[alfa] (Alfa) legal beagles wanted

[RonHorowitz <RonHorowitz@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Biba,

>Before writing my Notice Of Violation, Code Enforcement Officer Albert
>Ambriz, stated what I was doing was against City Codes.

If you've been cited, they have to tell you _precisely_ which code they
think you have violated. Get that section of code, and if you think you're
operating inside the letter of the law, file for a hearing or for whatever
protection is provided in the code. FWIW, in my city, a copy of the code
book is available in the public library. Don't know if that'll be the case
in yours.

Dealing with codes, regulations, governments, and legalities can be a bad
joke. In my experience, the bureacrats are just regular folks punching the
clock, and they don't want the hassles anymore than you do. My advice is to
avoid entanglements with the legal red tape even if you're right. If you're
decent about it, the folks behind the counter may just roll there eyes,
shake their heads, and "accidentally misplace" the file for you.

Also, if you _are_ violating the law, you may want to consider partnering
with a body shop. You can _probably_ do all the bodywork you want (I don't
really know) it's probably the painting that's getting you in the agua
caliente. If you make some friends, spend a few dollars, and clean the shop
up a little better than you found it, you can probably rent a booth for two
or three hundred bucks a day. You'll have to be careful how you clean your
gun, dispose of your solvents and paint and all that, but the guys at the
shop can fill you in on the drill. You also have to use an HVLP gun, BTW.

>How can I legally nuke my neighbor?

Are you _sure_ your neighbor is the one who notified the city? If so, what
motivated them to do it?

I don't know what the codes and regs are in your part of the world, but I
have a friend who runs a motorcycle dyno shop in Marin. I understand it's
essentially illegal for a small shop to change tires. There's some umpteen
skatrillion dollar license required, and it's illegal even to _transport_
used tires for disposal without the license (OK, I think you can transport
up to a half-dozen or so, but it makes for a better story....) Anyway, I'd
guess it's likely your neighbor hasn't got the license unless he's got a
fairly legit shop.

As far as modification to suspensions and all that, that falls under the
domain of the Department of Consumer Affairs' Bureau of Automotive Repair
if it's a street car, which if you don't have a BAR license, could be a
problem for you, too, even if they don't have one either.

I have to say that as a layman, it seems to me that the Bureau of
Automotive Repair should be unconstitutional. Seems to me the state is
interfering in private contracts between two competant parties (or two
incompetant ones, but whatever.) Seems to me that as a consumer, you'd have
to be a minor or mentally impaired or whatever for the state to say you
aren't competant enough to be bound by the obligations of your own
contracts, or be responsible for their enforcement via the courts or
whatever, but I'm not a lawyer, and I'm probably wrong....

And as long as I'm off on the morning tirade, what's all this crap about
America's love affair with the automobile? That's a bunch of crap. America
loves new, shiny, well behaved cars. As soon as the paint gets a little
faded, they start to leak a little, and you have to do a little work on
them, hatred, loathing, and self-rightious indignation would be better
descriptions. There's always some a-hole getting his panties in a bunch if
he sees you checking the oil level in your driveway. These sort of folks
always feel the compulsion to call the city to complain rather than to come
talk to you about their concearns. And about their concerns, your ability
to make a living isn't one of them. My advice might be to keep everything
neat, tidy, indoors, out of sight, and (hopefully) out of mind, and to go
buy a deer rifle, but I digress....

RON
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