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twitterRemoval of debris by Clark County spurs an angry response
Homeowner furious at county for seizing his tools, materials to rectify code violations
Steve Marcus
Kirk Ingram sits in front of his home with a copy of the Clark County complaint near Windmill Lane and South Eastern Avenue Monday, October 5, 2009. Ingram says after a long-running dispute, the county raided his property Thursday and hauled away cultured stone, marble, tile and tools from his backyard. They also impounded three Ford trucks and a 28-ft boat, he says. “If they (the county) came for things that are on there (in the complaint), that’s one thing. But they took everything.” “Now (without tools) I can’t work. If I can’t work, I can’t make the house payment. It’s a big snowball effect.”
Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2009 | 2 a.m.
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Beyond the Sun
When Clark County hauled away tools, building materials, a boat and inoperable vehicles from Kirk Ingram’s cluttered front and back yards last week, his was an unusually large case, but an example of yet another ripple effect of the housing market crash.
Property owners are “more concerned” these days about any additional devaluation inflicted upon them by their neighbors, according to Joe Boteilho, chief of the county’s Public Response Office.
“You want to maintain the value of your home, and if you have something blighted next door, then you’re going to want it addressed,” he said.
That’s just how Robert Griffin, whose home is across the street from Ingram’s, feels. Griffin, a 68-year-old retired mechanic, said he didn’t file a formal complaint about Ingram’s property, but he says he came close to doing so “many times.”
Ingram’s property had become “unsightly and a nuisance,” Griffin said. “I’ve gradually seen it build up, and in the last year it’s gotten worse. I mean, give me a break. It had turned into a junk yard.”
Cases like Ingram’s arise, of course, because property owners tend to feel entitled to do as they please on their own land, and, as the saying goes, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.
It’s an eye-of-the-beholder-type thing, said David Williams, 48, who lives one block west and about 12 homes north of Ingram on Buckboard Lane.
From afar, Williams “sort of liked” Ingram’s hodgepodge of outdoor art, castoffs and projects-in-waiting.
“I wasn’t offended by it,” said Williams, who works in pest control. “I’m more offended about people complaining about it. I’ve lived here 20 years and we don’t have a homeowners association.”
Griffin chuckled when he recalled an example of Ingram’s idea of a worthwhile addition to his property: Ingram took big chunks of caliche from a development down the street and incorporated them into his outside wall.
“That wall cannot be within code,” Griffin said. “He just stacked whatever he could stack.”
Ingram considers the corner of his front yard to be the perfect place for a monument of sorts, or a welcome-to-the-neighborhood structure. Those giant chunks of caliche are stacked with rocks, and two red 55-gallon drums are attached somehow. Metallic palm leaves splay outward from the middle.
The outside stands in contrast to inside Ingram’s house, where almost every surface is adorned with some kind of cut stone or tile. Ingram did all the work himself. Among the items taken from his yard by county personnel Thursday were pallets of marble and stone, and most of Ingram’s tile-working tools.
With Metro Police standing guard, “they cut the locks, came right in and just took it all away. It isn’t right,” Ingram complained Tuesday.
He also wants his 29-foot boat and old Ford 4x4 back.
When the county takes these kinds of actions, however, everything except vehicles is dumped at the landfill. It isn’t as abrupt as that sounds, Boteilho added, because in almost all cases, property owners are warned and notified several months before the county does the cleanup.
“People are given a good amount of time to take care of it,” he said. “After that time, if they aren’t going to take care of it, it’s considered discarded debris. And we’re going to take care of it.”
In the previous fiscal year, which ended June 30, the county’s Public Response Office fielded 1,080 abatement-type cases. Of those, the owners at 652 properties improved their properties after receiving a notice of violation. Another 194 fixed things up after getting a notice of abatement.
In 234 cases, the county hired contractors at a cost of $484,660 to do the work. Of that amount, $104,438 has been collected through a special assessment the county places on the property.
The number of total cases in the prior fiscal year was slightly lower, at 977, but the county’s cleanup cost was higher for a smaller number of properties — $577,758 for 191 properties. Of that amount, $292,901 has been recouped so far.
The year before that, cases numbered 326, and the county’s cost was $226,355. Of that total, $182,670 has been collected.
The start of this fiscal year has been busy for the office. The tally for July 1 to Oct. 1 was 279 properties, with the county cleaning 37 at a cost of $23,048.
Officials would not speak specifically about Ingram’s case, but the numerous notices sent to his home are part of the public record.
A first complaint from an unidentified neighbor came to the county’s Public Response Office on March 2, alleging “tons of debris” from work or demolition sites on Ingram’s property.
