GILROY
– Gilroy residents who let rundown vehicles, overgrown weeds or
excessive trash pile up on their front yards now face $1,000 fines
by the city if they don’t clean up their mess.
GILROY – Gilroy residents who let rundown vehicles, overgrown weeds or excessive trash pile up on their front yards now face $1,000 fines by the city if they don’t clean up their mess.
The new law – approved unanimously by City Council Tuesday night – goes into effect next month and covers parked motor vehicles of all types, from cars to boats, as well as solid waste that are visible from a street or public right of way.
First fines can hit $100, second violations cost $200 and third violations run $500. For each additional violation after a third conviction, it becomes a misdemeanor punishable by a fine up to $1,000.
The so-called blight ordinance, for the first time in Gilroy’s history, gives residents a new tool to keep their neighborhoods clean. Until now, Gilroy only had aesthetic restrictions on commercial and industrial areas.
“I would say this is a good first-step ordinance (for reducing blight),” City Administrator Jay Baksa said. “The only thing we had before took care of extreme situations that were safety hazards but nothing took care of the less extreme cases.”
Previously, the city would force people to remove residential eyesores only when they became health, safety or fire hazards, Baksa said.
City records show that some residents sent complaint letters in May 2002 worrying that the value of their homes were dropping due to neighborhood blight. A December 2002 letter to the city by Ronan Avenue resident Diane Greer reveals that citizens also were concerned about their health and safety.
“There are several residences which have become storage dumps for abandoned cars, tractors, motors, travel trailers, junk and trash which are dripping toxic fluid down into our city water supply,” Greer’s letter states.
“A lot of people tomorrow are going to be pleased that we got this done,” Councilman Al Pinheiro said at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting.
Gilroy resident Felicia Rosas was one of those people, but she pressed City Council to create an ordinance that keeps alleys clean, too.
Rosas complained about an alley near Alexander and Old Gilroy streets that she says is piled with trash.
“You have to do something about it,” Rosas told Council. “It’s trashy and it’s right in back of a day care.”
Alleys, however, do not fall under the new code. City Attorney Linda Callon said the municipal code dealing with solid waste accumulation and health, safety or fire hazards would apply.
Specifically, the new ordinance bans parking any motor vehicle on any portion of an unpaved front yard.
To avoid a loophole that would allow people to pave their entire front lawn to park vehicles there, the city will change zoning rules to limit the percentage of a yard that can be paved. Cars can be repaired or washed on a person’s front yard, but must be removed within 72 hours.
As for the solid waste component of the law, a 72-hour storage period will also go into effect. After the grace period, all refuse would have to be enclosed in a city-approved container if it is visible from a public right of way.
Blight ordinance
Parking of vehicles:
Bans parking, keeping or storing any boat or motor vehicle, including RVs, whether operable or inoperable, on any portion of the front yard of a property except on a paved area for more than 72 consecutive hours.
Accumulation of waste:
Prohibits refuse to accumulate on any property if it is visible from a street or public right of way for more than 72 consecutive hours.
Enforcement:
Enforcement will be on a citizen complaint basis only. Law takes effect Oct. 16. Until then, citizens should call City Hall at 846-0202 with complaints.
Violators will be forced to remove blight at their own expense. Fines start at $100 a day and go up to $1,000 a day depending on the number of violations someone has.
