Litterbugs and careless RV owners beware! Tossing your trash on the ground or storing a vehicle – such as an RV, trailer or boat – on a public street will soon carry a $1,000 fine.
‘Quality of Life’ and Safety Leads to Code Changes
The changes to three chapters of the Visalia Municipal Code (VMC) are an effort at addressing “quality-of-life” issues bothering some of the city’s residents, said code enforcement officer Tony Contreras. And safety is at issue, too, said fellow code enforcement officer Jesse Villegas. The pair were addressing the council on Monday night, December 16, and outlining the proposed changes.
In a pair of 4-0 votes – member Brian Poochigian was absent – the council agreed to alter the VMC. In future, VMC chapter 8.40.20 will define what illegal dumping is, making it clear that throwing trash on the ground is not allowed. And it ends any confusion about what “trash” is:
“…Discarded putrescibles, garbage, rubbish, refuse, recyclable materials, hazardous substances, furniture or surplus material from another property, including home-based litter and refuse and/or business-related refuse, discarded materials, including but not limited to weeds, vegetation, tree trimmings, concrete, asphalt, or dirt.”
And amending VMC 8.40.30 defines illegal dumping as “a public nuisance.” While this too would seem obvious, the change will allow the city to fine trash-tossers $1,000 a day until they clean up after themselves.
A third change to the VMC alters Chapter 10.16.050 and finally makes it illegal to park an RV indefinitely on a city street. As a whole, the changes are intended to sharpen the city’s image, while making its roads more driver-friendly.
City Council Launches Civic Makeover Effort
Newly-appointed mayor Brett Taylor said the ordinance changes approved on Monday are part of a concerted effort to make Visalia look better. Citizens seem, he said, to be letting the city get a bit too frayed around the edges.
“This is something we’ve been working on for a while,” Taylor said. “Again, the community’s been complaining that Visalia, it just isn’t looking the way that it should. And so the council has taken all these concerns to heart and so that’s why we wanted to start working on some of these serious issues, to help beautify our city and make it the beautiful community we know it is.”
But still some don’t seem to care. So the aim is to make those who trash our home responsible for their uncivil behavior.
“Violators will now be held accountable for their own actions,” said code enforcement officer Contreras as he introduced the new litter laws. “A fine of $1,000 per confirmed violation will offset the cost of operations of the SWEEP team.”
SWEEP is another recent innovation at City Hall intended to tidy things up. Since June, the Solid Waste Elimination and Enforcement Program has removed more than 42 tons of trash, including the ubiquitous bald tires and sprung mattresses.
Trash Talking at City Hall
The changes approved by the council on Monday were apparently the result of previous work sessions, where the council described its vision for a cleaner Visalia. Staff’s resulting work is concise.
“In order to continue to fight the public nuisance of illegal dumping, municipal code changes were needed,” said Contreras. “So the three things that code enforcement or staff saw that was necessary to implement into the municipal code were a definition of illegal dumping, declaring the act of illegal dumping a public nuisance, and verbiage authorizing specific fines for violators.”
Those things are now in place, or will be following a second reading of the ordinance at an upcoming meeting of the council.
The issue had been playing much on the mind of council member Steve Nelsen. He welcomed the change, becoming a bit tongue-tied in his relief.
“I think it’s sorely needed,” he said. “I think this is the tool that’s needed to (address) repeat offenders who are doing this (and who) need to be accountable for their actions, and I think this is a good tool we need in our city to alleviate this eyesore.”
People are Noticing Visalia Looks Tired
The city council didn’t spring into action on this issue without a bit of prodding.
“This is something our citizens have been complaining about, saying Visalia has always been a beautiful city, and lately we’ve just noticed there’s trash everywhere and just didn’t feel right about it,” the mayor said. “So (the) council decided to make the fines a little steeper and to launch the SWEEP team.”
At Monday’s meeting, a new dedicated staff member for SWEEP was introduced, and the council also approved the purchase of a new street sweeper vehicle. The hefty fines are intended to help offset the cost of SWEEP, Contreras said.
Efrain Becerra, a resident of Visalia’s District 1, said he spoke to newly-appointed Vice Mayor Liz Wynn about the declining state of the city’s hygiene. He places the blame and responsibility for fixing the problem on the shoulders of his fellow citizens.
“We all go to McDonald’s. We all go to fast food restaurants. We’re all working. Sometimes we have a little bit of trash next to our car, right?” he said. “I never throw anything on the curb, as I see in these pictures. What I do, I go to a gas station, throw it in the garbage can.”
He’s tired of lazy people leaving their messes for others to clean up.
“I highly encourage those who live in Visalia not to do this,” Becerra said. “Go to a gas station. It’s not that difficult. Throw it in the trash can.”
And he wants Visalians to turn in the violators. The code enforcement division can be reached at (559) 713-4534.
City Goes After Permanently Parked Vehicles
The other part of the beautification effort accomplished Monday is curbing people who park their large vehicles on public roads and rarely, if ever, seem to move them.
“The most common complaint the city staff has received are RVs, travel trailers, pull trailers,” said code enforcement officer Jesse Villegas. “They impact traffic flow, obstruct line of sight, visibility near intersections, crosswalks and for drivers backing out of the driveway onto city streets.”
Until the change to the city’s parking code approved Monday goes into effect after the second reading, vehicle owners only have to move their RVs every 72 hours to comply with the law. And they don’t have to go far. Any movement of the vehicle satisfies the code as it stands, but not for long.
Soon, the vehicle will have to be moved at least 1,000 feet from its last parking spot. And vehicle owners can no longer park on the same street for more than six days out of any 12 month period. It’s still legal to keep an RV or other similar vehicle in a side- or backyard, provided the parking spot is paved.
The ever practical council member Nelsen saw benefits beyond safety and heightening the quality of the city’s esthetics. He also worried about the working men and women.
“I think citizens don’t realize the impact it has for trash collection and street sweepers,” he said.
To report abandoned vehicles, call the city at (559) 713-4624.
Visalia Code Enforcement has been called several times due to a trash covered property in Visalia .
They do nothing to enforce city code.
I’ve seen an RV parked on the street in front of home for years and the city code enforcement did nothing. The RV rarely moved but lately the vehicle is gone so the person that lived in the RV probably found some other place to park it.
Do these new fines include leaf blowers landscapers who constantly blow leaves on to public streets daily and polute the air with their gas powered leaf blowers ?
Of course not. The landscape business owners would raise a loud stink and the current Visalia city council doesn’t want to be in the news for anything negative. They’re after the money.