You may be broke by the terms of finance but you are are a rich man for you own a 67-72 chevy/gmc truck!!!

Originally Posted by kaynnon

yeah, when i finally build me a garage ill probably start walking around in a velvet smoking jacket.

Originally Posted by prostreetC-10

LOL.....and you have a great sense of humor!

Well said, all around! Kaynnon, I'm not too far north of ya, and have a small shop behind the house. If you ever get in a bind, I'll help ya if I can! (if you're like me, your always in some kind of bind). I get mad sometimes because I wish my shop was bigger, or I had more land. Reading this thread has straightened me out a little. I'm blessed to have what I have! Matter of fact, I was running my truck in the shop last night, and had a neighbor call and say "Man, your truck sounds bad---!"

[John Gilbert]

Hey you guys, thanks a whole lot for your input. I've read your replies very carefully, and I'm proud to say that we're not just a bunch of unreasonable yahoos... There is a balance point.

I just don't have the room to store everything I own, so I came up with the bright idea of registering a few of my old hulks and parking them on the street legally. My '66 Short Fleet with a 327/ 5-speed Tremec fired up like a charm. No smoke, no lifter noise, just a sweet running little small-block.

Today's project is firing up my laid out on air '77 Ford LTD II police interceptor, and getting it off in-op and into tags. This one has to pass smog, so we'll see.

Ah, I'm off on a tangent. The key to this whole thing is trying to get SEMA's pro-hobbiest inoperative vehicle into law in California. I'll keep you guys up to date.

Thanks again for your help.

[jeffahart]

[QUOTE=
Today's project is firing up my laid out on air '77 Ford LTD II police interceptor, and getting it off in-op and into tags. This one has to pass smog, so we'll see.

[/QUOTE]

Good luck with the smog. It's too bad that a lot of the late 70s early 80s vehicles will be going to the scrap heap becasue the cost to get them smog legal is not worth the money. And it's a shame because some of the cleanest survivor vehicles come out of Calif.

"Cash for Clukers" money should have been used for development of bringing the price down on CNG(compressed natural gas) conversion or dual fuel conversions. You would not have a hypo but you could, at least, have a cool looking late 70s and actually get some value for all the bucks it takes to make it smog legal.

[project 67 sub]

[Dano69c10]

I had a big problem with the city;

Seems a nosy neighbor was calling the city about my "abandoned" truck parked on her street and parts in my backyard patio.
Now get this, the truck was registered and driven regularly.
I built parking behind my garage with a 6 foot gate to hide it from view, but that was not good enough for the city. I had to keep my truck garaged to make the city happy. The parts had to go into a storage unit.
To make harmony with this neighbor and the city, I had to do all my work in my garage with the door closed. Anytime I worked on it outside or even in my backyard with the gate closed I would get a visit from the city.
When I did park on the street, I would see her go to the back of my truck to see if the tags are current. This gave me an idea...
I purposely left on my old tags (had the new ones in the glove compartment) and sure enough she called the police, who then called a tow truck. While the tow truck driver was getting ready to load up my truck, I went outside and asked the officer "what's the problem?" My neighbor screams at me that my tags were 90 days expired and by law the vehicle can be towed. I calmly went to my truck got the current registration and gave it to the officer. While he looked at it, I went and affixed the current tag to my vehicle and said "Problem Solved!". The tow truck driver and the cop just laughed, the driver got back in his truck and took off, the officer got in his car and drove away, the neighbor went stomping back to her house. After that I had no problem from her anymore. I now park my truck on the street, worked on them outside and I even bought another truck and the city has not said a word about it. I think they all ignore the neighbor now. The only bummer is that I still have to have a rental unit for all of my parts.

[Mister-B]

Originally Posted by Dano69c10

I had a big problem with the city;

Seems a nosy neighbor was calling the city about my "abandoned" truck parked on her street and parts in my backyard patio.
Now get this, the truck was registered and driven regularly.
I built parking behind my garage with a 6 foot gate to hide it from view, but that was not good enough for the city. I had to keep my truck garaged to make the city happy. The parts had to go into a storage unit.
To make harmony with this neighbor and the city, I had to do all my work in my garage with the door closed. Anytime I worked on it outside or even in my backyard with the gate closed I would get a visit from the city.
When I did park on the street, I would see her go to the back of my truck to see if the tags are current. This gave me an idea...
I purposely left on my old tags (had the new ones in the glove compartment) and sure enough she called the police, who then called a tow truck. While the tow truck driver was getting ready to load up my truck, I went outside and asked the officer "what's the problem?" My neighbor screams at me that my tags were 90 days expired and by law the vehicle can be towed. I calmly went to my truck got the current registration and gave it to the officer. While he looked at it, I went and affixed the current tag to my vehicle and said "Problem Solved!". The tow truck driver and the cop just laughed, the driver got back in his truck and took off, the officer got in his car and drove away, the neighbor went stomping back to her house. After that I had no problem from her anymore. I now park my truck on the street, worked on them outside and I even bought another truck and the city has not said a word about it. I think they all ignore the neighbor now. The only bummer is that I still have to have a rental unit for all of my parts.

Sounds like your experiment worked, but could have just as easily gone bad if it went down when you weren't home, or in the middle of the night. I wouldn't want to risk it with my baby.

Anyway, this woman needs to get a life. Maybe she needs some of her own medicine? This type usually takes an extreme liking to yard work, growing trees and plants, etc. if you look hard enough, I bet there are some that are too close to the street, too bushy, or maybe even a type of tree that has roots that can damage sewer and electrical lines...

Everyone's crap stinks.
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[John Gilbert]

Here's a link to the SEMA model for what I believe should be enacted into law in California. Check out Washington State's SB 1521, and you see Washington is a lot closer than California to solving this problem.

www.semasan.com/page.asp?content=inop&g=semaga

Working with garage door closed? I think the city of Ontario is more lenient towards meth labs than home mechanics.

[Dano69c10]

Originally Posted by Mister-B

Sounds like your experiment worked, but could have just as easily gone bad if it went down when you weren't home, or in the middle of the night. I wouldn't want to risk it with my baby.

Anyway, this woman needs to get a life. Maybe she needs some of her own medicine? This type usually takes an extreme liking to yard work, growing trees and plants, etc. if you look hard enough, I bet there are some that are too close to the street, too bushy, or maybe even a type of tree that has roots that can damage sewer and electrical lines...

Everyone's crap stinks.
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It's funny you say that,
because there was a primered slammed 67 f-100 bumpside a couple of streets up with a cardboard sign in the back window that said "Get a Freakin' Life!"

Another neighbor did report her for having desert rock in her parkway (near the street) which is a violation of the city code. It seems that the rocks can mess up the street sweeper equipment.

[Dano69c10]

Originally Posted by John Gilbert

Here's a link to the SEMA model for what I believe should be enacted into law in California. Check out Washington State's SB 1521, and you see Washington is a lot closer than California to solving this problem.

www.semasan.com/page.asp?content=inop&g=semaga

Working with garage door closed? I think the city of Ontario is more lenient towards meth labs than home mechanics.

They don't call it "Onterrible" for nothing;
BTW in Ontario, it's OK to have families living in garages and tool sheds, loud parties, and yes the occasional meth lab, just don't work on/own vintage vehicles....I wonder if Ontario Canada is the same way?