The City of Santa Fe is getting ready to go after junk vehicles in neighborhoods.
A bill was introduced at Wednesday’s Governing Board meeting that updates the city’s ordinance to clear up ambiguity and what constitutes a “junk” vehicle that needs to be removed from public view.
Councilor Carol Romero-Wirth is a cosponsor of the legislation.
She says they saw a rash of complaints from residents who asked the city for action.
“Constituent services received 183 unslightly yard or nuisance blighted property complaints through the CRM (Constituent Request Manager) system in one 12 month period from April 2020 to April 2021,” she said. “Many of these complaints are related to junk vehicles, unruly parking, debris, litter, and other kinds of blight that create eyesores for neighbors and depreciate housing values.”
Mayor Alan Webber and Councilors Signe Lindell and Michael Garcia are the bill’s cosponsors.
The proposed changes include defining a junk vehicle as one that is not legally operable and has been in public view for more than 90 days.
Collectors can keep one vehicle on site, but tarps, trees or shrubs can’t be used as a covering.
The fines would be up to 100 dollars a day.