Your Home Is Not Your Own UPDATE
An update on this post that I put up the other day. San Diego County representatives are saying that the visit stemmed from a parking complaint.
OK - I can understand the concern about parking and road access - especially as it may impact emergency access to the neighborhood - however, one has to wonder why the complaining neighbor didn't just come over and talk to the pastor and his wife about his/her concerns.....
Gray area???? Here is a hot tip for EVERYONE involved....apply a little common sense here. First off if the Bible study draws 15 people one must assume that at least a few of the visitors are (like the pastor and his wife) married couples driving together! That drops the number of cars by (and I'll be generous here) a third - say 5 cars. Now the pastor and his wife don't drive so that is a 6th car. Based on the picture attached to the story, it looks as if you could fit 3 possibly 4 cars in the driveway. That means we are looking at 5, maybe 6 cars parked in the street. Any of us who lives in a neighborhood with people who have folks over know that 5 or 6 cars is really not a whole lot. Yes it can be an inconvenience at times, but it is usually never a public safety hazard. Now from the other side of the coin, if parking at the pastor's neighborhood is at a premium - why not ride share????? There is a common sense issue that does not involve calling the police OR the county zoning office! All one needs to do is talk to your neighbor - tell the pastor of your concerns. Is that not a logical solution to the "problem"?
Either way, this county employee over-reacted calling a home Bible study a zoning violation. That IS a gross over-reach and another example of out of control government.
The county official said Jones has got it all wrong and tried to explain the curious line of questioning the county had for the pastor.
Jones said he has been hosting weekly Bible studies in his Bonita home for the past five years, but it wasn't until last month that someone complained about the sessions and county code enforcement went out to investigate.
Every Tuesday night about 15 people drive to Jones’ Bonita home to eat dinner and discuss the Bible. They usually park on Jones' property, he said, but sometimes that parking spills out into the cul-de-sac.
Last month, someone filed a complaint about the number of cars.
Jones said he has been hosting weekly Bible studies in his Bonita home for the past five years, but it wasn't until last month that someone complained about the sessions and county code enforcement went out to investigate.
Every Tuesday night about 15 people drive to Jones’ Bonita home to eat dinner and discuss the Bible. They usually park on Jones' property, he said, but sometimes that parking spills out into the cul-de-sac.
Last month, someone filed a complaint about the number of cars.
OK - I can understand the concern about parking and road access - especially as it may impact emergency access to the neighborhood - however, one has to wonder why the complaining neighbor didn't just come over and talk to the pastor and his wife about his/her concerns.....
10News asked the county official about the officer's line of questioning.
"Did the officer actually do that? Is that part of the requirements to ask those questions?" Reporter Joe Little asked.
"Obviously, I wasn't there, so I can't tell you exactly what was said. However, what our officer was trying to do is establish what the use is so that we know what regulations to actually utilize," explained Chandra Wallar of the county's land use and environment group.
Wallar said it's the officer’s job to determine what kind of event is hosted at Jones’ house to decide what part of county code the event falls under.
"The Bible studies are one that's probably in a very gray area," Waller said.
"Did the officer actually do that? Is that part of the requirements to ask those questions?" Reporter Joe Little asked.
"Obviously, I wasn't there, so I can't tell you exactly what was said. However, what our officer was trying to do is establish what the use is so that we know what regulations to actually utilize," explained Chandra Wallar of the county's land use and environment group.
Wallar said it's the officer’s job to determine what kind of event is hosted at Jones’ house to decide what part of county code the event falls under.
"The Bible studies are one that's probably in a very gray area," Waller said.
Gray area???? Here is a hot tip for EVERYONE involved....apply a little common sense here. First off if the Bible study draws 15 people one must assume that at least a few of the visitors are (like the pastor and his wife) married couples driving together! That drops the number of cars by (and I'll be generous here) a third - say 5 cars. Now the pastor and his wife don't drive so that is a 6th car. Based on the picture attached to the story, it looks as if you could fit 3 possibly 4 cars in the driveway. That means we are looking at 5, maybe 6 cars parked in the street. Any of us who lives in a neighborhood with people who have folks over know that 5 or 6 cars is really not a whole lot. Yes it can be an inconvenience at times, but it is usually never a public safety hazard. Now from the other side of the coin, if parking at the pastor's neighborhood is at a premium - why not ride share????? There is a common sense issue that does not involve calling the police OR the county zoning office! All one needs to do is talk to your neighbor - tell the pastor of your concerns. Is that not a logical solution to the "problem"?
Either way, this county employee over-reacted calling a home Bible study a zoning violation. That IS a gross over-reach and another example of out of control government.
Labels: Out of Control Government
posted by The Lady Logician at
5:45 PM
1 Comments:
Forgive me for playing the devil's advocate here but I'm curious as to what categories San Diego has for events. Doesn't that seem a bit odd to people?
By
Gary Gross, at 11:31 PM
Post a Comment
<< Home