Hi George,
I am sorry to hear about your problems. I know how you feel, as I recently
went through the same situation..... here's what I did, and I hope it helps
you.
The first thing I did was go down to Village Hall and speak, in person, to
the building inspector. I inquired - POLITELY - as to specifically what
laws I was allegedly breaking, and also asked him what I could do to comply.
Instead of being angry and confrontational, I just... asked for his help and
guidance.
He informed me that, as per Village Code, no unregistered vehicles could be
kept on my property. He also told me that, in the Village in which I live,
there was a rule in the books (dating back to the 1940's) limiting to TWO
the amount of vehicles per residence. He told me that someone had complained
about the quantity of cars in my yard, and it was his job to enforce the
rules.
I already knew that, in my particular area, Cover-It "tent garages" are
illegal - any "man-made " structure is illegal, in my Village, if no
building permit has been issued for it. And I do not possess sufficient
means to build the 20-car garage of my dreams.
With all the pieces of the puzzle in hand, I then asked the inspector for a
bit of time to "get my affairs in order". He agreed that this was a
reasonable request . Of course, I was quite polite to him and respectful...
he is only trying to do his job, and has been asked by someone (the
complainant) to enforce the Code.
I then spent the next week or so insuring and registering each and every car
on my property - junkers, parts cars and all. This cost me about $20.00 per
car per year in insurance fees, and about $22.00 per year per car for
registration and plates.
I use a typical antique insurance company, and all they care about is
getting paid on time, and NOT getting claims. Since they required pictures
of each car I submitted for insurance, I gave them either pictures of the
actual car, if it didn't look too bad, or "computer-aided" pictures of said
cars, or pictures of entirely different cars identical to the one I was
submitting. Who cares - I am never going to submit a claim for theft, or
whatever, for any of these cars ! With insurance obtained, I was then able
to register the cars. A sympathetic service-station owner friend helped
provide inspection certificates for each car (not really needed in my case
but I did it anyway...) .
Now all of my cars were "legal" - insured, registered. Even the "junkers"
with no wheels or no engine.... even cars that were slated to be used for
parts for future projects and later cut-up...
I also planted a row of trees in a strategic location, to block the view to
my back yard from the road...
I then marched back down to village hall and spoke to the inspector again. I
showed him a rather thick stack of insurance cards and registrations - there
were about 20 of each - including my daily drivers (about 4 of them); my
wife's 2 daily drivers; my collector cars (about 12 of them); my car
trailer; my boat and my boat trailer; and God knows what else. I politely
informed him that ALL of the vehicles on my property were currently
registered, insured and inspected.
I also told him that the two cars per residence law dating back to the '40's
was unenforceable - very simply, in my village, there are many, many
households with more than two cars per residence - a normal state of
affairs, of course. Some houses have 3 or 4 cars in their driveway, some
even have a couple more. Therefore, I very politely told him that my
attorney ( I don't have one...) would immediately file suit against the
Village for selective enforcement, should the Village continue to harrass me
by discriminating specifically against me by enforcing that particular
article of the code.
That was over 5 years ago. They left me alone after that. After a year or
two, I took off the insurance and turned in the plates... added a couple
more trees to block the view ... total cost was under $500.00 to do all of
this.
I have made it a point, over the years, to go the extra mile to get along
with my neighbors. I have always respected their privacy, and not made loud
banging or revving noises late into the night, etc. ; I have always taken
every opportunity to help them with THEIR cars when they broke down, needed
a jump-start, or had a flat... whatever.
Funny thing, in my case, it was not a neighbor that complained ! It was the
"village complainer" who lives one mile away from me. It seems that that
one idiot woman didn't like the view into my backyard when she drove by....
and called the Code Enforcement people on me. Turns out they hate her, as
she complains about everyone and everything, and they were more than happy
to tell her that I was in full compliance with the Code ....
It also helps that I have always lent out my cars for parades and special
events to the local organizations - fire, police, ambulance, VFW, etc. ; a
little goodwill goes a long way when dealing with local politics.
Hope this helps. Good luck.
John Hertog
Sag Harbor NY
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