Shoals municipalities crack down on junk vehicles

It is a common sight on many streets in the Shoals area.

Old, damaged vehicles strewn across a yard or a vacant lot.

Often, the cars are waiting to be restored or repaired. Still, others sit abandoned and serve as an eyesore for passersby.

It is a problem that's not easy for municipalities and counties to tackle.

What is one man's "junk" may be another's treasure-in-waiting.

Most incorporated cities have some type of ordinance related to old vehicles, trailers and other motor vehicles. For counties, it's a different story because of the size and rural areas to cover.

Laws in Russellville, Muscle Shoals, Sheffield, Tuscumbia and Florence are similar.

Each city has some form of ordinance that requires each vehicle parked on property within the city to be operable and street legal or kept behind or under some type of covering.

In many cases, a fenced-in backyard or covered carport is sufficient. "They can be inside shelters or garages," said Sheffield code enforcement officer David Osborn.

Sheffield amended its ordinance June 4 to only allow junk cars to be stored at businesses that deal in junk cars and are in manufacturing zones.

The problem with junk cars in most areas arises when old vehicles, many of which may someday undergo some type of restoration, are left on property to sit for a period of time.

"I think it's a problem everywhere," Florence building official Gary Williamson said. "People want to keep old family vehicles, and they intend to repair them, but after they sit out in the weather, they start to deteriorate."

Williamson said the junk car policy falls under the city's anti-litter ordinance and requires that the vehicles be kept behind or under some form of covering.

Muscle Shoals building inspector Dale Nesbitt said the city began enforcing a junk car policy more than two years ago and has seen tremendous results since.

"We had a big problem with it until the city developed our policy," he said. "When it was first enacted in 2004, we got rid of about 250 cars. Now, we get rid of about 50 to 75 a year.

"Now, most of the residents are helping us out."

Cities are much easier to enforce codes of this nature because vehicles are more visible and there is not as much area to cover.

County officials, on the other hand, have a much more difficult time. In fact, Franklin and Lauderdale counties have no junk car ordinance in place.

Colbert County will officially have an ordinance in place beginning June 1.

Colbert officials will not be patrolling the county looking for junk cars. They will, instead, rely on citizen complaints to determine where there is a problem.

"This is not going to be a witch hunt," said Colbert County Commission chairman Rex Burleson.

Officials from the health department will handle complaints for the first six months, but that could change later, Burleson said.

Marshall County began a junk ordinance earlier this year and a variation of that ordinance was presented to other counties for adoption.

Rhonda McCoy works with the commission office in Marshall County and said the program has been a real success so far.

"It's been one of the toughest things we've put in, but the citizens voted it in," McCoy said.

The Colbert ordinance is also the result of the passage of the Limited Self-Governance Act in November that was approved by voters 2,739 to 1,706. The act allows the county government to pass local ordinances addressing issues like junk, weeds and litter, animal control and other health-related issues.

"There were some people upset about it, but now I think they are seeing how much better the county is starting to look," McCoy said.

Burleson said that was the thought behind putting the ordinance in place in Colbert County.

"We are doing everything we can to get the county cleaned up and presentable," Burleson said. "When people come into your county and see all of your junk they think, 'why would I want to live there?"

TimesDaily Staff Writer Jonathan Willis can be reached at 332-0140 or jonathan.willis@timesdaily.com.