“There is a boat that has not moved for years ... Work has been done on the outside of this house, is this all to code?”
Four days later a county employee said she inspected the property and sent Ingram a notice of violation asking for the removal of inoperable and unlicensed vehicles, waste and debris and telling him to stop storing equipment and materials outside the home.
In the notice, the county said Ingram was violating four county ordinances: storage of unlicensed and inoperable vehicles; maintenance of fences, walls and landscaped areas; outside storage of materials and/or equipment; and accumulation of solid waste.
Three inspections followed. In June a letter informing Ingram of how much it would cost to make his property comply with county code (the total is $2,600 to “abate,” meaning to bring the property up to code, plus $6,500 in civil penalties, which can be erased if the property is abated). More inspections followed.
Finally a seizure warrant was signed by a judge allowing for the removal of inoperable vehicles, utility trailers, plywood, pallets, marble stone pieces, tiles and other items found in Ingram’s yard.
Ingram complained that he sent e-mails to county officials telling them he didn’t understand what codes he was violating. He got a few responses saying his contentions would be looked into, “but I heard nothing after that,” he said.
So Ingram decided to fight back by cluttering his property again — this time with rough, weathered plywood across which he scrawled his anger at the county.
“FU CC” says one, with “CC” standing for Clark County. Others blast county officials by name. Another brands Steve Sisolak, the commissioner who represents this part of unincorporated Clark County on Windmill Lane just west of Eastern Avenue, a “liar.”
Griffin, Ingram’s neighbor, says the signs look worse than Ingram’s strange wall. Wide-eyed motorists slow down as they drive by, trying to take it all in.
The county expects to mail a formal notice about the signs to Ingram this week. Not because of what they say — the code is clear that “the content of speech” cannot be considered — but because the way they are erected does not comply with county code.
Even with a cursory glance, it appears Ingram’s numerous roof signs break the code that says very plainly: “The following types of sign structures are prohibited: Roof Signs.”
That’s not enough to convince Ingram. “It’s freedom of speech. I’m leaving them up there,” he said.
Then he added: “You suppose if they come to take them, they’ll take the whole roof, too?”
Discussion: 80 comments so far…
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The Sun
Locally owned and independent for more than 50 years.
"Property owners are "more concerned" these days about any additional devaluation inflicted upon them by their neighbors, according to Joe Boteilho, chief of the county's Public Response Office.
"You want to maintain the value of your home, and if you have something blighted next door, then you're going to want it addressed," he said."
Apparently "Chief Joe" hasn't noticed the semi-constructed tepee's residing along the strip?
: )
What a hairball. Keep hauling away the debris until this kook gets taken out with the trash, himself. And then he should be grateful. He'll be reunited with all his debris. And his tools (as if he really had a job out there waiting for him, if only he had his tools back. Boo hoo).
i don't know about all the rest of that crap, but they shouldn't have taken the mans tools.
Even if works a little slow right now things will pick up here in the near future. I'm sure of it.
I don't care what his house looks like ....... Never take a MANS TOOLS NEVER .......
Return his tools if he agrees to put them inside a storage shed or his home.
Where are the building inspectors? The wall in front of his house and on windmill looks atrocious and definitely does not meet building codes. I would also bet that he did not get a building permit. Make him remove it.
Also he has erected signs on his house without a permit. Fine him and if he does not remove them, have the city maintenance crew do it for him.
Graffiti is against the law. He has painted Sisolak is a liar on the wall facing windmill.
Charge him and make him remove the graffiti.
Comment removed by staff.
I drive by that corner every day. What an embarrassment!
if ingram wants to live in a junkyard thats his perogitive; explain to him that his property is not zoned for a junkyard; tell him to take better care of his tools and not to leave them outside unsecured. what planet is this guy from?
You will not appreciate what the county did until you live next to a home like this one. It will not only bring the neighborhood property prices down but it will give the neighbors a lot of mental stress every time you look at the site. The county will not just take anything (especially tools) out without enough warnings to the resident. I used to live next to one for years in California and I can't describe the sufferings my family and other neighbors went through because of one non-conforming neighbor. Good job Clark County!
Comment removed by staff.
i was trying to sell my home within 1/4 mile of this guy, i'd want that junk and those signs removed.
Yet Lonnie Hammargrens eyesore continues unabated. Makes sense huh?
I agree, never, ever, take a man's tools.
he should move to north las vegas - this sort of insanity is considered normal there
We only have Mr. Ingram's self-serving statement that Clark County took his tools. You have to remember that he is not the sharpest chisel in the tool bag. Apparently, he had enough tools to put up those signs.
