Why is the City of Sioux Falls Code Enforcement ignoring obvious Junkyard?

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There was some interesting things that came out of Angela’s story;

The City’s own definition of a junkyard: includes any land used for the “storage, wrecking, dismantling, salvage, collection, processing, purchase, sale or exchange of abandoned and discarded vehicles.”


Junkyard Definition according to Sioux Falls City Ordinance:      

JUNKYARD: Any lot, land, parcel, or portion thereof used for the storage, wrecking, dismantling, salvage, collection, processing, purchase, sale, or exchange of abandoned or discarded vehicles, goods, waste, and scrap materials including but not limited to two or more abandoned or inoperable motor vehicles, glass, tires, appliances, machinery or automotive and mechanical parts. A JUNKYARD does not include operations entirely enclosed within buildings.

If it walks like a duck . . .

However in 2012, Circuit Court Judge Stuart Tiede ruled that IAA did operate as a junkyard when the owner wanted to add a location near Crooks. Tiede overturned a Minnehaha County Commission decision to allow a permit for the operation as something “other” than a junkyard.

Tiede wrote in his decision: “The wrecking or dismantling of motor vehicles is not required in order for the use to a salvage or junk yard.”

Imagine that, another judge disagreeing with local government.

Angela Kennecke: Is the City taking regular inventory reports?
Tobias: No, At this point in time we’re not and what I can say from our perspective is that there are no violations on site at this time.

Uh, wrong answer. If you are NOT taking inventory how do you know there isn’t any violations? Funny how code enforcement in this city, using snow gates and planning and zoning depends on who you are NOT what you are. It’s a poor neighborhood so who cares about the rats and junk. Maybe they can put up another Bishop Dudley House up there.

Another falling wall after city building services department was warned

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Here we go again, except this time, fortunately no one died.

The city building department was warned several times about a possible wall collapse, and ignored it;

In a string of emails between her and Warrington, Roti expressed her concerns, repeatedly asking whether a structural engineer had looked at the wall.

Warrington assured Roti and several others included on the email — multiple times over two months — that the situation was being handled appropriately.

One thing I have heard from a lot of contractors and citizens during this latest campaign season is that the city employees need to get better at customer service. Whether that is police, fire, code enforcement or building services.

The next mayor needs to support a renewed agenda of bringing customer service back to city hall, before more people die or get hurt.

Is Sioux Falls city government bailing on changing Downtown noise ordinance?

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A great view, of a nightclub roof.

After several citizens showed up last week to ask the city to AT LEAST do a study of decibel levels downtown, it seems not much is happening, except more complaints.

Common sense would tell you if you have mixed use with commercial (a nightclub) next to residential, the one producing more decibels would get precedent, NOPE. The quieter use is used instead of a fair balance between the two uses.

As we all know, ambient noise downtown alone is probably between 58-60 decibels. Wouldn’t a study by the PD and Health Department using the ‘L’ scale be worth it? The scale takes a 10 minute reading of the lows and highs of decibels and gives a 90% average reading. Makes sense.

I think 10-20 locations should be picked downtown to do the reading, and each location should take readings every 2-4 hours, Monday-Sunday. Once those readings come in, we could figure out an average at those different times for downtown.

I think the city just ‘telling us’ what is acceptable is unacceptable until we really know what is reality. Maybe 55 is a good place to be, but until we know what the averages are, we don’t know where the starting point is.

I also think some building codes and zoning needs to be changed for residential units. Even if we didn’t have a nightclub next door to a residential unit – traffic, trains, airplanes, etc., are probably louder than what current code is.

Let’s face it, if we are going to continue to develop housing downtown and other development like hotels and commercial we are going to have to come to grips with the fact we have turned downtown into a bustling entertainment district. We MUST make changes NOW while we are still growing, otherwise we are going to have a code enforcement nightmare down the road as downtown gets more dense.

City to spread their version of ‘Propaganda’ about Downtown noise ordinances

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I got a reminder this weekend from a fellow city hall watcher that the city already had a discussion about noise ordinances . . . 10 years ago! I remember the discussion, it involved outdoor music at Stogeez and the time that music needs to stop.

Well, my response is that we need to revisit the topic, especially with the enormous growth of downtown over the past 10 years. I don’t think it is unreasonable to maintain a 70 decibel level during the day and 65 at night. Even without entertainment facilities downtown, the ambient noise downtown during the day hovers in that 68-70 area.

I can’t wait to hear the city’s argument on this;

One important fact the public should understand is that all of downtown is zoned to allow residential uses. The zoning for downtown also allows for commercial, retail, and a mix of other uses, which creates the unique atmosphere we all expect from a downtown environment. No changes have been made to zoning or the noise ordinance as a result of any new residential units in downtown.

If that is the case, how is a downtown nightclub able to operate for 6 years with NO intervention until residential units are built next door with an easement to hang patios over the roof of the nightclub?

It is no surprise to me that the city will fight any changes. Why? The building department once again screwed up and authorized something that should have NOT been authorized without a thorough discussion with the neighbors.

What? Code Enforcement? No, citizen abuse and dumpsters

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Who would have thought this video would touch such a nerve when we posted it in 2014. City employee Darin McDonald was fined for his dumpsters during an interesting time of property transfers in his neighborhood. Dan Daily had the SD Supreme Court declare code enforcement process in Sioux Falls unconstitutional and still has not been fixed. Cameraman Bruce was arrested for raspberries and garlic only to have the judge tell the city to leave his yard alone.
Project Trim, flowers in the boulevards, campers, grass, snow, sidewalks and so many citizen irritations caused by overzealous out of control city administrations. There are so many more and we will be highlighting them as we can get the information. If you have a story to tell, let us know. You never know what can be done.
The fallout is happening and it is filling dumpsters. South Dakota has already declared this process unconstitutional but Sioux Falls keeps doing it anyway. Testimony on Tuesday September 9, 2014 was an interesting day for the City Council of Sioux Falls SD.
During the open discussion portion of the regular council Informational session, Kermit Staggers brought up a discussion of code enforcement abuse performed by city officers on behalf of troubled neighbors. It was a good topic to bring up.
Some of the councilors did not understand why it was an issue. It seems the people being abused don’t feel their councilors care enough to help them to even ask them for help. Who is left to answer and fight for the average public? Kermit.
Michele Erpenbach and Dean Karsky decide to stick up for the mayor and his administration. Nothing new from them. Greg Jamison tries to discuss the compromise reached among the council a few years ago but they seem to have forgotten to reach out to the community, like usual.
At the Public Input portion of the regular Council meeting, Darrin McDonald had a great presentation on the city snitch program. Dumpsters, dumpsters and more dumpsters mostly owned by the city are in violation of city code. Where are the citations due the mayor, Pavilion, Sheraton?
Before the City Hall lurkers bombard us with abuse they should look at their own backsides.
The Council needs to rein in the code enforcement mess in Sioux Falls. Code enforcers are used by nasty ‘Good’ neighbors to hurt many neighbors in this best little city. Once a citizen tries to work with our code enforcement staff, they know you are a sucker, so look out. Once they know you are weak, they will find ways to abuse the law to hurt you. So look out.
Cameraman Bruce Danielson