Something there is that doesn’t like your messy property. And
they are doing their best to call the city’s attention to a select group of
homes that by their estimation do not meet city “standards” for a clean,
well-lighted community. These people have taken it upon themselves to not only
report their immediate neighbors for potential city code violations, but have
also gone about the city taking pictures of people’s property and then entering
those pictures into the public record as places they deem unsatisfactory. They
even handed out copies of the pictures to people in the audience of a recent
council meeting, and then claimed to represent everyone at the meeting.
No one denies that there are certain properties in the city
that are “messy” and in all likelihood violate the City Code. The question is
how the city should go about trying to make those residents clean up their
property. It would be a good idea for the people in the community who are
concerned about over reach to pay a visit to a council session to see just what
is going on and to learn who the players are.
At times, it’s more entertaining than House of Cards.
Recently two local citizens presented a series of pictures to
city council of select homes in the city that they believe are too messy and
require the city’s intervention. In many cases, they have merely presented the
city with yet more proof of situations the city is already well aware of. In other
cases, they have taken pictures of temporary “problems” that disappear when the
trash trucks come or when people have the opportunity to avail themselves of
the disposal points the city already has in place.
For its part the city has taken the information under
advisement and will address the situation at a future meeting. In the meantime,
these homes were presented without notifying the owners that their property was
being used as examples of how Colonials Heights shouldn’t be.
Call it whatever you want, but this amounts to bully tactics
similar to those that appear in the press on a daily basis. Communities tend to
draw a fine line concerning the point at which individual rights meet the
prevailing city code. People have a right to do what they want with their
property. They do “own” their houses, but the social contract with the
community in which they live and the people who live there have certain rights
as well.
The question boils down to whether these people are actually
violating the city code and not just someone’s vision of what Colonial Heights,
or any community for that matter, ought to look like. And further, if they are
in violation, how should the city go about enforcing the existing laws to bring
those folks in line? It is a difficult task at best, and even harder when you are
trying not to cross the proverbial line in the sand.
It would be quite costly for the city to enforce these code
violations at the apparent level these two and the group they represent would
like to see happen. Hiring at least one person whose sole duty is to drive
around town, spot these violators, and then start the legal process is a cost
that can never be recaptured. Instead, ironically enough, the city relies on
the neighborhood to let them know when properties get out of hand. For the
city, and for most communities within the United States, this practice seems to
be cost efficient and effective.
Who better to notify the city than those who live in the
homes immediately adjacent to or across from said violators? There are even
better ways to go about taking care of this business, but apparently the NNS is
less interested in making good neighbors and more interested in creating
hostility.
Strangely enough this new effort to clean up the city comes
almost one year to the day after City Council voted on a code amendment to
impose fines against people who left their trash and recycle bins on their
front lawns or in front of their homes. This current manifestation is little
more than bully tactics in which a few problems are raised to the level of municipal
emergency.
No one, I am sure, wants to be a problem for their
neighbors. In many of these pictures, it’s obvious that the “issue” is merely
one of timing. Perhaps, in some cases, there are other more serious problems,
but the city already has a way to address such things. In some of the more
severe situations, they have already taken action.
But, and this is a big BUT, is it really the domain of
private citizens to tote a stack of “evidence” to council? Would it not be just
as effective to contact the appropriate department about these problem
properties? Hey, here’s a novel idea, why not just talk to the neighbors and
find out if there is a problem, what it might be, and offer to help them “get
on track.”
As a management tool, the whip doesn’t work very well. It
may gain immediate compliance, but it doesn’t do much for morale and often instills
a more negative response. Still, the carrot approach doesn’t work all the time
either. But that’s why the city has a code and that’s when and how such matters
ought to be addressed.
Wow. It is disturbing to think that people are doing this to private property behind people's backs. Are you serious, taking pics and handing them out at meetings? I would use the old adage that still rings true today 'if you have something to say, say it to my face, not behind my back.' If these people are so upset with somebody why not take it up with the owners FIRST before ratting them out and spreading them around without their knowledge? Hard to believe some people have nothing better to do than to spend their lives spying on total strangers, evaluating them by their own standards, judging them and dragging them through the mud without even having the decency to talk to the owners first. I don't know if this is closer to a first grade tattletale, a self appointed, self important, unwanted HOA, or the NSA, but it's not good.
ReplyDeleteThey did pass around a stack of the pictures to the audience. I was there. I told my son to give them back. We both found it disgusting. Then they gave each council member a pack of pictures. One picture was a car with it's back wheels on risers, like someone was fixing their brakes. What, these people are against you fixing your car in your own driveway? It wasn't messy, just a car on risers. Another was a picture of someones trash bin between their two cars in their driveway. All I can say is what the NNS did was not something good neighbors do. I would rather have people with a messy porch for neighbors, who are friendly, than these people who think it's their job to turn you into the government because "they think" your trash can is in violation. I wish my life was so simple that is all I had to worry about. I think the council may not be aware that the pictures were handed around to the public during the meeting not just reserved for the packet they received from the NNS, I say these are not the kind of neighbors we need. A messy porch can represent a busy life or a disorganized life but handing out pictures of people's property to the government without their knowledge or consent definitely represents low moral character, which is much more disturbing to me than a messy porch.Residents of the city, please come to the meetings and be aware. The NNS wants the city to pass ordinances that go way over the line in the areas of controlling your personal property. It would have to be approved by the General Assembly. The city would look rather "petty" with what the NNS is a pushing for if they actually did take it that far. But because one of the NNS is a "BIG" person it is making waves.
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