It sounds like Ingrams place was an eyesore! Too bad about the tools.
markp Your sense of logic along with a lack of common sense is appalling. Communism? You must quit listening to Rush and O Reily. Do the other homeowners have any rights or is it just the jack ass's that have rights?
Thumper once again more wisdom from a real intellect. You and this guy would make good roommates.
emvance, dipstick, markp -- the lone voices of reason here.
The rest of you are sorely in need of a lesson in basic civil liberties, and the Golden Rule. This guy is under no obligation to live his life by your standards. As long as he didn't hurt anyone the public has no jurisdiction.
Why dont these people go after home depot,or lowes?They have eye sores out front everyday,and then when they move along at the end of the day,they leave there trash behind!!!
hey good point on the hammagren property.why is it cool 4 that nut-case to have ruined one of the nicer old paradise valley neighboorhoods' w/his whacked-out junk display.i'd sure hate to be a property owner in that sub-division.
When you take away a man's tools,You take away his livelihood. That being said,why would you bring more heat on yourself?
This guy is a complete idiot. Without laws and ordinaces the world would be crazy. He received plenty of time to correct the problem. I do not feel sorry for him at all.
I would have preferred to see this issue brought first into a court of law, where Mr. Ingram and Clark County could have presented their arguments, before action was taken against Mr. Ingram's property. At the moment, Clark County has done the deed, and the property is now gone. I can see both sides to this issue, and agree that Mr. Ingram may have been on the wrong side. But on the other hand, the concept of separation of powers as related to the use of Government Power should have required that this matter be argued in court, prior to the property being taken by the state.
vc -- obviously the concept of private property rights is outside your understanding. Polish your jackboots, you've got lots of company.
lemahj -- and that's exactly what the 14th Amendment promised, that no one can be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law. Funny how the county overlooked that limitation when they passed the ordinance allowing this massive trespass and theft.
"Crime is contagious. If the Government becomes a lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for law..." - Justice Brandeis' famous opinion in U.S. Supreme Court's Olmstead v. United States (1928).
obviously the sun dont like the idea of this person being able to defend his property as they removed my comment about defending his property..
so much for freedom of speech huh!!!
This is Lunacy! NEVER take ANYTHING! this is AMERICA! not some POS communist country!
This guy is a whackjob. If you want to live in a junk yard, do it in a commercial area.
He had his chances.
When his neighbors complained about all the crap Lonnnie Hammagrin's yard he simply bought the houses on both sides of his. Money talks bull$hit walks!
Exactly what kind of "tools" were they ?
A spraycan of paint doesn't qualify as a tool, does it?
Next it'll be "...they took my rabies infected pitbull..." (the choice of DRUG DEALERS, I might add)
Good Show Code Enforcement! You Got My Vote!
Now as for that whaky-goofy (surgeon?) former (thankfully) politician Lonnie H., would SOMEBODY call up code enforcement, permitting, sanitation, and his POLITICAL PALS (who are covering for him), and ask to give him AND EVERY OTHER politically well-connected real estate PROPERTY OWNER and LANDLORD a complete and total code-enforcement "enlightened moment"...
(To the owners of these "junk-piles": you signed the Deed, didn't ya...?)
LOL A friend of mine used to lives right down the street from Lonnie Hammagran's circus. Everybody more or less got used to it.
If anyone bothered to read the county ordinances they would see that you may not just have junk laying around your yard, like it or not (and personally I don't).
This isn't a new rule they just made up.
http://www.accessclarkcounty.com/depts/a...
If you don't like it get the laws changed.
Hey all you free market capitalists should be be running to this guys aid he just wants unregulated property rights..just like you want unregulated free market ...the 14th admendment is clear ...your the same poeple who dont want kids playing outside or any noise at all i dont like palm trees and you have 6 in your yard and i want them gone.. i suffer every day loooking at your palm trees.... maybe i should not have moved to vegas if i dont like palm trees....mmmmmmmmm
goofy wonderful world and it should remain goofy
ThisOneGuy -- you don't get it. Compared to Constitutions county ordinances are nothing.
Rocco - you don't make sense in the way you used the 14th Amendment in contradiction of the rest of your post. Please explain, particularly since I don't see "unregulated" used here seriously.
KillerB,
Nowhere in the constitution is murder proscribed either. The federal government defers to the individual states and local governments on that, and most issues. I have a strong libertarian streak myself. But when an individual chooses to live in a community, there are certain basic standards of decency by which he/she must abide. You don't just get to defecate on your front lawn because you feel like it.
