Blight violation for someone else's crap

[sciapod]

This I cannot believe --

Last thursday afternoon my wife starts to pull the car out of the garage, but then, before she hits it, sees that someone dumped off a stack of iron fence (about 10 pieces, about 1.5x3ft each, behind our garage. She gets out and pulls the fence over to the trash cans out of the alley. By the morning the fence has been picked up, probably by metal scrappers. A couple of pieces were also dropped off a bit down the alley, which made me think it fell out of a truck.

So, today I get a violation in the mail:

"hereby notified and commanded"  ... to appear in court for "BI-024 Iron fence blocking alley 5 days prior to pickup "

WTF?! I am supposed to take off work and then be fined because someone dumped some fence behind my garage, or rather in the alley, and we moved it out of the way? There is really nothing better for the police to be doing? And what am I supposed to prove?

If anyone has any experience with this kind of thing I would appreciate the insight.

[Diona]

I wish I had some way for you to get out of this stupid situation, but I don't have any words of wisdom as I've never been in this situation.

That does suck that you now have to go to court for someone else being a lazy SOB.  Maybe when your wife saw it, she should have called the police to report the blight in front of your home??  Personally I think you guys did the right thing in moving it, but they still got you.

Personally, I think it's Berwyn writing up bogus a** tickets YET AGAIN because the town is BROKE & they are trying to slice the residents up for any little penny they can get. 

[buzz]

This I cannot believe --

Me either .... really sucks.
Hope you've contacted your Aldercritter and the Mayor's office.
Give them hell.

[berwynmike]

You're pretty much screwed. It happened to us twice already. Last year someone dumped like 400lbs worth of clothes behind our house and we got fined for it, then a giant sofa, we got fined for that. We went to court and the judge doesnt give a f**k, as soon as you walk in you're already guilty.

It's really aggrivating because it's a pretty big fine.

[The Jackal]

Well, in this case you could possibly provide photographic evidence that your home had existing fencing on the day the citation was written, thus making it highly improbable that the fencing indeed was yours. Have your wife tell the judge exactly what you posted here, and then have her provide photos to substantiate her claim.

[MindoverMatter]

That really sucks!  I share the alley with a large apartment building and they have a small dumpster and see people from all over come and dump stuff in it.  I guess I should be happy they are dumping it there. 

[Homebody]

Here are some phone numbers to put into your cell phone:

Police - nonemergency: (708) 795-5600

Public Works- (708) 749-4700

Blight Department (708) 749-6437

Call and report illegal dumping (even if you think it fell off a truck) as soon as possible to avoid a ticket. I am not saying that you might not still get one. Who knows? However, your phone call creates a record. Let the departments know a description of the stuff, where you found it, etc.

I would be mad too if I were in your situation. Definitely call your Alderman to discuss the matter. Perhaps he or she can help you avoid having to go to court. Your explanation of the circumstances is completely understandable. Marge

[The Jackal]

In all fairness, what would people say if there was fencing sitting in an alley and the city did absolutely NOTHING about it? This is a double edged sword for the city. On the one hand, they're doing the right thing. On the other, someone who isn't responsible gets a citation and has to miss work to go to court amd hopefully explain the situation.

[rbain]

I agree. The beef here shouldn't be with the city, but with the jerks who dumped their trash behind your house. Hopefully the city will give you a break on the fine.

[Homebody]

I agree. I don't expect the police or the blight department to investigate the situation before they write a ticket. Junk blocking an alley? It's a violation. If no one is out there to explain the situation, the ticket writer has to go by the book. I have had a few 3rd Ward residents call in similar situations as Sciapod. Reasonable explanations from reasonable people given to department heads usually result in reasonable outcomes. Marge

[Crunchie]

I think you're getting screwed. The city could be dumping stuff to make ticket revenue for all we know. If it's not on your property I don't see how they can blame you. It should be obvious that it is not your shit, you are not going to block your own alley. You do not own the alley, it's the city's responsibility to keep the streets and alleys passable, not yours.

