The city has backed off what some said was a draconian approach to junk cars, adopting a policy that offers the leniency City Councilman Scott Cowdell supported.
"I got what I wanted and what most people in the city wanted," said Cowdell. "I don't think we really needed a law with that kind of teeth in it."The City Council recently opted not to enact an ordinance that would have made it a crime to keep a vehicle without current registration and updated property tax payments.
Residents still face penalities if they keep junkers that are obvious eyesores, those that have been wrecked to the point of being undrivable or have been stripped of parts and left immobile for more than 30 days.
The proposed crackdown was part of a larger drive to toughen up trash laws in Sandy.
Changes adopted include one that relaxes a requirement that trash cans have to be made of galvanized steel but says they can't be kept at curbside anymore. Another requires weeds on vacant lots to be trimmed to 6 inches. If they're not, the city will do it and send the owner a bill.
City Attorney Wally Miller said the push for stricter laws was sparked largely by gradually growing blight in some parts of town.
"Particularly in historic Sandy it's a real problem with junk piling up," said Miller. "Once you've got a couple of people with junky yards, the neighborhood just starts to slide."
Zoning administrator Brok Armontrout said any law on the books is only as effective as its enforcement, however.
"In a city as big as we are, with about 85,000 people, it's hard to be proactive," said Armontrout.
Armontrout is Sandy's sole zoning-law enforcer.
"Salt Lake City is twice our size and has five," he said. "West Valley City is about 10,000 people bigger and they have three."
According to a recent interoffice memo, reports of junk have increased, a trend City Hall seems less than excited about.
"Citizen-initiated complaints are up in number over last year - mostly junk and weed complaints," says the memo. "Probably due to the attention given by the press to our recent ordinance amendment. The complaints should level off to normal levels during the warmer months (we hope!)."
Only Councilwoman Judy Bell voted against the new set of ordinances, explaining that she supported the more stringent version.