It's Tempe vs. Tempe resident in code war
by Dianna M. Náñez - Oct. 15, 2012 09:37 AM
The Republic | azcentral.com
A Tempe resident at odds with municipal code enforcement over piles of storage in his backyard is appealing for a reprieve.
But city officials say they have received several neighbor complaints and everyone must follow the city code.
Jack Lowell has taken his case to the mayor and City Council. Last month, he spoke during the public-comment portion of the council meeting, hoping to express his grievance to a larger Tempe audience watching the meeting at home on TV.
Lowell said he wanted to know if other Tempe residents were having problems with city code and suggested that if so, perhaps they could band together.
When Lowell found out that Tempe no longer allows citizens' public comment at council meetings to air on the city's cable broadcast or the city's website, he broadened his appeal to include an argument for reinstating the public-comment broadcast.
"I think what they are doing is absolutely draconian," he said.
Lowell's problems with Tempe code enforcement started when he received a notice in April 2011 for violating city code banning dead grass, overgrown weeds, and excessive debris and outdoor storage.
Lowell argued that his neighborhood is littered with code violations and wondered why Tempe's code enforcement was focusing on him. To make his point, he sent an e-mail to former Mayor Hugh Hallman about numerous yard violations throughout the neighborhood.
Lowell said that he has lived at the same Tempe house near Priest and University drives for 40 years without any problem, until he fought the violation. He said he thinks his fight spurred code-enforcement officials to single him out.
Lowell ultimately spruced up his yard and cut back his weeds in hopes of getting city officials to back off on the violation for excessive storage.
He asked the city to give him examples of proper storage for his carport. Instead, he said, Tempe officials suggested he draft plans for the new storage and submit them to the city.
Lowell said that a few months after the first 2011 notice, he got an inspection visit from Tempe code-enforcement manager Jeff Tamulevich. He said he pleaded with Tamulevich to understand that much of the storage in his carport was related to his gem-and-mineral business, and that moving the materials would hurt him financially.
Lowell said that when he asked Tamulevich whether it would be OK to move the materials to his backyard, Tamulevich asked to see the backyard.
Soon after that visit Lowell said that he got an additional violation of city code banning improper and excessive storage materials related to a home business. Lowell, a geologist, collects and sells gems and minerals that he stores at and ships from his house.
Lowell said he later learned during a free consultation with an attorney that he did not have to let Tamulevich in his backyard.
"I was intimidated," he said. "And worried because it was going to cost me thousands of dollars to build new storage. I'm going to lose money spending time removing all the rocks and stuff I have."
Lowell said he cleaned the carport. He acknowledges that he has piled-high mounds of materials in his backyard. But he doesn't think his backyard storage should be an issue.
"No one can see it," he said. "This is selective enforcement. What about all the other people with stuff for their home business in their backyard, are they going to go around and cite them, too?"
Michelle Jones is among the neighbors who have written letters on Lowell's behalf, saying that he should be allowed to keep his backyard as is.
"He's been there for 40 years without an issue," she said. "The thing is, from being a witness to what's going on on this street, considering all the rental houses, cars left without registration ... feral cats, Jack is the least of the problems."
Tempe officials recently gave Lowell a six-month extension to remove the excessive materials in his backyard or build proper storage.
Lowell said that he realizes that he may lose his fight with the city. But he has decided to go public with the grievance because he wants to warn others not to allow code officials on to their private property.
In an interview with The Republic, city officials said that they have worked with Lowell for more than a year so that he may correct his code violations.
Tamulevich said that the city received several neighbor complaints about Lowell's violations. "We don't selectively enforce the code," he said. "We receive complaints and we address those complaints."
Tamulevich insists that he never asked to enter Lowell's backyard.
"He voluntarily brought us to the backyard," he said, adding that residents do not have to allow code-enforcement officials in their backyard because it is private property. [Look, Jack, when you are dealing with government terrorists, the first thing you have to do is demand that they honor ALL your constitutional rights, which includes the 4th Amendment preventing them from searching your stuff with out a search warrant, and the 5th Amendment which means you have the right to keep you mouth shut and refuse to answer ALL their questions. Never, never, never let anybody from the government search your stuff, and never, never, never answer any questions from a government cop or zoning inspector. ]
City spokeswoman Kris Baxter said that Tempe has codes related to home businesses because "people who live in a residential area have the right to a residential experience."
"The primary intent of Tempe's code ... (is) to ensure safe clean neighborhoods," she said. "We value our small businesses, we're trying to make it easier for our businesses to succeed. (But) the code has to be followed by everyone.
"What we're trying to do for our entire city is make it easier for fire and police to get through properties in the event of an emergency," she said.
Tempe's interim Community Development director Lisa Collins said she could not provide specific examples of what amount of home-business materials would not violate excessive-storage rules because each situation is different. Nor could she provide specific examples of proper storage for home-business materials, but she noted that storage with walls and a roof is generally OK.
Collins encouraged residents to call the city's development department for assistance before starting a home business to ensure it complies with city code.
"Our goal is to be helpful," she said. "We don't just cite them (residents) and issue citations, we work with them to bring things into compliance."
Protester sprouts peace sign in lawn
Source
Protester sprouts peace sign in lawn
by Paula Hassler - Aug. 2, 2008 07:00 AM
Special for The Republic
Meet Edward "Jack" Lowell: age 59, Arizona State University graduate, geologist, gemologist, Tempe resident and tireless war protester since the Vietnam era.
Lowell achieved some notoriety about four years ago when he built a 10-foot-diameter peace symbol made of plastic pipe covered with 200 shiny CDs. His home is due east of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, so he figured people in approaching aircraft could see the glittering design strung up on his roof with the help of some backyard trees. Last month, Lowell devised a watering technique that enabled him to grow grass in his front yard in a way that formed three large peace signs and the words "Out of Iraq."
"My lawn was brown and pretty much dying of thirst at that time, so I watered the designs and not the rest of the grass," he said. "I had gotten in trouble for letting my lawn go totally dead and I figured this might be one tactic, to say it was an art project."
The grassy symbols stood out boldly until recent storms greened up the entire lawn. "My work was looking fine until the rains came and sort of erased it on me, but when the monsoons are over I'll reseed the designs and make them larger and more visible," he said.
"I know how to use my weed eater to sharpen up the image, and it will be a permanent fixture in my front yard. When Google Earth retakes its satellite pictures in our area, my symbols will show up to the whole world that I do not like our government making war for bad reasons."
Lowell said he appreciates the folks who honk in approval of his work as they drive past his home.
"The neighbors are cool with it, and it could give people the idea to express themselves," he said. "If you see someone do something that you believe in, and it's a novel idea, then you might go out and also do something creative. It's sort of suggesting to the world that you expressed your feelings and your beliefs in any way you can that's not hurting anyone else."
Lowell keeps busy these days with his Web site, writing letters to newspapers and tending to his home-based gemology business. His 1982 Toyota pickup, usually parked in his driveway, is plastered with anti-war bumper stickers and political slogans.
Thinking back to his treetop peace-symbol project of 2004, Lowell regrets that it didn't last very long.
"The sun ruined the CDs after a period of time, and replacing all 200 of them was not an option," he said.
But he did find a way to recycle it.
People who drive by his home in December will see the plastic-pipe peace sign festooned with Christmas lights on his roof - or propped up by his front door.