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Idling Ordinance
updated: Sep 03, 2012, 3:04 PM

By Edhat Subscriber

Is there an idling ordinance in SB? the neighbor behind me fires up his old truck whenever he feels like it, flooring it and revving it up to keep it idling, sometimes as long as 2 hours. It fills my house with horrible fumes that give me a headache. I can't escape. We asked him about six months ago to let us know when he's going to do this so we can close our windows, but he never has given us any warning.

Comments in order of when they were received | (reverse order)

COMMENT 315634	2012-09-03 03:15 PM
Maybe you've complained once too many times and he's doing this to teach you a lesson? Have you given him a reason in the past not to like you? Are you the neighborhood complainer? Once you upset your neighbors with petty stuff, they can and will make your life a living hell.
COMMENT 315638	2012-09-03 03:19 PM
The only idling law that I know of is state law pertaining to diesel engine idling. With that said I suggest that you send your neighbor a nice letter via certified mail explaining your concern and asking him to move his truck out towards the street when running his engine. At the bottom of the letter show a cc to the city administrator. Just be sure the letter is nice and polite. The next time he runs his truck near your house videorecord the incident and file a complaint with the city. The certified letter and video will demonstrate your efforts to resolve the situation and your neighbor's rudeness.
COMMENT 315653	2012-09-03 03:35 PM
This may be considered a private nuisance under California law, that is, the fumes are preventing you from the comfortable enjoyment of your property. This area of the law can get complicated, however, so I would advise talking it over with your neighbor first in a calm way without threats. A neighbor may be reluctant to co-operate if they feel that complying will open a pandoras box of future complaints about everything and anything, or if they are the recalcitrant type, or if they are the dominant type, meaning if they cave in they 'lose' and you 'win'. IOW black and white thinkers. If you get nowhere, seek the advise of a competent tort law attorney. Don't just put up with it unless you think it's temporary like the guy is restoring the vehicle, etc. Look for a common ground, but if it's not gonna happen, don't waste time worrying about how to get him to see the light. Move on a complaint or temporary restraining order, as a last resort.
COMMENT 315658	2012-09-03 03:43 PM
Don't mess around with this guy. Call police, tell them you have asked him nicely (and exactly what you said). They will tell him to knock it off. If you have to call again, do it. No matter what time of day or night. Police will back you up on this. Sometimes one visit from police will take care of problem. I know the tour buses at Amtrak station had to stop their idling for long periods of time ----years ago. Also call people at Air Pollution Control District. Nice people. They may be able to help you. This is an air pollution and health concern, most definitely. I am so sorry you have to deal with this. Sometimes being nice gets you nowhere. Maybe you could talk with his landlord? If he's a renter, you could get him in all kinds of trouble. Look up landlord's info/phone # through County Records. You shouldn't have to suffer like this. Do it for your health.
COMMENT 315667	2012-09-03 03:54 PM
Yes, there is a limit how long one can idle or run a generator in their RV. Check out the SB Municipal Code online at the city website and look under either Zoning Ordinances or Transportation.
COMMENT 315672	2012-09-03 04:08 PM
I've been idling for years now, with no complaints from anyone but my wife. This is not a major problem.
COMMENT 315693	2012-09-03 05:19 PM
As usual from the edhat community - Comments from one end of the sprectrum to the other...with only one funny one. C'mon, you edhat people, bust out the funny ones, this one is so ripe for that.
COMMENT 315699	2012-09-03 05:37 PM
OP here. Thanks for the responses. I think we will give him our phone numbers again -- maybe he lost the piece of paper we gave him last time-- and ask him politely again for some warning. Then we'll try some of these other suggestions.
COMMENT 315712	2012-09-03 05:52 PM
634 wants to blame the person who is being affected by someone else's awful behavior? Typical. There IS an idling ordinance and there is a law against noise and environmental pollution.
COMMENT 315715	2012-09-03 05:55 PM
All I can say is "WOW!" This forum sure illustrates what kind of people this down has been reduced to.
COMMENT 315735	2012-09-03 06:15 PM
I agree this reflects poorly on SB. When I was a kid growing up in town, people would work on their cars, let them run idle, fix carburetors and tune-up their cars in their garages and even burn leaves in incinerators on burn days. Nobody complained. Now someone eats a burrito and releases methane and three neighbors are ready to call the police and another is ready to call the mayor's office.
COMMENT 315746	2012-09-03 06:30 PM
Geez too many hall monitor soccer moms in town now. Can't do anything here without someone calling the cops or a lawyer.
COMMENT 315747	2012-09-03 06:33 PM
Another idea is to talk to someone (friend, relative)? who has training in psychology to get tips on the best way to approach the person. I've been irritated by (different) neighbors' kids banging on drums (when they were not taking lessons), leaving dogs to bark all day, and loud parties. I've tried various methods of complaining. Some failed dismally, and made the situation worse, and some worked eerily well. The difference is getting in the head of the person. My most recent complaint was to people whose dog barks ALL the time when I come in or out of my house. Now, they ask for advice any time they have a dog question. They did not realize I was complaining. Voila!
COMMENT 315762	2012-09-03 07:27 PM
When my engine idles for a while my wife loves it. She knows its ready to blow
COMMENT 315776	2012-09-03 08:19 PM
I don't care what people did when they were growing up here, it's long been against the law to work on a car on a city street, or to be a noise or pollution nuisance or hazard. Just because you got away with it once or twice in the "olden days" doesn't guarantee you weren't breaking the law or that someone was irritated by you but never said anything. What reflects badly upon SB is the ill-will constantly displayed here in comments when someone simply has a question about a legitimate issue they are having in their neighborhood.
COMMENT 315814	2012-09-04 06:38 AM
I sure as hell wouldn't want my house filled w/ exhaust from an old truck for hours .... I'd be willing to bet all of the people making smart a** comments behind their computers wouldn't want that either. Lets be real here.... Hope your problem gets solved, bad neighbors are the WORST.
COMMENT 315825P	2012-09-04 07:18 AM
634 Jumping to conclusions, are we? You know the OP I take it? I lived over a garage years ago and the property owner used to start his car up first thing and let it idle for only 15 minutes, by which time we were choking on the fumes. