Limit Trailers in Front Yards? Put Trash Cans Out of View? City to Float Ideas

Agenda item No. 1 at Tuesday night's City Council Workshop consisted of a discussion about nuisance and code enforcement ordinances. But officials didn't get a chance to discuss much at all. The meeting was scheduled for 6 p.m. with a Regular City Council Meeting following at 7 p.m.

Public comment took up most of the time slot.

Why?

Some came forward with concerns over the the suggestions up for consideration including:

• Prohibiting non-operable/unregistered vehicles in front yards
• Mandating the trimming of landscaping (edging of curbs/street edge)
• Defining lawn furniture and prohibiting all others for outdoor use
• Define and limit boats, trailers, RVs in front yards
• Change debris special pick-up order from 7 days to 3 days
• Change residential trash location, i.e., place on side of house and out of view of street
• Change where RVs can be stored

80-year-old Patricia Millward spoke up about some of the proposed adjustments.

"If the town doesn't pick it up in 3 days, that is the homeowners fault?

As for lawn furniture I think it's unconstitutional for you to tell us what kind of chairs we can sit on in our own front yard."

"What constitutes hidden from view on trash cans? I'm an 80-year-old woman, I have a bad back . . . I do the best I can." Millward said she puts her trash can near a pine tree and cannot haul it to her backyard.

"We cannot do any better. Do you want the older folks and people who have problems to move outta town, is that the dang plan?

John Miller questioned the Council about the location proposal for recreational vehicles.

"My front yard is a front yard, my side yard is somebody's front yard, my back yard is somebody's side yard, what am I supposed to do?"

Ron Dibucci said he ownes six vehicles and uses three of them daily.

"Do I actually have to park them in back and everyday pull them out, each one? Most of them are parked in the driveway, I have 10 feet of land next to the driveway that is useless . . I've been parking it there, it's out of sight, out of the way . . . am I going to be fined for this?"

Elizabeth Neily said she thinks the changes won't work.

"First of all, we're going to be alieanating people that we should be approaching and talking to on a one to one basis. Not fining people, not going out and creating situations where our citizens . . . I really think it's important that we consider the people that we're talking about, who are they - are they people that have been living here a long time and are used to parking their vehicle where they have been parking them. Are they people that have just come into town? Are they people that are absentee landlords? Who are we going after anyway?"

"I am all for environmental cleanup, I am all for keeping our alley ways nice and clean, but i'm also for taking care of the citizens of Gulfport."

Pat Dunham expressed concern over edging curbs and streets, lawn furniture and RV storage.

"Mandating that we've gotta cut our curbs, I mean this is Gulfport for heaven's sake, you live here in Gulfport, if you don't like it and you dont' like these things, this isn't the place for you to live."

"Defining lawn furniture . . . I'm reading this and I'm look who in the God's name even thought of this stuff?"

"This thing about RV's being parked as long as you can't see them, do you know how high an RV is and how high we're allowed to put a fence. Who wrote that rule?"

Bob Newcomb asked the Council to stay on track with the goals of these changes and tackle the clear problems in the community.

"There are certain things that are clearly detrimental to the community and need to be dealth with by a system of code enforcement. Those would be trash, filth, safety, derelect houses, abandoned houses, specific problems that need to be dealt with, I just want to make sure , as we disucss the difficult parts of this . . . that we don't drag our feet or throw out with the bath water, the stuff that really needs to be dealt with."

Get Involved in the Discussion

As a result of the feeback from the public session, Mayor Mike Yakes recommended holding a Town Meeting so the Council could hear more from residents. Yakes said they could take that information and discuss the changes and feedback at a future workshop. Other council members agreed.

City Clerk Lesley DeMuth said there's room for a Town Meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 15, at 7 p.m. (in place of the Regular City Council Meeting). Officials plan on holding it at the Gulfport Senior Center. The goal of the Town Meeting is to allow people to express their concerns, opinions and suggestions. Stay tuned for confirmation on that date.

For More Information

For more information about the series of City Code of Ordinance adjustments from Tuesday night's meeting, check out the Council Workshop Meeting Agenda Packet for October 18 Workshop listed on the city's website. Also, if you missed the meeting, you can watch it online on the city's website.