Removing junk vehicles can be its own nuisance

Paige Richmond

of the Gateway

Sometimes, it’s the most obvious things that we have the hardest time changing.

Take, for example, the old oil trucks on Harborview Drive in downtown Gig Harbor. Located just across the street from the Tides Tavern is a large, grassy lot filled with rusty cars and old oil trucks.

It’s one of the first things I noticed when I came to Gig Harbor, but it seemed like such an institution to me — those trucks have to be at least 20 years old — that I never imagined there were people opposed to those cars’ existence.

At a city council meeting a few weeks ago, I learned otherwise.

A concerned citizen, Michael Elwell, spoke to the council about what he called the “Stutz Fuel Oil Dump Yard.” He said the property, which is owned by Dale Stutz, boasted “six fuel trucks and nine non-driveable vehicles,” some with expired license plate tags dating back to 1981.

Elwell also claims he found complaints filed with the Environmental Protection Agency about the lot and was shocked that the city hadn’t done anything about the junk vehicles.

“The whole thing has been forgotten about, I presume, by the town,” he said at the council meeting.

Those trucks definitely haven’t been forgotten: City Administrator Rob Karlinsey told Elwell that another resident had also complained about the problem. And the Gateway received a letter to the editor that asked why those trucks haven’t been removed.

The truth is, there was nothing the city could really do about those oil trucks until as recently as four months ago.

It was only in March that the Gig Harbor City Council approved Ordinance No. 1126, also known as the “Junk Vehicle Ordinance,” which sets out rules for how an abandoned or publicly hazardous vehicle can be removed. And it was difficult to get that ordinance approved in the first place.

Council members spent nearly a year deciding on the criteria for junk vehicles, and they debated whether or not Gig Harbor even had enough questionable cars to need these rules in the first place.

Apparently, the citizens think they do: According to Stephanie Pawalski, there have been a handful of complaints about junk vehicles within city limits since the ordinance was passed. And all of those complained-about vehicles have been removed.

So, why is it taking so much longer to remove the trucks on the Stutz property?

For one, removing a junk vehicle isn’t a cut-and-dry process. While there are guidelines — the car could be illegally parked, have expired tabs or be leaking gasoline, for example — the city doesn’t go out patrolling for cars that are in violation of these rules.

Instead, they wait for citizens to file a complaint. And once that complaint is filed, city staff can’t legally walk onto a resident’s property to look for violations. They have to receive a court order to do so.

It’s not as if the city has taken a laissez faire approach to junk vehicles, either. Gig Harbor’s junk vehicle code is very similar to Pierce County’s. The county additionally requires citizens to fill out a form or leave a voice message on their abandoned vehicle hotline including their name, phone number, the address of the property where the vehicle is located, and the name of the person who owns the property.

And according to the recorded voice on the hotline, the county has a two- to three-month delay in investigating junk cars.

Pawalski said the reason why the previous few city violations were cleaned up so quickly was because the owners of the alleged junk vehicles removed the nuisances once the city sent out a notice.

And the city will take a similar approach with the Stutz property — by following all the rules they worked so hard to define.

Junk vehicle rules

For a car within Gig Harbor city limits to be declared a junk vehicle, it must include three of the following criteria:

1. Is three years old or older;

2. Is extensively damaged, such damage including, but not limited to the following examples: a broken window or windshield; flat tires; missing tires, motor or transmission; rusted exterior; leaking oil or gasoline;

3. Is apparently inoperable, meaning that a vehicle does not appear to comply with requirements for vehicles used on public streets with regard to brakes, lights, tires, safety glass or other safety equipment;

4. Has expired license tabs;

5. Has an approximate fair market value equal only to the approximate value of the scrap in it;

6. Is illegally parked in the required front or side yard.

For information about guidelines within Pierce County, call the abandoned vehicles hotline at 253-798-3444.

Reach Reporter and Columnist Paige Richmond at 253-853-9243 or by e-mail at paige.richmond@gateline.com.