Remember this guy? He pointed out how the city was busy beating up on private citizens for not following code on dumpster enclosures, yet the city doesn’t follow it themselves. Solution? Change the rules.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHnCdK0ACJQ[/youtube]
From the city council agenda for Tuesday, Item #21;
§ 160.485 LANDSCAPE STANDARDS.
(c) Screening of dumpsters and outdoor storage. All outside garbage or recycling dumpsters or other garbage or recycling receptacles or any outdoor storage which requires screening on the site shall be screened from view of the street right-of-way by an opaque durable fence or wall with a gate with materials similar in color, design, and composition to the primary structure for with a minimum height of six 6 feet in height.
Notice the change? (bold italics). So now if the city can just hide their dumpsters from street view, they will be compliant. Nice move. Makes you wonder about the thousands of dollars spent by private business owners building enclosures when all they need to do now is ‘hide’ the dumpster. I guess the only way to get the city to change rules is by embarrassing them in a public meeting.
Hey – at least embarrassment works in SF. There are other towns in the area where pointing out the City’s non-compliance with its own ordinances simply gets you fired, and made a “pariah”.
I know that young man. He and his wife run a small local owned business that got pushed around by the city. I was very proud of him standing up for himself like he did.
Yeah, and he is a city employee also.
The city Bossing citizens around, yet not taking care of their own back yards! What a tremendous job this man did in his presentation and one could tell it was difficult for him to do. I am all for having reasonable city code enforcements, but for the city to have that many violations of its own code is just hypocritical!
It’s easy to comply with the new wording. Simply, turn your property into an unofficial used car lot and park cars in front of your dumpster. The city can’t stop either because codes do not allow appeals into court.
Remember, everyone, do not accept your case being heard in small claims. Insist on circuit court stating you’ll have legal expense. The city drops the matter because they lose (constitutionally) every time in circuit court.
A dog with no bark or bite deserves no respect.
Okay Dan – cards on the table time. Do you want them to develop a better “bite”? Or are you only concerned about stopping the barking?
I want them to represent citizens instead of themselves. I want them to mean it when they take the oath ‘to protect and defend the constitution’. City ordinance states ‘ subject to judicial review’. The city considers itself judicial without the court. State law over rules their stance. You can appeal into court but they can’t. They’re a dog with no bark or bite. They have no way to collect fines or impose liens without court order. The ordinance used to state ‘either party can appeal into circuit court’. Change it back.