Urban camoflage to hide junk cars from code inforcement Nazi's.

I have a junky old parts car that I store in my back yard. I rob parts off of it at my leisure for my real project. The neighbors rightly complained about it.

MY SOLUTION:

Total investment: $18.00 and 1/2 weekend.

I got some free privacy fence panels from someone who was replacing theirs. There were enough good ones in the pile to build a mini 6 foot tall privacy fence all the way around my car in the back yard. I left enough room on the sides and especially in the front to work on it. I didn't bother putting posts in the ground. I merely nailed the panels together so that the end panels kept the side panels from falling over and then triangulated them with spare boards from the fence. (See figure 1).

Around here, Code Enforcement needs a search warrant to step on your land. They can, however, get your neighbor's permission to peer over their privacy fence with a ladder.

Therefore, my privacy fence needs a roof. I plan on nailing some support 2x4's across the top. (See figure 2). Then laying some fence panels on top of them, then nailing them in place. (See figure 3). If I cared about the car and wanted to keep the rain off of it, I'd drape a brown tarp across the 2x4's first before nailing the privacy fence panels on top of them.

The roof is about 6 inches lower than the tops of the side panels so that when you look at it from the street or my neighbor's house, it just looks like another privacy fence, instead of a structure. A proper building would have required some sort of codes and permits, I'm sure.

No one can see weather I have an old car, captive emus, or 200 boxes of Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots in there. Since code enforcement doesn't know if it's a car, they don't know if I should have a concrete slab or not. Since it looks like privacy fence, my neighbors are happy and don't complain. It looks like it belongs there because it looks similar to their back yards. It's a kind of an "urban camouflage."

I didn't use new fence because it would have alerted the code enforcement officials that it was something new. The old fence looks like it's been there and accepted by previous officals for years. Also, the price was right.

The front roof panel over the engine will be loose so I can prop it up with a couple of 2x4's when I'm working on it. (similar to raising a hood with a couple of prop rods on either side). That will provide head room and light. It will open away from the street so no one can peer in.

I hope this might give someone some cheap ideas to solve their code related dilemmas for storing old cars.

 

Tried that once,neighbor snuck into the yard at night and snooped.

 

If they admitted that or you caught them you needed to sic the law on them for tresspassing.........

 

if the codes are that strict, aren't you going to need a building permit for that ????

Sounds like it is a shed to me.

 

Here in NH we pretty much mind our own business. After all it's the "Live Free or Die" state. In fact in my little town we are allowed 2 unregistered vehicles. However I did have an incident once a few years ago when a new neighbor called the selectmans office and complained that I had "junk cars" on my property. Now I own 3 acres and the cars couldn't be seen from the road or from the neighbors property. When I asked who complained I was informed that they weren't allowed to tell me that but off the record it might be some new people who recently moved here from out of state... Since there was only 1 new family in the last 10 years (a yuppie, Volvo station wagon driving couple from CT) I knew who it was. I thanked the lady from the selectmans office for making me aware of the problem and pointed out that the only way the neighbor could possibly know what I had on my property was if they were trespassing and that I might just have to get a lawyer to put a stop to that kind of thing. I also asked the lady to please call the "mystery neighbor" and tell that I would be happy to remove the offensive cars immediately but that if I could no longer enjoy my hobby of collecting old cars I would simply start a pig farm instead. My 200 year old farmhouse is grandfathered as a farm and there would be nothing they could do to stop that. Amazingly enough I never heard another word. And for the few members here who feel sorry for the poor yuppy Volvo drivers, yes I am a northern hillbilly and damn proud of it. If it wasn't for us old hillbilly farm boys being around 200+ years ago you'd all be servants of the king...

 

pig farm! love it. best answer yet.

 

You're right, it is. But it doesn't look like one. So far, they've left me alone. If I have to, I could take the roof off, making it a fence again, and put a tarp over the 2x4's to hide the shape of the car underneath.

Also, I have dogs that keep the snoopers at bay.

 

Yeah, if the neighbor there in Ft. Worth wants to be a*****, he'll juts change his tactic and sic the law on you for building a shed (which it actually is) without a permit. Then you get a permit, and you may get taxed on the floor space.

 

why not just get a permit and get legal?

beats having the sword of damacles hanging over your head, but then that's just my temprament, other people aren't bothered by stuff that bugs me.

The shed sounds like a good idea, the price even better!

At the shop we have it surrounded by corrugated steel attached to the fence, somebody would have to really want to look in to see what's there.

The trick is to keep the second fenced gate closed(no way to see anything in there from the first fence), and meet the inspectors on the sidewalk!

 

Well man hope it works for you!!
I guess it depends on what they want to****** about.
I'm not knocking your ambition or ingenuity thats great
but you have a car back there****** point
fence no permit****** point
shed no permit****** point
structure with no drawings****** point and liabilty issues.
Oh and that old fence/shed thats been there forever, the one that hasn't showed up on your taxes, retroactive is a word you don't hear.

Better to get along with the neighbors, IMO

 

here, you wouldn't need a permit, as it's not a permanent structure, much like a carport.

 

Ever since I've installed guard towers nobody looks in my direction

 

Here some guys use old tractor trailers for storing cars. The way the law is written if you leave the wheels on it (even if they're buried in the ground so the trailer lays flat) it's not taxed. As soon as you take the wheels off it's considered a "building"

 

Not all neighbors agree with you. Some enjoy the drama. Some enjoy being destructive. Some just want to feel powerful and in control. Some feel they are doing the neighborhood a favor, which they may be, but take it too far.

