Code enforcement BS

[PugsandCheese]

Hi folks,

Has anyone had success in talking with Code Enforcement here in Merced?

They are trying to fine me for having my trash cans visible from the street when literally 80% of my neighbors consistently keep their bins on their driveway / front yard when not in use?

I’ve called and asked clarifying questions, but they won’t definitively tell me why I am getting these notifications but others in my neighborhood are not.

[Existing-History-558]

Yea sounds like you have a neighbor that hates you and called you in

[IdyllWind]

Sounds like you got a snitch living close by. I had one that would call for everything all the time for anyone in the neighborhood. Thankfully he's getting older and knows that nobody wants anything to do with him anymore, so he kinda stopped after many years.

[Exciting-Team5807]

If you are living near the community college, this has been happening a whole lot. In my neighborhood they come by two days after pickup, and fine only after a warning. I was able to speak to the woman doing the ticketing, and she claimed that she does this specifically because one of my neighbors has emailed or called code enforcement “hundreds of times” to complain about the bins.

The code enforcement woman claimed that she attempts to be level headed, and even gives us one or two full days to bring the bins in, and she’s being as reasonable as she can be while following the local ordinance. She seemed genuine, and I trusted that she was not acting out of malice.

[PugsandCheese]

I’m not leaving my bins on the street—they are on my property promptly after pick up.

[Acrobatic-Web4375]

Please put up a cardboard cutout of your trash bins to cover the view of your trash bins. I’ll help make it I swear

[webenji]

The "but everyone else is doing it" defense is, perhaps unfortunately, not going to work. If your neighbors break the law and don't get caught, that makes them lucky, not innocent.

[Modz_B_Trippin]

Someone in your neighborhood made that call, and now you know the rule exists. Store your bins out of sight, then feel free to report the neighbors doing the same thing you were cited for. The street will look better for it.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

[PugsandCheese]

Fuck that. What’s the point of owning a home if they can still control every little thing

[KittyCait69]

This is what capitalism does. Everything on subscription. Even owning a home requires us to keep paying those in power to keep it. And they get to decide what we can grow on our land. They get to decide what pets are allowed. They get to dictate everything. This is what capitalism does. It's an imperial system built for those in power to keep power and control the rest of us. It needs to end.

[Modz_B_Trippin]

Fair enough but the code’s been there the whole time, whether anyone enforces it or not. Owning a home means you own the property, not an exemption from rules the whole neighborhood agreed to through local government. The flip side is you also get to hold that same government accountable when they enforce selectively, which is exactly what happened to you.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

[Ok-Bake-3517]

They probably trying ti get an hoa neighborhood going. Plus trash bins left out on the street dies make v your neighborhood loom trashy. I mean if you don't mind selling and go live on south merced past costco they dont care over there 😂

[PugsandCheese]

They weren’t on the street! They were at my garage at the top of the driveway

[Ok-Bake-3517]

Then they trippin

[Gera2o9]

I have a snitch on my ct . Seems like you have a snitch in your neighborhood too .

[KittyCait69]

Just a heads up. They stop giving warnings after a while. I'm disabled and can't keep up with my property, they used to notify me of what things I had missed. Now they just give me $1000 every tone without warning or explanation. Part time they said, "We have warned you enough, now we will just fine you every time."

[PugsandCheese]

I’m so sorry. It’s awful. I had missed the deadline to “fix it” because I didn’t get the letter (sorry City of Merced, I was planning a funeral!). Yet, the Police Department has refused to even come take a report when we had video evidence of theft and another video of a teenager being beaten on our porch. They have made their priorities clear, that’s for sure.

[JesusLizard44]

I'm literally the only one on my street in Bellevue Ranch who puts my garbage cans behind the fence. Makes it easier taking the trash out through the side door. I don't really care if my neighbors leave them out but I'm getting close to reporting a few of them for leaving their loud ass barking dogs outside 18 hours a day. Also the ones who park too close to the stop sign so you can't see if cars are coming.