[The Jackal]

Huh?

You really think the city has surplus fencing at its disposal that it summarily drops in people's alleys?

Good Lord!

What a vivid imagination you have.

The Cityt's responsibility is to write the ticket-period. Which it has done.

[The Jackal]

Btw, how is it OBVIOUS that the fencing is not their's? It was behind their garage door and then moved to their trashg can.

Utilizing your logic, then NOBODY would ever drop trash in their own alley. Ridiculous.

[Bonster]

I agree. I don't expect the police or the blight department to investigate the situation before they write a ticket. Junk blocking an alley? It's a violation. If no one is out there to explain the situation, the ticket writer has to go by the book.

I disagree.  Occasionally those who write up blight tickets are idiots.
As stated there were pieces of fence in other areas of the alley.  If no one is out there to explain the situation, they should investigate the situation.  In the time spent writing a blight ticket they could have moved the stuff rather than assuming wrong doing on the part of the taxpayer.  Whatever happened to giving out Warnings?

sciapod - next time someone drops stuff off in your alley, take it and drop it off behind an elected official's garage.

[dukesdad]

The city could be dumping stuff to make ticket revenue for all we know

I bet Obama did it. This is just the kind of shit he does when he's not causing oil spills.

[Crunchie]

Huh?

You really think the city has surplus fencing at its disposal that it summarily drops in people's alleys?

Of course not, the point was that it could have been. Assuming that it was the owner of the adjacent property is not fair to them. If someone dumped a junk refrigerator on Roos Rd in front of Fitzgerald's, I don't think they would get a blight ticket, do you?

This is the kind of thing that should be used to weed out poor judges and city government personnel. Any judge who rules against a homeowner without any evidence against them should be put on a list, to be campaigned against during the next election period. It's the only power we have against their tyranny. Put heat on the city blight department for victimizing their own citizens. They do it bacause they can, and no one is complaining and making them look like the idiots that they are.

[The Jackal]

The City blight dept is simply doing their job! Writing citations where they see blight.

The short answer to your question is that there's a presumption whatever is on your property belongs to you. Of course, this presumption can be rebutted by the property owner. That's what hearings are for.

As far as judges are concerned, the ones that hear city blight cases are appointed, not elected. In any event, I've found most of them to be fair and reasonable.

[sciapod]

Thanks everyone for the comments and suggestions. I'll make my case with photos and perhaps statements from my neighbors and  see how it goes. I'd like to give the benefit of the doubt and think they are just doing their job, but in that case they aren't doing it very well -- 1. it's the alley, not my property, the fact that the fence was closer to my garage than my neighbors' is arbitrary, 2. it was blocking my garage, so it's more than unlikely I would have left it there, 3. there was more if it down the alley, which he would have passed and seen, and as a bonus -- he wrote the ticket and then left the fence in the alley, where my wife nearly backed into it.

In the 2 months, I've had piles of sod dropped behind my house and a large busted up door, and tons of junk before that -- so I'll definitely be calling in when stuff is left in the future if this is the result.

In any case, I like Berwyn, and otherwise have had good experiences so far with city officials.

[Crunchie]

It would make a lot of sense and do a lot to promote community relations if these blight inspectors knocked on the door of the residence involved and told them to move it or get a ticket, rather than just dropping a big fine on someone who is completely innocent of any wrongdoing and also likely unaware of the violation. That's just a suggestion, maybe someone else has a better idea, but a new way of handling this issue is sorely needed. In the name of fairness, the city could at least act like it cared about its taxpayers.

[The Jackal]

Well, I guess that there may be a punitive aspect of these citations in the hope of influencing future behavior. Imagine if a Berwyn blight inspector comes across people who habitually litter and or create blight and, per your recommendation, simply request on the spot compliance and issue a warning. What deterrent effect do you think that would have on future conduct? Infortunately, every so often an innocent resident is wrongly cited, but I would venture to say that most citations are correctly issued. Just a hunch.