Debris Field

The City of Desert Hot Springs, CA is about $3 million over its revenue, a plight that is causing panic and rampant talks about bankruptcy. Ironically, Code Enforcement and Animal Control have been plunged into the breach, checking door-by-door for unlicensed dogs (mine are not only licensed, but also vaccinated) and sending letters of non-compliance to residents for public nuisance violations.

The letter of non-compliance must be a form letter into which each resident's identifying data is merged because it refers to both visible trash cans and unsightly easements, both of which cause "visual blight." The letter implies that a Code Enforcement Officer actually looked at the easement at the back of my property and deemed it representative of "visual blight"; hence, the non-compliance order. However, the only way for anyone to visually inspect the easement at the back of my property is to access it through my property or by climbing up on two wooden fences and/or a brick wall that blocks access to the easement because my neighbors have created barriers to deny access to the easement.

Had an officer actually looked at the easement, s/he would have seen that "my half" of the easement is already clean and has been kept clean for the 13 years I've lived on the property. The "other half" of the easement features debris from wooden fences, a brick wall, and party remnants adjacent to the other properties that share the easement with me. Of course, once these residents toss their junk over their fence, it creates "visual blight" that they cannot see over their fences/wall.

I am the one who contacted Code Enforcement to question the complete blockage to access of the easement as there is a utility pole with a transformer at one end behind my house, and a telephone junction box at the other end. Utility personnel who have come to my door to ask me how to access this equipment have been allowed to cross my property to do so. I have recommended that they do NOT climb over my chain-link fencing as they could be injured in the process, but there is no other way into the easement. Because I give permission, it also means I assume liability in case of accident.

When I complained to the Code Enforcement Officer about the blockages, he told me that yes, there is a law that prohibits blocking access to the utility easement; yes, the people who create the blockage "should" be told to remove it; and yes, the bottom line is that there are not enough manhours to enforce the code. How about sending out another form letter into which you can insert property owners, one by one, accusing them of the infraction and giving them 3 weeks to correct the non-compliance or pay fines for failure to comply?

I may be a nice person, but I'm not nice enough to clean up after my neighbors who have tossed trash over their fences while I was in my backyard cleaning up dog poop. I paid to have an eyesore on my property hauled off, so they can pay to have their visual blight hauled off. I'll even recommend the hauler, George, who cheerfully loaded his truck with my little load and wished me a nice day in the process.