Citizens: Proceed with junk ordinance

Junked cars. Bulldozers. Old boats and trailer houses. Road encroachment. Pollution threats from leaking fluids.

You name it, and Wahkiakum County residents can tell you where to find it in their neighborhoods.

The county board of commissioners held two meetings this past week to gauge public support for an ordinance to regulate unused vehicles and other junk people keep on their private property. Sixty to eighty people attended each of the meetings in Rosburg and Cathlamet, and at the end of each meeting, solid majorities raised their hands when asked if they felt the commission should proceed with development of an ordinance.

Many speakers urged the commission to drop the project because it would infringe on people's rights to use their property as they see fit. Others presented photos of collections of junked vehicles or other problems in their neighborhoods and urged the commissioners to give law enforcement and public health officials ordinances with enough teeth in them to address those problems.

Tuesday's meeting packed the commissioners' meeting room in the courthouse in Cathlamet (for summaries of the meeting last week in Rosburg see reports from Poul Toftemark and Trudy Fredrickson inside this edition).

Commissioners Blair Brady, Dan Cothren and Mike Backman started the Cathlamet meeting by stating they support property rights but see a need to consider some kind of ordinance.

"I consider myself a property rights advocate, but there are things that become egregious and we have to have a means to address them," Brady said. "We don't have a plan . . . This meeting is for public input on the need for an ordinance.'

He added that if the commission decides to proceed, there would be further public meetings, and he would like to see the issue put up to a vote on an election ballot.

Backman said he agreed with Brady and added that he would want the issue to go to the election ballot.

Cothren, too, said he is a property rights advocate, but he has seen problem areas and had calls from constituents wanting something done about collections of junk. He recalled a previous proposed junk vehicle ordinance that was solidly opposed by residents and not adopted by the commission.

However, he said, he has recently had lots of phone calls requesting an ordinance, and he has seen many problem areas in his travels across the county. Wahkiakum has relaxed laws, and people are bringing junk in from other counties, he said.

"There's a lot that's just ridiculous," he said. "It's become a game for some of them, so something's gotta be done or we'll become a dumping ground. It comes to a point that you have to have pride in your county."

Several residents spoke against a possible ordinance.

Puget Island resident Gilbert Vik asked, "Why should anyone else tell you what you can do on your property?" Concerns about rodents and vermin are overblown, he said, and people don't want the county to be able to seize property from violators.

Elochoman Valley resident Don Kinney echoed Vik's comments. What's needed is a road hazard ordinance for areas where items encroach on the road. "This is how people get out of control: Give them an inch and they'll make a ruler out of it."

"We have a different situation here than in the city," said Grays River resident Al Salazar. "We have two cars, a boat; that's not normally done in the city. I think rights are very important in this case."

Bill Schultz said the situations people presented are complicated and can lead to a can of worms. "Governmental control is simply not what freedom is," he said.

Skamokawa resident Kay Walters warned that an ordinance could enable a person to carry on a vendetta against a neighbor. "A solid waste ordinance is what's needed," she said.

Several residents spoke in favor of a possible ordinance.

Puget Island resident Kristin Lee said scrap markets make it attractive for people to sell old vehicles, appliances and other items. "This is not big government," she said. She also opposed putting the measure up for a vote, for many retired property owners may have two residences and vote elsewhere.

West Cape Horn resident Don Fullerton said he has a junk car lot across the highway from his neighborhood that has been a problem for years. Perhaps the county should tax people who have junk cars on their property and reduce taxes for people with well kept property.

Westend resident Chuck Henderson and Peter Maguire agreed that people are bringing junk vehicles into the county from other areas and causing problems with them.

"I'm a property rights guy," Henderson said. "It's okay as long as it doesn't interfere with me."

"I have established my credentials as a freedom lover," Maguire said, "but we need some degree of order."

Sue Cameron, director of Wahkiakum County Health and Human Services, said junked vehicles and appliances can harbor rodents and mosquitos that carry disease. The county has a duty to protect its citizens from disease, she said. A person shouldn't be able to do something that affects his neighbor's health, she said.

Westend resident Lori Scott said she supported an ordinance, but it should be simple and perhaps focus on road right-of-way issues.

More discussion ensued, and after 90 minutes, the crowd raised hands in support of the county proceeding with development of an ordinance.