My car project days may be coming to a pause

It has been a struggle being the only car guy in the block.

My neighbor who has always been mean to me came over this morning and accused me of running a business from our house and dumping chemicals ! When you peek into our backyard past a 6ft gate, what you see it trucks taken apart. I have never dumped chemicals. All the oil is recycled properly at my neighborhood lube shop. Now when I do wash old parts (greasy car parts, etc) some of the residue etc inevitably is low level stuff that ends up in the drain.

This morning I was pressure washing the outside of the old gas tank (little to no gas), skid plate, filler tubes and I suppose that was too much for him and that’s the last straw. He is reporting me.

I suppose this is where it all ends until we move one day and live on more acreage !

Was curious if I’m alone or other have similar troubles here

Bummer!  Maybe whomever he reports you to won't stop you?  Maybe there's no problem, or one that you can easily fix?

number one! I have never owned a property with an HOA.  second, I am very conscious about oil spills. it's just me. but I work in my yard. I always have. the most issue I have ever had was noise complaints. hey this can get loud. I had a close neighbor, driveways parallel but 40 ft apart. I tried to be noisy during the day while she was at work. but if she was at home while I was welding/grinding she would just sit on the side of her house facing me and complain. "he's always grinding".  

He is probably going to report to the city.

But it was my wife thats more frustrated. She grew up on a farm on many acres and city living has been stressful already for her. She has always warned me that I was drawing unwanted attention with my hobbies and told me if I had to do this anymore that we would need to move out and live on a farm.

We don't have an HOA just the City. I live in a neighborhood where 90% of the homes have no tools in the garage, yard maintenance, and everything is outsourced. The garages are spotless and mine is a mechanic's den so I just don't fit in.

I always dispose of waste properly, but when you are power washing greasy parts/ones exposed to gasoline it comes out looking all brown and bad and gets tricky. I use a household degreaser sometimes.

Overall, some neighbors just don't like mechanic habits and think of us as nuisance.

not fitting in should be a badge of honor. society does not like success stories too familiar. much easier to accept one's own shortfalls that way. mythical creatures on tv/ internet are inspiring but a brother-in-law with a better job is just showing off. the dualities in our country are shameful. I sold the subdivision home almost two years ago where I built many custom bullnose trucks. now I'm out on a country road and don't give a damn. a well-cared for lawn, nice landscaping, and if the weather is nice the garage door is open while I make noise. even if it is just Ozzy Osborne from the stereo.

Yes indeed. I have been looking for reasons to move into a rural county and enjoy serenity!!

I live in proper Dallas and currently have a less than 10 min commute to my workplace and THAT IS REALLY NICE!! That is the only part I would miss if I moved.

All other neighbors are understanding and nice, especially the folks I've helped out with their car issues.

I helped a friend today replace his front passenger window glass on his 2015 Jeep on my driveway. He appreciated having me as a friend I'm sure.

Sounds like you may need to report a nuisance neighbor. If they continue to harass you, turn the tables on them and report them for harassment.

I once had neighbors across the street that lived higher up on a hill and could see right into my backyard. The only issue I had was with them seeing my expensive tools being used and possibly leading to break-ins and thefts due to their previous criminal histories. I installed a taller fence that blocks them out for the most part which helps my peace of mind. I don't know if you have privacy fencing installed, but if not, it may help your situation.

One issue we may face in the future is drone usage. Nosy neighbors may start to fly drones over our houses to get a better view of what they view as "illegal activities". Unfortunately drone laws are lax in many places and have some catching up to do in order to prevent misuse by neighborhood justice warriors.

Thanks for providing your experience and I do agree that may be a good defensive strategy. Yes I have a motorized gate that blocks everything from view, so I really do not know what his problem is.

the thought of drones makes me here someone off in the background saying "pull".

I am going to definitely file a complaint for harassment. I can think of the reasons why he is so mad and has been finding a reason to 'get' me.

I recall the one time he had a pool party a few years ago and we were building a dresser for our son involving a lot of time at the planer, jointer, miter saw, table saw. He could not report me because I was not violating the noise ordinance in the middle of the day.

Now if I was operating a 'business' he might have a way to get me. I think that is the angle he will probably report me. If I was running a business, it would be a terrible one that lost a lot of my savings to Amazon, RockAuto, Home Depot, and Harbor Freight

I want to definitely setup a culture in my house where my kids grow up to be handy and fend for themselves. This guy is part of the reason why a lot of skill and aptitude in manufacturing has left the country because the younger generation is increasingly dependent on outsourced labor.

If he runs the "business" angle and you can prove you're a hobbyist and operating within normal noise ordinance, he really doesn't have a leg to stand on. But people like him tend to have nothing better to do, so if they shrug him off, he'll just likely keep trying. That's why you unfortunately have to file a complaint against him, because that's the only way to eventually have him stopped for repeat offenses.

Agreed

sometimes you need to fend for yourself on paper too. better a documented dispute than a one side series of complaints. but prepare for scrutiny.

Yeah agree, ok to accept scrutiny.

The only area where the city can possibly get me is I bought and sold well over the acceptable limit in 2022 without a dealers license, but using a dealer/broker. All of these purchases were hail damaged vehicles from auction to help out friends/family members buy vehicles during the covid crisis. They were purchased through a dealer/broker. All of the vehicles were titled in my name before transferring them to the friends/family. Proud to say I've never floated a title.

an expensive hobby is one thing. unless you are showing a taxable profit on a slew of vehicles that you sold on the open market. having advertised them etc. I would think you would be fine. there is no law that I know of regarding how many vehicles you can buy. there may be ordinances about how many vehicles on a property, roadside parking having them registered and so on. I am not a lawyer, and venues change so check locally for specifics.

I wish I made a profit! All the ones sold to family/friends were sold at cost. The ones I did end up selling after my "that would be cool to try' were sold at break-even or a loss. Thats what I like about auctions is you can try some unique low-mileage vehicles and not break the bank while selling.

The only vehicles I did profit some was in selling Bullnoses (~3 of them), and that's because I got them pretty cheap non-running and got them to be daily drivers, so a lot of sweat and rarely blood when I got smacked with a wrench that one time laying under the truck. I had to tell my son that the truck 'bit me'.. haha