Don't make me trot out Bugs Bunny yet again!
This is America. I have the right to use my property any way I see fit, as long as I don't live in a community that tells me othewise.
So, if I want crap in my yard, too bad.
Get over it all of you who think you can live my life and tell me what to do.
Being in America does NOT mean you get to do any damn thing you please. This isn't the wild, wild west. Civilization shouldn't have to reinvent the wheel and explain to you the common sense everybody else has had handed down to them.
This guy is a PIG.
He should be arrested. What a piece of trash he is.
I looked at the Google Map Street View. His boat and trucks were still in the picture and it didn't look that bad from the front. I think he must have a couple of zealous neighbors making complaints. They should move to an HOA. So the dude's a little crazy, so what.
There are all kinds of vacant commercial lots, warehouses, yards etc. or mixed use properties, he could have relocated, why should he drag down the value of his neighbors property who might be trying to sell or get a refi, this guy is a lazy slob
adam: google map is almost a year old... They need to update it more often, I still see my empty backyard after lanscaping it over a year ago.
DTJ there you go again! one minute you are touting the defense of freedom and liberties being taken away from us by your buddy from Hungary, now you are sayin the opposite! here. Where do you stand on anything? or do you just like to confront others for the sake of argument?
Enviro,
It's not the "opposite." It's not "either/or," "black or white." We're thinking creatures living in the 21st century. Nuance, my friend. Nuance.
As my buddy in the film Diner says " You just don't know where you stand with the word Nuance" remember that scene? LOL!!! thats OK your fun to spar with dude!!
DTJ -- your credibility with me went to zero with that link. Nothing you post is relevant.
B,
Not preoccupied with having credibility with you. But you really do need to relax, exhale, fart, or otherwise do something to let all the hot air out.
Enviro,
Diner? Wow. I'll have to watch it. Isn't that from the '80's?
Anyway, you're cool too. (Now if we could just get some of our "coolness" to rub off on B. ;-) )
Just a question.
Is it illegal to store an old vehicle in your yard? I can see the problem if it's in the front yard, But how about out back, assuming there is a fence. I agree that if it's visible, it ought to be somewhat orderly. Graffiti is totally unacceptable.
Then again, I think the card flippers handing out porno cards on the strip, and the sea of debris around them should be hauld away too.
C'mon Bakersfield, you can't tell me that you don't appreciate all those sexy chicks on those little cards! I have actually enjoyed looking at them from time to time... but yes it's not cool to turn your yard into a Sanford And Son sitcom set. The neighborhood should be kept beautiful and pristine.
geezelouise: The fact remains YOU CAN'T and there are VERY GOOD reasons for them for which obviously you will never udnerstand.Fact remains,if you did that in a neighborhood I'd be in line with the rest of your neighbors to stop you.Everyone has an enormous amount of money invested in their property and need to protect that. You want your "junks" head for open land away from the rest of us.
Thumper,
Sounds like you are almost wanting that nightmare scenario of yours to happen.
"Cutting the locks and stealing a man's tools, truck and boat while he's not home?...If that's not looking for a "shootout," I don't know what is."
Wrong. Going out of your way to make sure he IS at home would be "looking for a shootout."
It's not like this hairball had his back to the wall. He was repeatedly asked to clean up his yard, and given due warning. Is that so bad??? Removing the offending garbage was not the first resort, it was the last.
There are eyesore properties like that all over town. Why is this guy special?
bam1969 -- because government acts are limited by the Bill of Rights, and he was entitled to have a court AND a jury of his peers decide the facts and law BEFORE they trespassed and stole his property. County ordinances are beholden to those limits.
And what the county did was just plain wrong. Just because the thieves were sent by the county doesn't really make the act any less criminal.
I have been in his place. I tried to work with the County. Debris to them is a bar-b-que that was blown over by the wind. They were never satisfied. They took registered licensed vehicles, kids toys, and on and on. This is my piece of heaven. Now it is Hell thanks to them.
BigT -- your post is the most credible of all 57 so far. The most tragic of all this, besides this citizen's loss, is how many condone the county's criminal act.
KillerB,
Your simple interpretation of the Constitution is simply incorrect.
That guy purchased a house in an area (Clark County) that has rules that regulate what you may and may not do on your property. These were laws enacted by duly elected officials and tested in the courts, he was given (several) notices, a chance at a hearing, and a warrant was signed by a judge. All very legal. If he is unhappy with all of that he can sue the county for relief in front of a jury.
