Why is there no law in Aberdeen limiting vehicles & overall junk that overflows out of peoples yards?

On King Street in South Aberdeen you will see an ugly purple ship in front of an un-Godly overcluttered purple house that looks like a giant garagae sale/lumber yard just overflowing with tacky junk.

Now I am the type of person whom believes that one should be able to do whatever it is they want TO and ON their own property no matter how hideous but across the street (on city property) a purple Ram, purple RV, usually one or two other vehicles belonging to the purple house. (I would only imagine they belong to the purple house since not that many people have anything in purple) in addition to three or four other vehicles on their tiny lot squeezing as much as they can.

Many in the neighborhood have made mention of this sore thumb and even people who visit point out the eye sore.

Are there not laws against this practice of collecting stuff and parking it on land that is not their own?

Welcome to the forum, Mr. Snake.

Well, it seems like there should be but I don't know Aberdeen's laws as I've never lived there. Have you called the City to find out?

Thanks for the warning. If I ever find myself going down King, I'll be sure to wear my sunglasses.

Call the police department and ask for the parking enforcement officer. For junk on private property, call city hall and ask for the code enforcement officer.

I've seen the purple stuff on King St. when I've driven by. What is with the purple obsession? Crazy.

In Hoquiam, they are threatening to tow my 'parts car' that is on my property and covered with a car cover. I paid five hundred bucks for it, need the doors and windshield for my son's IMpala. Maybe more than that, I need the time and someone to help the kid do the actual work....

In any case, after living among total slobs for YEARS and complaining for years...the city comes after me! I would laugh, but five hundred bucks is about what I make in a week and this threat is real.

Meanwhile the 2 properties to the right of me are deserted, all the crap left behind, yards at least three feet high...one is up for abatement. Since the people have nothing to lose, you can't really threaten them, right?

The Mayor did take up my invitation and drove by to see my home (that I have put over 35,000.00 into in the last 2 years), he assured me that my home is the type that they WANT in good old hometown Hoquiam, then I get the second threat from this Mark Davis guy at the city...whatever.

Now if I lived on the right block, they/the city would be painting my home for free...and I could have used that money to pay and have someone help my kid get his car fixed...

The car is on your property? In a driveway? That's ridiculous. I think you should call back Mayor Durney and both of your council reps. Hope that works. Let us know how it turns out.

And excerpt from Chap. 3A-10 of the Hoq. Muni Code.

That's ridiculous. Many of us don't have access to our backyards for vehicle storage. If it was at my house, I'd have to tear down my fence and my deck to maneuver a car into my backyard. I think as long as the car is not parked on the street or in the front-yard, it shouldn't matter or be a problem.

I'm curious what type of screening is considered appropriate. A clean tarp solidly tied down, draped in such a way that it looks as good as a tarp can look, seems like appropriate screening to me.

I certainly understand concerns about people having multiple junk cars cluttering up their property. But it sure doesn't sound like Debra is doing anything like that and that there should be ways to allow for that without giving people grief.

Hoquiam passed that ordinance a few years back specifically because some dude was doing an auto repair service out of his house and had cars parked all over the place. I remember being in that council meeting.

While it makes sense to prohibit those types of situations, unless someone gets a variance with approval from neighbors to conduct such business from their home, I think they went a bit too far. But it's always difficult to write ordinances to appropriately cover every situation, I suppose. And we know, no matter what, you can't ever please everybody.

The Hoquiam Municipal Code provides for "home occupations" in the cities residential districts, as do most of the zoning codes I've dealt with.



As to variances, the neighbors' acceptance is immaterial, except as it relates to their testimony relative to the legal criteria for the issuance of a variance; and the legal criteria for the issuance of a variance, as established by state law, is quite specific.

I mention this only because the propriety of the issuance of variances is widely misunderstood.

From RCW 35A.63.110.

Things have probably changed. I had a home business from '88 to '96 and if anybody had complained, it may not have been granted. At least that's what they told me at the time...if memory serves, anyway.

It doesn't seem to me that an auto repair business meets the ordinance anyway.

I just want to respond to something Debra said. She stated something to the effect that if her house was in a certain area, the City would be painting it for free. The City is not painting houses. That is a project being done by Neighborworks and Grays Harbor 2020, and a lot of volunteers. I think it is called "Paint the Corridor," and will involve 23 houses on Alder and Park, in Aberdeen, and Sumner and Simpson in both Aberdeen and Hoquiam.

And they need help prepping. This Saturday. House painting day is in June. (Good point, Fubar.)

Hey sorry for the inaccuracy there.

My car has NOT been towed yet. I did contact Mayor Durney and he accepted my invitation to drive by and check the situation out...he agreed that my home is very nice, well maintained and the 'type of home we want in Hometown Hoquiam'...still, I got an email from Mr. Davis giving me until May 15th.

