Sacramento County ban on home “major auto repair”

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Robj

Robj

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I live a couple hours north of Sacramento and I remember reading a while ago about the ban on home major auto repair even in a closed garage due to environmental concern regarding the chemicals used in such activity and the possibility people were operating repair shops out of the home garages.

Has anybody on here from Sac County run afoul of that county wide ordinance? Are they actually enforcing it? I’m kind of guessing it might take somebody to report it because the police are stretched so thin these days.

That’s a big classic car area and it’s ridiculous to think you can’t R&R and engine or transmission or even tear into your rear end without the possibility of getting cited and fined. Forget changing a water or power steering pump. Sheesh.

I haven’t seen any chatter on it and searched for it too. Just wondering the local reaction.
 
Robj said:
I live a couple hours north of Sacramento and I remember reading a while ago about the ban on home major auto repair even in a closed garage due to environmental concern regarding the chemicals used in such activity and the possibility people were operating repair shops out of the home garages.

Has anybody on here from Sac County run afoul of that county wide ordinance? Are they actually enforcing it? I’m kind of guessing it might take somebody to report it because the police are stretched so thin these days.

That’s a big classic car area and it’s ridiculous to think you can’t R&R and engine or transmission or even tear into your rear end without the possibility of getting cited and fined. Forget changing a water or power steering pump. Sheesh.

I haven’t seen any chatter on it and searched for it too. Just wondering the local reaction.[/QUOTE
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Robj said:
I live a couple hours north of Sacramento and I remember reading a while ago about the ban on home major auto repair even in a closed garage due to environmental concern regarding the chemicals used in such activity and the possibility people were operating repair shops out of the home garages.

Has anybody on here from Sac County run afoul of that county wide ordinance? Are they actually enforcing it? I’m kind of guessing it might take somebody to report it because the police are stretched so thin these days.

That’s a big classic car area and it’s ridiculous to think you can’t R&R and engine or transmission or even tear into your rear end without the possibility of getting cited and fined. Forget changing a water or power steering pump. Sheesh.

I haven’t seen any chatter on it and searched for it too. Just wondering the local reaction.
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It's my experience that code enforcement does go out looking for people doing work on there car. They are too busy to generate their own calls.
However, it just takes one snitch or rat and you will hear from them. I was told by a code enforment agent once that I could not change my engine oil in my own garage.
 
Robj said:
I live a couple hours north of Sacramento and I remember reading a while ago about the ban on home major auto repair even in a closed garage due to environmental concern regarding the chemicals used in such activity and the possibility people were operating repair shops out of the home garages.

Has anybody on here from Sac County run afoul of that county wide ordinance? Are they actually enforcing it? I’m kind of guessing it might take somebody to report it because the police are stretched so thin these days.

That’s a big classic car area and it’s ridiculous to think you can’t R&R and engine or transmission or even tear into your rear end without the possibility of getting cited and fined. Forget changing a water or power steering pump. Sheesh.

I haven’t seen any chatter on it and searched for it too. Just wondering the local reaction.
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That's B/S.
 
Auto Repair

Let me give you my 2 cents worth on this topic if i may.
I live in a what i consider to be, a nice neighborhood, here in Rancho Cordova, (Sacramento) and rent a duplex, that i reside in.
Been here at this place for 8 years now.
When i was fully employed, i was a professional, full time, wrenching auto mechanic, to earn my living.
In all the time that i have lived here, i NEVER brought home any side jobs, to work on in the driveway, to piss off any of my neighbors, or go afoul of the rental agreement that i signed when i moved into this place.

My last neighbor that i had in the duplex, to the right of me, turned that place into a junk yard, before he got evicted by the property owner for not paying the rent.
Now the recent people that moved in tried to turn the driveway into a heavy duty auto body repair shop, in trying to fix up a smashed Toyota.
Well, i don't want to live next to a junk yard, and turned them in to Code Enforcement, and the property owner, for breaking all kinds of city and county codes.
Personally i don't like living, want to live, where that type of truck or auto repairs are being done.
A simple brake job, or oil change ok, but nothing heavy duty.
There are other proper places to do heavy duty work, other than residential neighborhoods.
 
