Code enforcement measures are unacceptable | Letter

Published 12:32 pm Monday, January 19, 2015

I received a notice of violation (code complaint) dated Sept. 24, 2014 for a trailer, which I own and is parked on property I own located within the city limits of Federal Way.

The complaint came from two Federal Way city employees who were supposedly assessing a stream, which runs through my property, a week or so earlier and snapped pictures of the trailer parked there.

The violation states that the trailer is occupied (it is not and never has been) and oversized. My property is two-thirds of an acre at the end of a long private dirt drive. The only way one would be able to see that trailer is by trespassing, which is what these city employees were doing. They never asked for permission from me, nor my tenants who are renting the house also located on this property, to enter the property to do the supposed stream assessment, and “no trespassing” signs are posted in two different places.

If they had asked on the premises that they were doing this stream assessment, I most likely would have said yes, as I am all for restoring the little stream, and have worked on my small section to do so. But I would not say yes now knowing they would be snapping pictures for potential code violations. This seems to be a huge violation of privacy and the right to owning property and a home.

I do not believe that this code enforcement is legitimate, two city employees (who may or may not even live in the city of Federal Way) trespassing who took some pictures. The pictures are the complaint, I asked for a copy of it.

There is no signed complaint, only the pictures they took, and I am fairly certain that those city employees, regardless of what city they live in, can’t see that trailer from their house so it isn’t hurting them in any way shape or form. In fact, this trailer is not affecting or hurting anyone. So this simply makes this complaint an act of maliciousness, and I would certainly hope that city employees would not be participating in such a thing, but apparently they are.

Additionally, this strikes me as a huge waste of city resources, as continuing on with this enforcement action serves no purpose whatsoever, other than to harass me. I would really like to see my tax dollars (city employee time) put to much better use than to harass someone over a trailer potentially oversized that no one can see, unless they do indeed trespass.

There are oversized trailers and motor homes parked all over the city of Federal Way, clearly viewable from city streets. Will a city employee be driving around snapping pictures of all of these trailers and motor homes and issuing complaints based on those pictures? Or is it just me and my trailer they find offensive?

And how far will the city take this “proactive” approach to code enforcement, next knocking on doors to look around inside your house for potential violations?

I believe we need to stop these invasive and atrocious actions before they go any further. We need to protect our rights as private property owners and as taxpayers. I am told these actions are condoned and even encouraged by Mayor Jim Ferrell.

I believe we all need to tell Ferrell that city employees trespassing, snapping pictures and then issuing code violations, is really unacceptable and seems to be even a misuse of city funds. And that trespassing is illegal, even for those who work for the city. To voice your opinion, you may contact the mayor at 253-835-2402.

Lynda Myra, Federal Way