Personally, I have pretty cool neighbors. If it looks like a back yard, they don't seem to care. But God help you if you have some that love war.

 

I actually did a similar thing years ago. I had a parts car that I wasn't ready to let go just yet - so I parked it behind my garage and then tossed up a stockade fence around it. It was far enough off the property line you'd need to be on the neighbor's roof to see what was in there. Never a problem.

 

This is why I do not live in Connecticut anymore. Sure, folks there are liberal, accommodating and accepting, so long as you comply with their wishes. I could no longer handle the nosy-neighbor-network. When I left, the locals were trying to force the local locksmith to paint his trucks something other than electric pink and yellow, and or park them somewhere where they could not be seen.

 

I'm hoping to eventually find a trailer out in the county to rent to own, they don't bother you much out of the city limits, tired of the bass mobiles with the giant rims cruising the streets anyway. If I get something any of you guys are welcome to be neighbors and park all the cars you want. I may be nosy though, to see what kind of cool stuff you've got parked. I still say someone starts a subdivision just for hot rodders.

 

I have nothing at all against other people and how they choose to live their lives and only expect the same treatment in return. BUT, what really gets my blood boiling up here in the sticks is all the people who come here to escape the rat race, get away from the big city attitudes, etc but instead of trying to fit in to the way we've done things for a couple hundred years they immediately try to change us to be more like them... WTF.. What's the point

 

I had a similar problem. The good part was the zoning guy told me,"Just build a fence". The******ers must be able to see what they are******ing about from the street while walking or sitting in their car . They CANNOT tresspass, or use, ladders to see over the fence or fly over to take pics. Plus they must be able to see at least 75% of the vehicle. In otherwords a P/U roof sticking above the fence isn't grounds.

 

How about "yard art"

 

It is not just happening out there in the sticks. I is happening here in the city too.

My old shop was in a heavy industry area of Oakland, CA. Somehow, a developer got a zoning variance to mow down the heavy truck service yard across the street, and put up condos. Complaints started coming in about my shop, the foundry, lumber yard, auto salvage yard, just 14 days after the first occupancy.

My current location is in another heavy industry area of Oakland.

They just started building condos across the street!

 

Because I'm too poor to build a proper shed. It bugs me too, but I'll take my chances. The worst that would happen is that they'd give me a note saying I have two weeks to clean it up. Then I would and it would be over.

If I waited to do things until ALL the risk is gone, I wouldn't get much done. Besides, my wife is my expert risk 'o meter and she doesn't have any red lights lit on this one.

I had to look up the meaning of, "the sword of damacles."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damocles

I see it more as a water balloon of damacles hanging by a strong rope.

 

You need to paint the "roof" of the shed so it looks like the ground or something, so it's not obvious from the air.

 

build yourself a wooden platform and stick it on two logs for skids. If anyone asks, it's a sled, end of story. As long as it's mobile (or appears to be so) they can't say squat about it, and I'm willing to bet no one has thought to issue any ordinances on sleds.

Stickin' it to the Man most of my life, I learned from a lawyer I hired once to harass the county over a building permit, he told me, "question every single word of every single thing they issue to you. Sooner or later they'll get tired of your**** and leave you alone." You know what? He was right

 

Big shed. Gary

 

If the problem is it isn't on a slab, why not just pour a cheap slab? Can't cost that much for some form work and a yard of mix. Hell, throw in some wire mesh for a few extra bucks and do it right. Later down the road, top it off with a real shed when you get the cash.

Or, just tell your neighbor you'll stop popping his wife if he agrees to keep his mouth shut about the car.

 

Put it on a trailer. then it is freight, not stored & they can't do much.

Or do like someone on here did, he built an 8 foot privacy fence after the neighbors complained (they could see over the existing 6 foot one). the neighbors complained about the 8 foot fence & the zoning officer told him it was 6 foot 6 inch max. so he tore down the 8 foot fence, trucked in a bunch of dirt & built the fence on a 3 foot high dirt berm. he built the fence 6 foot 5 inches tall. the neighbors complained & the zoning officer measured it & told them they had no basis for complaint, the fence was less than legal height.

That is thinking around the problem in a creative way!

 

I've seen people build "windscreens" inside their fences, since it's not a fence they put up to 8' and get away with it, at least around here

 

At my old house, I had a real*****-bag of a neighbor who liked to whine, moan, and complain about everything and everyone. If I missed a week of mowing (which I rarely do, because I enjoy it), he would make a call. If so much as one leaf on a hedge hung over the road, he would make a call. He even called about my dog being loose in the yard (the yard was fenced, all perfectly fine and legal). but he still made the call. His favorite call was about my '53 Dodge. It was****led and registered, and parked in the back yard on a concrete pad with a rigid awning over it.

I got to be pretty good friends with the local cops and the county guys that were forced to come out every time this idiot called them.

I solved my problem by putting up a 6 foot privacy fence around my back yard. Well, all except for the border between my yard and his, that one got a 12 foot fence. Oh, and I put the unfinished side of the fence on the outside just for him.

So glad I no longer live there. But I feel bad for the poor folks who bought it.

 

Here in Vegas, as long as it is not a permanent building, it's legal. I have my boat in a big canopy to keep it out of sight and all my unregistered vehicles are in the garage. Looks to me like you have a viable solution.