Do you have to rent a place to rebuild all of the brakes and suspension parts? If you do it in your garage, you better be careful of one of your neighbors turning you in!
 
hemi71x said:
Auto Repair

Let me give you my 2 cents worth on this topic if i may.
I live in a what i consider to be, a nice neighborhood, here in Rancho Cordova, (Sacramento) and rent a duplex, that i reside in.
Been here at this place for 8 years now.
When i was fully employed, i was a professional, full time, wrenching auto mechanic, to earn my living.
In all the time that i have lived here, i NEVER brought home any side jobs, to work on in the driveway, to piss off any of my neighbors, or go afoul of the rental agreement that i signed when i moved into this place.

My last neighbor that i had in the duplex, to the right of me, turned that place into a junk yard, before he got evicted by the property owner for not paying the rent.
Now the recent people that moved in tried to turn the driveway into a heavy duty auto body repair shop, in trying to fix up a smashed Toyota.
Well, i don't want to live next to a junk yard, and turned them in to Code Enforcement, and the property owner, for breaking all kinds of city and county codes.
Personally i don't like living, want to live, where that type of truck or auto repairs are being done.
A simple brake job, or oil change ok, but nothing heavy duty.
There are other proper places to do heavy duty work, other than residential neighborhoods.
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I can agree with you there. But, let's say you own your Home in a neighborhood with no restrictions. And you are doing work in your own garage that you paid for and your house doesn't look like a junk yard. Furthermore if your not disturbing neighbors, I really think it's a crock of BS. Not a place I would want to live.
 
OK. I live in North San Diego county. 2 acres here, in what used to be the country. Installing a lift, outdoor, and got code enforcement at my gate. "Cant do that" Bull **** I said! POS neighbor called them. I do not have a junk yard or a mess. Cancelled the install, neighbors moved, and I bought another lift that I am going to install.......
It is getting terrible, but plenty of people abuse there freedoms....
The New houses are getting closer to my place....and it will only get worse before it gets better...
 
hemi71x said:
Auto Repair

Personally i don't like living, want to live, where that type of truck or auto repairs are being done.
A simple brake job, or oil change ok, but nothing heavy duty.
There are other proper places to do heavy duty work, other than residential neighborhoods.
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I get that for sure. I agree. You don’t want all that spread around the driveway and front yard and especially if theres a rental agreement with the property owner but if I own my home
and have a classic car I feel I should be able to work on mybown car in my closed garage as long as I’m courteous.

There’s noise ordinance considerations of course. Running a high pitch die grinder all day or night and things like that. Unfortunately you will have people doing that in a residential neighborhood with no consideration for the neighbors. I own 3.5 acres in Shasta County and I still am very aware of my neighbors and keep the noise down.

Anyway just wondering peoples thoughts who live in Sac County. I‘m in Rancho Cordova several times a week. That’s a really nice area. Thanks for replying.
 
Pretty vague.

1. Using tools not normally found in a residence;

Tools normally found in my residence differ greatly from the tools the 80 year old widow on the property next door might have in hers.
 
Robj said:
Pretty vague.

1. Using tools not normally found in a residence;

Tools normally found in my residence differ greatly from the tools the 80 year old widow on the property next door might have in hers.
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Ya, the way the code is written, it is pretty vague in how they can interpret the ordnance for enforcement around here.
Guess that's why it got written the way that it is.
The Code Enforcement officers that patrol, or have jurisdiction in my "hood" are pretty cool, and don't have any problems with brake jobs, oil changes, or something quick under the hood.
But they have to be on patrol, to check on you doing something against code.
Or ya, get turned in, by someone else living on the street.
I do my brake rebuilding, suspension parts rebuilding, in the garage, which is AOK by code, and not pissing off my neighbor that lives in the other half of this duplex, and not getting the new neighbor to me, in the next duplex to the right of me.
Hope they turn out to be good neighbors, and not inconsiderate ones. Time will tell.
I can understand if you own your own house, doing work in the garage, on your own stuff, but out here in my area, homes are 10 feet from one another, and other areas, even closer than that.
So if you have acreage between homes, no problems, but city life out here in California, is a whole different situation.
 