He and his neighbors pay taxes to the county to maintain the road in front of his house (and anywhere else in the county he cares to travel to) and to pay for the police, fire and emergency personnel that he has on call 24/7, plus water, sewer and other services. That boat, the Ford and those tools were all fruits he accumulated as a direct result of living in this society, he didn't sculpt them out of mud, he only has those things because of cooperation with his fellow humans; cooperation made possible by government and his neighbors. He gets the rewards of living in a society and having neighbors so he is obliged to follow the rules laid out by our elected officials until he (and enough of his neighbors) can vote someone into office who thinks like he does.
If a junk yard is the most important thing to him and he doesn't care as much for those other things that civilization gets him maybe he should move somewhere like Kazakhstan or The Ivory Coast.
We live in a society, living in that society means we have a contract with our fellow humans, and that is just the way of a civilized world.
Just look at KillerB climbing up on a chair off in the corner trying to get to get people to pay attention to him by summarily declaring, "This person is credible; that person is not credible."
B, you're the equivalent of a quack when in comes to interpreting the U.S. Constituion. A judge issued a WARRANT for the seizure of this idiot's debris. The constitution specifically allows this under the Fourth Amendment. As for your erroneous claim that he was entitled to a "trial by jury," you're wrong again. The Sixth and Seventh Amendments only guarantee this for CRIMINAL cases or CIVIL disputes. This case was neither.
But any serious person wouldn't even have had to had this civics lesson spoon-fed to them. Did you really think you had come up with something nobody had ever thought of before, and that local jurisdictions all over the country had mere been getting away with this unchallenged???
WHAT A MAROON!!!!
Better yet, WHAT A QUACK EXPERT YOU ARE!! QUACK QUACK QUACK!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3Z2MP8vM...
(Now go ahead. Make some pompous declaration about "credibility" again.)
...and for old time's sake...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_Kh7nLpl...
So the homeowner gets many notice of action pending, does not respond and now it is the County's fault? Where was he when the trucks showed up? Not working, because his tools were allegedly taken. Everything could have been avoided by his action to correct the problems. which should have included running a business out of a residential zoned area. What is his exact complaint? I sent emails that were not answered? Bravo County! disclaimer; I live nowhere near this person or have every seen the property. This dude needs to move out in the desert.
Comment removed by staff.
Alright, Thumper is clearly a waste of time to the rest of us. NEXT...
NEXT...
They say imitation is the highest form of flattery!
This is just silly but no one can say its the first time... sadly... People (especially homeowners in this case) really need to grow up! This is not about freedom of speech... There are FAR BETTER ways to spread a message - this guy sounds like a nut to me... and I def wouldn't want to be his neighbor - I feel bad for his current neighbors...
What is gained by taking a man's tools? There is nothing but hardship for people that are self employed and rely on their tools to make a living. Our we better off with this guy on welfare or even homeless?
VegasGM85,
Careful, the inmates are running the asylum, tonight.
"this guy sounds like a nut to me... and I def wouldn't want to be his neighbor - I feel bad for his current neighbors..." EXACTLY. Those of us who aren't certifiable around here, agree with that sentiment.
BTW Thumper, you probably missed it, but I stated that I'm no defender of the good ol' boys who run this town. This hairball you're defending tonight got his just desserts. But I'm not doubting that in many a case, the little guy gets hosed around here. If you'd stop you blithering nonsense for a second, you might have discerned this.
Thumper,
"This article and discussion isn't about you or your childish insults."
And you need to calm down from your frothy rage. I just so happened to mean both ME and you, when I made the "inmates" remark.
And as for the tools, etc., they're not going to be impounded. The article states they're going to a landfill. (Now, whether they'll "disappear" between the seizure and the landfill; whether they ever even existed... who knows???)
Thumpo,
Your graph reference is irrelevant. As for "if you think those tools are going to be headed for the landfill..." it is now clear that you cannot read straight, because you're still in your frothy rage.
I wrote two things:
One which cited the article, which states, "when the county takes these kinds of actions, however, everything except vehicles is dumped at the landfill." This means your graph is irrelvant, regarding the fate of the tools. But my very last statement openly speculated that the true fate of the tools might be something else. Read it. Defroth yourself first, though.
Of course, like an earlier commenter on this thread, I don't necessarily believe that this hairball really had tools. He's an out of control freak, and quite possibly lying. But if we give him the benefit of the doubt anyway, one place the "alleged" tools are never going, is into the county coffers.
Now, sorry to break it to you, but I've got to run along and attend to my beloved family and my own life. I hereby leave you to defending Hairball, you hero. You two can have each other. And this dying thread.