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Breaking the "Code" of Compliance

By Cheramy Rusbuldt

Published: Friday, October 5, 2012 4:37 PM CDT

What is the REAL "code" I am missing in Code Enforcement in McKinney? Twice in the past week, I have received a yellow "We Noticed" placard on my front door which denigrates me as a non-compliant homeowner for "weeds and/or grass over 12 inches tall" giving me one week to comply (or else?)! Never mind that I was home when the latest one was planted on my house...I would have answered the door if anyone had bothered to ring to discuss it with me. Didn't happen.

Used to be there was not such a "friendly" greeting on said notices. It was Big Brother ordering me to comply or face some sort of garroting or burning at the stake. At least now, there is a softer tone to the demand. However, I must beg to differ with the city code marshal who obviously trolls the more visible streets, missing the dozens of other properties whose violations are far more injurious to all our welfare.

The notification card includes violations including: trash and debris on property, accumulation of brush or branches, open storage of unapproved items (whatever those are), waste water being illegally discharged, unlicensed, un-inspected or disabled vehicles, vehicle, boat or trailer illegally parked, object creating a sight hazard, stagnant water, object obstructing sidewalk, fencing out of compliance, vehicles illegally parked, illegal occupancy of a structure or vehicle, address not visible from front/rear of property, and the ubiquitous "Other."

As I traverse this fair city, I see dozens of "violations," but little compliance. There are uninspected vehicles parked in driveways or (Heaven forbid) on lawns. I see sidewalks blanketed by household goods, yard sales, refuse, etc. I see carports (open storage) of all kinds of stuff...what constitutes "unapproved items?" I creep out into intersections blocked by "objects creating a sight hazard," including un-pruned plants, trees and other impediments, some of which have contributed to horrible accidents. What about "fencing out of compliance"? In at least three cases on my own side of town, I see eight-foot privacy fences, which I was told 12 years ago I couldn't build on my lot (six feet was the limit) and was denied a three-foot replication of a historic picket fence because it was three inches too high! Is there illegal occupancy of a structure in McKinney? Not even knowing how many bodies that might mean, judging from the number of vehicles stacked up on many driveways, curbsides and driveways, I must think so.

And witness the number of yards being watered by sprinkler systems between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. on non-trash days...particularly on the weekends, when there are no code police wandering the neighborhoods. It happens all over the city...not just where I live in the Historic District. This violation is the one that really grabs me, as we are all under mandatory watering restrictions.

Surely, there must be some secret "code" to duck the violation notices. Clearly, I don't know it, but plenty of others must. Perhaps I don't speak the correct language. Perhaps I am considered "privileged" to live in the Historic District. Perhaps because I live on a very visible street, I am subject to more aggressive enforcement. Whatever the reason, I OBJECT!

I don't want to get away with flaunting the law. All I want is for all of us to be treated equally and fairly. That is clearly not the current situation. City Hall: Please review the routes, the criteria and the days/hours your code police tour McKinney...if it means that you reschedule some of your enforcers onto weekends when there are clear violations, then do it. Give them a week-day off to work weekends to fill your coffers with cash or at least cite the violations the rest of us must obey.

Cheramy Rusbuldt is a freelance journalist who resides in McKinney's Historic District.

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