Ordinance could require garages

Published Sunday, March 23, 2008

By Chris Butler

Molly Arkel and her boyfriend believe they are the youngest couple currently living in By-Well Estates in Rhome and are one of the few there without a garage - they say they can't afford to build one, but they may have no other choice.

Residents of the subdivision have been governed by a series of deed restrictions since 1996 until a controversy erupted throughout the neighborhood involving residents parking semi-trucks in their front yards.

To defuse the tension, the city council put the subdivision under the city ordinance last month, and that means any homeowners who don't have garages on their property now have a year to install them.

Arkel and her boyfriend don't know what they'll do.

"The powers that be need to understand that money doesn't grow on trees. The price of food is going up. Gas is going up. Energy costs are going up. We can't use a credit card to pay for a new garage and then pay for all the interest on that," she said.

The couple just had a baby and were talking about saving up for other needed items, such as a lawn mower, before learning the city will require them to have a garage, Arkel said.

"I think it's bull. If they come knocking on our door and start telling us that we're not following the rules then they're going to have to fight with us," she added.

City officials began citing a few residents after they parked their semi-trucks in their own front yards last year and some residents complained that such vehicles weren't allowed in a residential area in accordance with neighborhood by-laws and deed restrictions, still in effect after the subdivision was incorporated into the city of Rhome. According to those rules, residents must keep all vehicles in a garage, driveway or parking pad.

The new city ordinance requires two enclosed spaces in the subdivision, one of which may be a porch. City Attorney Walt Leonard wants to clarify whether having an "enclosed space" specifically means a homeowner will also have to install a garage on their property.

"We need to specify what a garage is. We know that porches, for instance, can be anything from a cardboard box under the door to a marble and brass Taj Mahal," Leonard said at a recent city council meeting.