South DaCola

Editorial Cartoonist from South Dakota

Code Enforcement

Code Enforcement Sioux Falls

Get your ‘Boulevard’ on!

l3wis 8Comments

The city is tired of NO consistency with boulevard landscaping in town (and those pesky decorative mailboxes). How dare people allow their homes to look different then their neighbors. Better charge them with criminal nuisance! (I won’t get into that). So now they are suggesting a compromise of allowing up to 20% to be landscaped, and you have to get a permit from the city (never miss an opportunity to miss out on a pointless fee).

This is how I look at it. The city owns the boulevard, but the adjacent homeowner/business is responsible for maintaining it, they should be allowed to landscape it however they want to within reason, circumstance and how the area is zoned. If the city wants to TELL us how our boulevards should look, fine. You can come and mow them and trim trees in them. But since we are responsible for the maintenance, we should have a say in what goes in them.

Of course, in this document (DOC) they show a lot of bad examples. That is a whole other ball of wax, if someone isn’t maintaining it properly, then yes, they should have to. But telling people they can’t have flowers or painted green boulders (that one made me laugh) on property they maintain doesn’t make sense, seems they are getting their panties in a bunch over nothing. But since our city is run like a dictatorship, it doesn’t surprise me. Pretty soon they will start arresting people for not mowing their lawns.

Code Enforcement Mayor Subprime Mike Huether

A word of advice to Huether, tread lightly when you are considering retaliation

l3wis 2Comments

From Guest Poster. I have heard about similar incidents in Sioux Falls who dare to speak out against the mayor get visits by code enforcement. In fact, one of the stories is about to boil to the top here real soon;

A Peoria, Illinois man sued his local mayor for ordering a police raid on his home in response to a Twitter account mockingly portraying the official as being preoccupied with alcohol and strippers,WGN-TV reported on Friday.

The plaintiff, 29-year-old Jon Daniel, identified himself as the creator of @PeoriaMayor in a press conference on Thursday, saying he did so as a joke originally intended to be read by himself and his friends.

 

Code Enforcement SF City Council Sioux Falls

Trash Can ordinance

l3wis 6Comments

The new proposed trash can ordinance has me a bit on the fence;

The Sioux Falls City Council will vote this month on an ordinance that would require residents to keep trash cans hidden — either inside, behind or beside a structure.

Personally, I keep my cans in my garage. The main reason is because I have gotten dogs, cats and other critters who have gotten into them when leaving them outside. I have even had random people ‘add’ to my garbage. I would agree with this assumption though;

Some garbage haulers are worried a proposed change to keep trash bins out of sight will mean more customers forgetting to put them out on collection day.

I forget quite a bit, mainly because my hauler teamed up with another one and they changed my collection day, but also as the old adage goes, out of site, out of mind. I probably forget about 25% of the time to put my trash out.

In some ways the ordinance doesn’t make any sense, because obviously they will still allow the cans to be out on your driveway on collection day, so in some ways, there will always be cans visible any day of the week, on any block in this town. Secondly, most people don’t own there receptacles, so how do you enforce a homeowner to store a trash can that they do not own? And lastly, I am a big property rights person, the city telling people where they need to put their cans is just silly, I think this line says it all;

“To me, it’s just a vote on city aesthetics,” LaVergne said Monday, standing in his driveway in southwest Sioux Falls.

Once again, we have become a city that is worried how things look on the surface instead of worrying about the bigger issue, how much will this cost us in higher fees from the haulers when they have to start digging around for our cans? That and the fact that the landfill is increasing drop rates. Once again it seems we are looking for a solution to a problem that doesn’t need to be fixed and will only end up costing us more.

Dumbass city.

Code Enforcement KELO-TV Sioux Falls

People who build ‘Rat Rods’ are ‘Bad Neighbors’

l3wis 8Comments

ratrod

Image: KELO-TV

Leave it up to Jorgi and camera crew to take a picture of this truck. This guy must be in violation, look at the scary maltese cross on the door. This is the first thing I thought when I saw the truck (commenter on FB);

I have a complaint! In this story, you had footage of a pickup truck, when you mentioned abandoned vehicles. That particular vehicle is not abandoned! It belongs to a friend of mine, and is what they call a “rat rod”. It IS registered and licensed. I think you should apologize for not doing proper research, and maybe do a story on the ” Rat rod” scene in the Sioux Falls area. You would learn that the folks who build threes cars are very proud of them. I agree about the problem you covered, but in this case, you blew it.

Yeah, it would be nice if KELO did a story about ‘Rat Rods’ but you can thank DTSF for chasing Automania out of town.

If someone fails to do something about the problem within a few days, the City will issue a fine of $100.  If the property owners continue to ignore the problem, the City will fine them another $200.  A third violation can result in a $300 fine for a total of $600 in fines all together.

And this is where the city has it wrong legally. You can’t continue to issue fines until the first violation has been resolved, and you certainly can’t make them pay every violation. The city has learned nothing from the Dan Daily Supreme court case, except keep doing the same thing over and over and expect different results. The code enforcement ‘system’ in Sioux Falls is broken, not jut because the ordinances are poorly written but because the people in charge of the department are power hungry bullies that take pleasure in harassing property owners.

As for abandoned homes that have no clear title holder, that is an issue all in itself. That has to do with property that has ownership problems. By all means, clean it up and take care of it. But if someone is working on their own licensed vehicle on THEIR property, how is that a violation? The city has no right to tell you what you can do on your own property as long as it is not illegal activity. The city charter is hardly the law of the land, and quite laughable if you ask me.

This code enforcement firestorm by the city and media is out of control. The Charter Revision Commission needs to take a serious look at the ordinances that deal with property cleanup and maintenance.

And BTW, nice job on the staged trash shots by the cameraman to make it look like trash is all over the place. I had to laugh at the containers that were clean and clearly probably taken from the KELO break room trash can. That’s some serious ‘investigative’ journalism Jorgi.

Code Enforcement Sioux Falls

Mike ‘The rules don’t apply to me’ Huether

l3wis 8Comments

IMG_0325

One can only laugh at the irony of Huether busting everyone else’s chops about ‘code enforcement‘ yet doesn’t follow the rules himself.

City Ordinance Section 97.001 Posting on public property. No person shall nail, paste, paint or otherwise affix in any manner any sign, advertisement, picture or design whatever upon any bridge, viaduct, sidewalk, parking, parkway, boulevard, crosswalk, curb or street or upon the railing or approaches of any bridge, viaduct or sidewalk or upon any telephone, electric light or fire alarm pole or post.

These signs (3) in the boulevard were seen outside his campaign office this past week and were still there today. Maybe the city’s code enforcement shrink needs to have a discussion with Mike about his obsession with signage. He seems to be ‘hoarding’ the boulevard with his signs. Maybe this obsession is a sub conscience mental disorder?

« Previous Page — Next Page »

You Missed

Uncategorized

It was only a matter of time

Uncategorized

Internal audit has a busy schedule

Uncategorized

Every Single South Dakota Democrat shows up to the convention

Cartoon Miranda Bayse SF City Council Sioux Falls

Beyond Help