Mountlake Terrace Parking Crack Down
Mountlake Terrace is on a mission to fight blight.
Drive through the older neighborhoods north of Mountlake Terrace City Hall, and they're everywhere.I certainly understand the desire to promote tidy and inviting neighborhoods, but how are rules like this not a violation of private property rights? I'm as averse as anyone to living next door to a house with six broken-down cars parked in the front yard, but how does that make it okay to create laws against it? I also don't like living next door to people that smoke out on their porch... can we make that illegal, too? Where does it stop?
Boats, modest vacation trailers, huge recreational vehicles, junkers — some on blocks, others sagging on flat tires — plus an assortment of family cars and pickups, presumably in running condition.
Many are parked on grass or patches of loose gravel, making them illegal as of March 15. The city is offering free driveway-construction permits, which cost up to $200, through Sept. 8.
Mayor Jerry Smith estimates that about 10 percent of the city's 6,000 households are in violation of the new parking rules. But he said residents generally support the rules, approved March 6 by the City Council.
(Diane Brooks, Seattle Times, 04.26.2006)
1 comment:
"I also don't like living next door to people that smoke out on their porch... can we make that illegal, too?"
Yes, in Silly Seattle, and environs, we can.
This ain't Sultan. There is some need for order, and unfortunately, with those property rights I love, comes the responsibility of not being a dick-head. Folks who park junker cars out front, and boats, and RVs, are dick-heads.
If they were responsible neighbors, none of this would need happen. And as a free bonus, I would quit smoking on my porch too.
The Geezer
www.thespinmeister.blogspot.com
www.hatemalepost.blogspot.com
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