I have explained that until I am done with a current personal legal issue (that has sucked both my $$ and time) I will not be able to get those parts onto son's car. Should be able to get moving on this in July.

It was just aggravating to be told you are an eyesore, especially here...I have complained a LOT over true slobs. I understand how a person's lack of maintenance will affect property values for others. That simply is not the case here. (thanks for letting me vent.)

There are 3 ward meetings coming up next week, I will go and try to touch base with my council person.

Did Mr. Davis agree to give you more time? It sounds like your car is clearly not abandoned and that you are just waiting until you have the funds to fix it. I think that most of us have been in that position a time or two.

Listen to Fubar. Hope it works. If not, contact your city council persons.

The county allows up to two inoperable cars (one that's being repaired and one for parts purposes) to be in front of a home for a set period of time (I don't recall the exact nature of that time periods) --- I am mentioning this to show that other jurisdictions do things differently.

I have an abandoned house across the street from me and the former neighbors have friends there breaking down cars and leaving a ton of garbage/mess on the sidewalks and back area (which is right in front of my house in Hoquiam).

I'm a bit tolerant to them because they clean it up rather quickly. However, after a day or two with no movement, I'll have the city officials on speed dial to file a complaint - unless they tell me they can't get to it in a reasonable amount of time.

Is there a way to find out who is making the complaint or is this city official driven?

There is a house like that near me on n street. I'm tired of calling about that house. Its so ugly and surrounded by nice looking houses.

Hi Guys,This situation is placed everywhere.No body do some reliable work on it.Its horrible...

update:
A co-worker with a very nifty trailer with this hydraulic thingie moved my car to his (Hoquiam) property and actually has the doors off and ready to help my son put them on his car.

So the threat tactic WILL work on someone that has something they don't want to lose. Now, if the City will find some tactic to work on the real slackers....I am still surrounded by derelict, abandoned properties.
(VERY nice co-worker, the assist with the mechanical end is very much appreciated, too!!)

deleted by moderator; commercial posts are not allowed.

I'm glad you found a helpful person and a solution. However, I still think it's going too far to put someone through that. There are valid reasons for the city to go after some property owners but one parts car parked on one's property, just doesn't seem like one of them to me.

The tactic of last resort is abatement.

According to a 6/9 DW article headlined "Ward meetings conclude", Hoquiam has "demolished 38 houses in recent years."
Per a 05/25 article, "The Hoquiam City Council voted to pass along $8,300 in abatement costs to the owner of a home that burned down last year, despite the owner’s protests."
01/29: "After nearly a year of abatement notices, the City of Hoquiam is charging an upset building owner more than $33,000 for the December demolition of his condemned building."

Abatements are seizures of private property and owners are entitled to due process. They shouldn't be rushed.

The costs involved have to be a limiting factor, though. Tearing down single familiy homes seems to run around $10,000. Demolishing the old Wirta Hotel cost the City of Aberdeen $113,000 in 2002. The city ended up owning the property and sold it last year for $70,000.

Driving around town, I see plenty of houses with overgrown lawns and we-turned-off-the-water stickers on the front door. I suspect the problem will get worse in the forseeable future.

did I mention the 2 residences on my block (one right next door, five foot high grass right now) that are deserted and in ill repair?

I overheard another co-worker complaining about a truck that the City was going to start ticketing and he was saying "it's on my property, wth?", I kinda butted in and asked if he lived in Hometown Hoquiam..he does and he's aggravated, too. (I told him about our co-worker and how he assisted me and my son...)

I'm still not very happy with this City I have lived in for over 20 years, this thing has left me feeling like it is not a friendly or neighborly place to be. that is just me, of course.

I guess it's easier to deal with cars owned by locals than to track down absentee landlords and make them mow their lawns.

Yes, it is. Some of these properties have been abandoned by the owners, are totally vacant, and obviously no one is maintaining them. Eventually, the County ends up foreclosing on them for delinquent taxes.

I don't know all of the facts of your situation, but from what you described, you probably should not have been given a ticket, which apparently you weren't. I can tell you, however, that the City gets a lot of complaints from citizens complaining about neighbors with so-called "junk cars" in their yards or parked on the street. For every person in your situation who complains that they are being "harassed" by the City employees, the City gets 10 complaints that it is not doing enough. In your case, someone most likely complained about your son's car.

could be,

there are other vehicles in the four block radius that are eye sores...but I figure with some of these, the owners don't really care if they are towed away. I paid a week's wages for the parts car and needed the parts.

The gentleman that towed my parts car to his home commented on how the rest of the neighborhood looks to be a mess..and why was I being harassed?

whatever, my opinion about the way this city is being managed has changed. It is not really the 'hometown' to me. that is just how I feel, no big deal in the scheme of things, I would think