I got busted..

[SteveJ]

New this year dogs can not be left alone in the car.

This all stems from that damn Toonses.

[dubois]

Five years ago, we were told by their "cool" mountain bike cops, to leave or else we would be given a citation. Reason, dogs are not allowed. We had Buddy on a leash and had our doggy bag handy, but not good enough. On the other hand, it seems like I can do whatever I want in Hollister, and no one cares. They have a very friendly, AND helpful planning department too. My whole 6.5 acres is my urinal, my neighbors don't complain, only my wife does.

[Rastadog]

Sounds like a win, win go outside less cleaning to do in bathroom and no seat issues. The dog thing bugs me too. Europe is so much more dog friendly.

IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y146/rastadogcdx/DSCN23230001pd.jpg[/img]

Pronto and Disco

[skipsfcr]

To quote..."NUTS!!"

Hell, down here I can drive my '49 Ford 8N tractor down the public highway burning a mix of 60% SAE 50W and 40% half rotten unleaded, no license plates or warning lights of any kind...with a sidearm on my hip and a beer in my steering hand...and I can stop on the roadside and talk to the county sherriff about his latest deer poachin' excursion.

[DukeRimmer]

Anyone want a house in santa cruz. I'm moving to Arkansas.

[boxy02]

Those letters are used to placate the people who usually have absolutely nothing else to do with their time/lives. Let me guess, the letter "strongly urged" you to get your car fixed, right? Ignore it. Drive on your merry way. This is the result of your $1.6 BILLION of annual registration fees hard at work...to "clean up" California's "smog" problem..... "Let's send some letters!", says some brilliant, domestic V8-drivin', fatass, CAQMD bureaucrat. Don't fund any mass transit system for SoCal's westside or anything....that would be too difficult, blah, blah, blah.....I hate the CAQMD, they suck.

Venting finished.

[jetboy]

I drove through arkansas twice with my old 76 - i admit I never slowed down casue I was crossing the country at the time-- and held a solid 90mph most of the way and never had to turn my wheel more than 2 degrees off center

its beautiful but flat out there-- you might miss the hills of santa cruz-

[ingraham]

but I suspect that a court would reject a suit from a person who no longer lives there, because they don't have "standing", i.e. they're not personally affected by the situation.

That is not to say public agencies are not excessively risk-averse. They are. Any time you want to get something done, make a credible threat to sue the agency.

[ingraham]

a For Sale sign on my car.

[ingraham]

I've seen grover's car in action, and it doesn't smoke all that much, and it doesn't bother me, so my comments are not about his car.

Smog regulations vary by county in California. They are more strict in areas where smog is worst (San Joaquin Valley, Bay Area, El Lay basin, etc). In rural places with favorable topology, the regs are minimal.

I'm not aware of any right in the Constitution to dump harmful gases in my fellow citizens' air, so I don't consider polluting a 'liberty'. I'm about as liberal as they come in regards to personal freedom and liberty, but I like to breathe clean air.

[jetboy]

yeah - believe me I feel like a real ass when I start smoking- i feel real bad for people behind me and pretty much try to pull over ASAP to adjust so i dont kill any bicyclist i pass.

that said, i think its the tone of the letter that you get, with the little questionaire, and the sort of condescending preaching going on in it. feck, if I didn't work at an arts non-prof id surely go spend 4k on getting a nice prefectly tuned engine in my car. -- but what can i do? it would be aswome if they used the money to help fix you car rather on an agency whose job is to nag at you.

[granth]

santa cruz. I'm moving to Arkansas

Mitch:

Even where you live? You are very much in a wide open area for CA, that is vs us track house type guys. Your place is really very nice I would kill to have the space you have.

grant

[mikeS]

I live in Saint Louis. The city told my girlfriend she couldn't keep a canoe in her yard. Also you can't store firewood, or anything else, in your yard. You can't park your car on any private land in the city that's not officially a driveway or garage...e.g. can't park in your backyard unless the city says it's really a driveway, which requires permits and all that. In fact, they are very strict about requiring permits for putting up fences. I used to live in Santa Rosa, CA, and it was a LOT easier to build a fence there than it is in Saint Louis. I even did a whole sewer hookup project myself in Santa Rosa, it required a minimal permit process. Here in St Louis I'd hate to even try to deal with the city on something like that. It's completely byzantine. In my neighborhood you're not allowed to have any truck over 1/2 ton parked on the street---dually pickups are considered commercial vehicles, and are not permitted in many neighborhoods unless they're delivering or servicing. They enforce these laws fairly strictly, meanwhile about half the town (the north side) is a war zone.

Also, the smog check in the Saint Louis area is about as much of a PIA as any I experienced in California. They check all cars back to 1978, IIRC, every other year, and it's a rigorous test. However they don't check the equipment unless you fail the sniffer test--so long as you're burning cleanly they won't look to see if your EGR is all hooked up, etc.

Mike

[JayKehoe]

when the CA. DMV began sending me letters offering to buy my old( read junk) cars for $500, just because of their age, I sent a letter demanding to know why my tax dollars were being spent to degrade and insult me and my collector cars. Ca. added another sentence in subsequent years to the annual letter: something to the effect that" this letter is not directed at any collector cars". I am sure the Ca. collector car community forced that out of them. Just remember to be careful on the Waldo grade, especially on decell, - shift into neutral and coast! until you have a valve job done. I think your smokey car sighting letter is not subject to follow up or enforcement. But, I am not sure. You could call the DMV from a payphone and ask. I am extremely careful driving a bright orange car through Marin, smoke, or no smoke. CHP patrols are heavy, especially after the grade. Good luck.