I'm not sure what part of Houston it was in, but last night someone was painting in their closed garage & the fumes exploded. I wonder about some of the brain trusts there are in the world.
 
oh, and my story

i had a similar issue a while ago
the place i was living was zoned a certain way and there was a local ordinance prohibiting "major vehicle repairs in the driveway"
at the time i was replacing the engine in my duster (not really major to us, but i can see how not everyone feels that way)

well, i got a notice from the city, stating i was in violation and that i had until a certain date to have the car put back together or moved into the garage

rather them crumbling it up grumping "aint nobody gonna tell me what to do" i picked up the phone and called the city and asked where i was in violation
i then explained i wasnt running a business, and told them when i was expecting the parts to come in and when i was planning on getting the car back together

he gave me an extension to get everything done, and even gave me some pointers on how to "keep up appearances" to keep the neighbors happy
 
Now who would want to put up with anything like this, living in a residential neighborhood?
This is what i saw, had to put up with, when i got code enforcement involved with the next door neighbor.
Somebody moves in, and brings down the neighborhood with their unacceptable behavior.
What you see just isn't right, and a reason the city has codes to regulate something like this.

Caliper Mounts & Calipers 001 (Small).JPG


Driveway 11020 Hirschfeld 002 (Small).JPG
 
I use to be fine with people doing there own thing at home. But when you end up with a jackwad neighbor who not only disrupts your right to enjoy your property by railing on throttles of a car they are working on and absolutely devaluing your own property it changes a persons perspective. Rollback in and out along with a junkyard behind the garage... And I live out in Agricultural but within a close batch of houses. So if we had the same rule applied to my area I am OK with it.....

JW
 
If you live in a large city around a bunch of other people, it’s guaranteed that some of them are assholes. It is also likely the folks running the place don’t share the same values as you. Out in the sticks where I live, nobody cares what you do in your driveway.... no shortage of assholes, they must be a universal constant.
 
That wouldn't bother me at all.I don't do that but I've got better things to do then complain about my neighbor working on his car in his own driveway.
 
hemi71x said:
Auto Repair

Let me give you my 2 cents worth on this topic if i may.
I live in a what i consider to be, a nice neighborhood, here in Rancho Cordova, (Sacramento) and rent a duplex, that i reside in.
Been here at this place for 8 years now.
When i was fully employed, i was a professional, full time, wrenching auto mechanic, to earn my living.
In all the time that i have lived here, i NEVER brought home any side jobs, to work on in the driveway, to piss off any of my neighbors, or go afoul of the rental agreement that i signed when i moved into this place.

My last neighbor that i had in the duplex, to the right of me, turned that place into a junk yard, before he got evicted by the property owner for not paying the rent.
Now the recent people that moved in tried to turn the driveway into a heavy duty auto body repair shop, in trying to fix up a smashed Toyota.
Well, i don't want to live next to a junk yard, and turned them in to Code Enforcement, and the property owner, for breaking all kinds of city and county codes.
Personally i don't like living, want to live, where that type of truck or auto repairs are being done.
A simple brake job, or oil change ok, but nothing heavy duty.
There are other proper places to do heavy duty work, other than residential neighborhoods.
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First off, how fortunate for you, that you have enough money that you aren't forced into working on your car at home. How many people have no other option? You want the city riding your grandma's butt because she needs a garden to supplement her income (which is zero after retirement), but that "invites rodents and other vermin"? Because that's where this is going.


hemi71x said:
Now who would want to put up with anything like this, living in a residential neighborhood?
This is what i saw, had to put up with, when i got code enforcement involved with the next door neighbor.
Somebody moves in, and brings down the neighborhood with their unacceptable behavior.
What you see just isn't right, and a reason the city has codes to regulate something like this.

View attachment 1715469735

View attachment 1715469736
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What you find distasteful and what others find distasteful are two different things. The problem is, you aren't guaranteed happiness, you're only guaranteed the right to pursue happiness, and what you and all the other people that find code enforcement acceptable forget is, you also have the right to ignore it, move away, or accept it, and you don't have the right to tell other people how to live their lives in their own homes. Just because the city or county agrees with you, does not make you right.

But what's "just isn't right" to you is someone else's right to operate on their property, to their property, as they see fit. For some, that's the only option they have.

If you EVER wonder why California is so ridiculously expensive to live in, to the point that hundreds of thousands are homeless, look to your local ordinance book (glass house) before you say anything (throw stones). Everything in that book is costing a resident money. Everything.

Ultimately, at this time, you're just lucky that you share tastes with majority that are executing this. Again, that's not luck or planning. Just fortunate. Before you reply, think about what it means for you if those fortunes change.
 
