In effect
County officials have a policy to ignore regulations passed by the County
Council to suit their own needs. They
say they attempt to interpret the spirit of the law as opposed to the letter of
the law. Another way to put this is they make the law and ignore the actions
taken by the County Council.
They say
there is also a practical matter to consider, such as the sheer numbers of
recreational vehicles. That is the very reason the County Council passed the
legislation. Picture an entire subdivision with boats and trailers parked along
side their houses. Not a pretty picture.
Paul Alexander,
Division Manager for Neighborhood Services for the County says they have a very
difficult time attempting to address every recreational vehicle parked on
unpaved surfaces.
Alexander
says, "Part of our challenge is to be fair and consistent, and we would
not be consistent unless we went after each and every recreational vehicle in
our jurisdiction." So they don't go
after any.
In an attempt
to keep political goodwill, they say their program tries to be practical in
problem-solving, with a reasonable level of enforcement. We feel
that the current policy is practical and reasonable at the present time. Unfortunately,
many subdivision do not agree. They say it impacts the value of their property
having vehicles parked in the yards and not on pavement.
The primary
responsibility of Neighborhood Preservation is to identify and eliminate public
health and life safety hazards in our community. They are directing their
resources and attention to these very important problems. In the meantime, the
appearance of subdivisions is going downhill.
The County
says a remedy available to a subdivision association which is concerned about
storage of trailers on unimproved surfaces in their neighborhood, is to include
a restriction in the subdivision indentures. Unfortunately, the county is not
aware of the mechanics in changing subdivision indentures. It often takes
months and money to make this change. Trustees say it's much easier if County
officials would just enforce the regulations already on the books.
I understand that the primary purpose of your department is “to identify and eliminate public health and life safety hazards in our community.” However, you also have a responsibility to address the property maintenance issues that are brought to your attention, as well as on your own accord, in an effort to maintain and preserve the aging housing stock in St. Louis County. I have attended a lot of St. Louis County meetings and have heard county officials talk about addressing neighborhood preservation issues to maintain neighborhoods, but you’re trying to tell me the focus is something else.
ReplyDeleteIs “Neighborhood Preservation” part of your department’s name and focus or not? If it is, then own up to the name and do the job that your department is supposed to do! The trustee directors and involved residents in some parts of unincorporated St. Louis County already have enough problems trying to maintain their areas without having to continue to fight with some St. Louis County departments that don’t seem to want to offer their help.
Are these vehicles any less of an eyesore if they're parked on a concrete pad rather than grass? And does the county realize how almost uninforceable trust indentures are? Why are we paying taxes if the County refuses to do its duty?
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