Commissioners debate junk vehicle ordinance

Sallisaw City Manager Keith Skelton knows that if the city simply ignores instances of junk vehicles sitting in neighborhood yards, the problem won’t go away on its own.

That’s why Skelton and city commissioners are considering an ordinance that will force residents to resolve the problem themselves, or face fines and intervention by the city.

“We’re at the point that we’re getting several of these junk motor vehicles around town, and we just need a more effective way that we can address them and force the residents to take care of them,” Skelton told city commissioners at a special meeting last week. “We continue to look for ways that we can effectively address junk motor vehicles.

“One of the ideas, which is what we have drawn up in this draft ordinance — and I wanna stress this is only a draft, it’s just a proposal — is to have assistance from the police department,” the city manager said, seeking feedback from the commissioners.

The proposed ordinance currently being considered is taken from ordinances in other cities, Skelton said. He explained that “we’re just looking for ways to more effectively address the issue,” and that several questions remain to be answered before the ordinance can be finalized.

One question to be resolved is defining junk vehicles.

The draft ordinance expands the definition of junk vehicle to include any automobile, truck, commercial truck, trailer, motorcycle, tractor, go-cart, golf cart, recreational vehicle, bus, camper, boat or other watercraft, or other self-propelled farm or construction equipment.

The draft ordinance also defines a junk vehicle as any of the following: wrecked, dismantled, partially dismantled, inoperative, deteriorated, decayed, lacks necessary repairs or maintenance, abandoned, bearing no state license plate or bearing a state license plate that is more than three months out of date, discarded, or stored or parked outside of an enclosed building on the premises of a motor repair facility for a period of more than 30 days.

Skelton said city attorney John Robert Montgomery “had some issues with us expanding the definition of a junk motor vehicle” to include trailers, golf carts and others.

Then Mayor Ernie Martens observed that, basically, one man’s junk vehicle is sometimes another man’s yard art.

Martens said there are those residents “that have antique farm machinery in their yard. Is that classified as junk? It’s antique farm machinery to them, and it’s yard art,” pointing out that the expanded definition of a junk vehicle in the draft ordinance includes farm equipment. “It’s yard art for them. It’s antiques and collectibles for them.” Martens then noted that his “old ’55 truck” and Commissioner Josh Bailey’s “red Mustang sitting out” may be affected by a broad ordinance. “A lot of us deal with this.”

Bailey added that consideration should be afforded for “projects.”

“If they’re actively working on a vehicle, then I don’t think that’s junk. I feel like it’s a project,” the commissioner said.

Commissioner Julian Mendiola, however, countered with his not-so-tonguein- cheek observation that he knows of “projects” that have been projects for the past 40 years.

Acknowledging that there’s no simple answer, Martens asked, “At what point does it stop being a project and start being junk? Who makes that decision?”

The proposed stipulation that junk vehicles be stored in an enclosed building drew considerable discussion.

“I’m extremely conflicted with this,” Bailey said. “I hate to give the city anymore power over my property that I bought myself. But I do agree that the city needs to be cleaned up.”

Bailey said he believes it is a “fair compromise” for owners to put potential junk vehicles behind a privacy fence, rather than requiring the vehicle be stored in an enclosed building.

“That’s a problem, too. I don’t disagree with you,” Martens said. “Where do you stop? Is it gonna be a salvage yard in the backyard?”

Mendiola, who acknowledged “it’s a tough one,” said he prefers an out-ofsight, out-of-mind approach. If the vehicles are obscured from view by a privacy fence, “that doesn’t bother me, because they’re out of sight.”

Martens suggested that the commissioners keep working on the ordinance, and Skelton admitted that fine-tuning the ordinance may take “several more months.”

Once finalized, the ordinance will be voted on by the city commissioners for formal adoption.

Martens then suggested moving ahead with the meeting’s agenda. “We’ve rode this hotrod to death,” he deadpanned. After a deliberate pause, Martens added, “That’s a joke. Pun intended.”

Ordinance details

Key issues in the draft ordinance still to be finalized include:

• Once notice is given regarding a junk motor vehicle, the person shall have 21 days to remove the vehicle, or store the vehicle as prescribed in the ordinance. The timeframe may be extended due to a noticeable hardship. Within 10 days of citation by a code enforcement official, a public hearing before the city council may be requested in order to contest the determination.

• Junk vehicles must be stored in an enclosed building.

• If the junk motor vehicle is not removed, code enforcement shall notify the police department to remove the vehicle per the impoundment procedures of the police department.

• An owner may retake possession by obtaining a release from the police department and upon paying all towing and storage fees due to the wrecker service.

• If the vehicle is unclaimed, the wrecker service may dispose of the vehicle in accordance with state law.