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jas0162 said:
If you live in a large city around a bunch of other people, it’s guaranteed that some of them are assholes. It is also likely the folks running the place don’t share the same values as you. Out in the sticks where I live, nobody cares what you do in your driveway.... no shortage of assholes, they must be a universal constant.
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Well, good for you that you live out in the boondocks, farm, country, acreage, somewhere in the middle of nowhere, or next to nowhere.
The nim rod that moved in next door, doesn't own the property, he's a renter, like the majority in this hood.
If he want's to do something like what was going on, they should have moved into an area where something like that might be overlooked.
Should have scoped out the neighborhood in advance, before moving in.
That's what i did, before finding this area.
Scoping out different sections of town, and finding an area that you would like to live in.
 
hemi71x said:
Well, good for you that you live out in the boondocks, farm, country, acreage, somewhere in the middle of nowhere, or next to nowhere.
The nim rod that moved in next door, doesn't own the property, he's a renter, like the majority in this hood.
If he want's to do something like what was going on, they should have moved into an area where something like that might be overlooked.
Should have scoped out the neighborhood in advance, before moving in.
That's what i did, before finding this area.
Scoping out different sections of town, and finding an area that you would like to live in.
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You are preaching to the Choir. The first mistake I made was not obtaining addresses of the slumlord who owns the property I speak of and see how he fairs with managing his properties. Yep, I would have looked elsewhere.... But I am not interested in moving due to my parents being close by but it's definitely on my radar....

It comes down to respect. If you are a car guy working on the Hotrod have at it. If you are dad trying to make ends meat and save a buck on repairs who am I to stop you. But it's the "entitled assholes" who think they own the world and could care less about how they change the quality of neighbors enjoying their property.

But as said people who don't deal with it don't see it as a problem until one day the house beside you is up for sale. And then bam your situation changes. Because sloppy wannabe car enthusiast bring other problems with them typically.....
 
dicksmidlac said:
That wouldn't bother me at all.I don't do that but I've got better things to do then complain about my neighbor working on his car in his own driveway.
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Things like that tolerated in Thunder Bay, Ont. where your at?
Guess you and the people next door to me, would get along great.
Want them as neighbors.
 
I bought my first house back in the late '80s in Midtown Sac. I was in the body & paint business at the time and would do quite a bit of side work in my driveway in front of my tiny one model T size garage. I built a small fence in front so nobody could see what was going on cept my single teacher neighbor. I tried to do most of it when she wasn't around. Everyone got along. Nobody had to see my business, but painting cars outside a booth in California?! HAH not anymore. Economy and standard of living can be hard on folks especially there. That's why I moved to the midwest 20 years ago. More freedom, less restriction, far lower cost of living. I guess my point is, you can do that stuff reasonably and neighborly without trashing the neighborhood. Sadly, there are those that have no scruples or cares about anyone else.
 
I live in South Sac county. Elk Grove to be exact. So this rule definitely applies where I live. On top of that I live in a HOA controlled neighborhood. I have lived here for 20 years and have worked on my daily drivers to keep them safe and operational. I refuse to take things into a shop that I can handle here at home. Saves me a ton of money, and I certainly like that I have the ability to diagnose and repair my cars. Classics and regular drivers. That being said, I also appreciate that my neighborhood doesn’t look like a bomb went off in a wrecking yard. Most in my area have no idea how to work on vehicles. I have to be aware that when work on something in my driveway, when I’m done at the end of the day, that the car or truck is hood closed, all wheels on and vehicle back down on the ground. I know to do otherwise would be inviting trouble. My garage on the other hand, is filled with my non running, some disassembled, project cars. I now keep my garage door closed for the most part. To keep from running afoul of the HOA, and now the county. Let’s face it, this is a dying diy art that most don’t participate in. We are in the extreme minority of vehicle owners.

I do have a question regarding the types of tools I am supposedly aloud to own and use in this county. There is a Harbor Freight here in town. They sell welders, cherry pickers, paint guns, air compressors, rollaway toolboxes and a ton of other things that the typical person would have no need for. So why can I buy these tools, pay the county sales tax when I do, and then have a code in place saying I can’t use any of them?? WTF?

Anyway, this won’t change much for me. I’ll still work on my stuff. I’ll just be much more conscious of the fact that I need to keep it as low down as possible when I do. They will just have to wonder what all the noise is behind my garage door. If they can hear any of it over the loud stereo I’ll be blasting to mask the noise of me welding and grinding as I do rust repair.
 
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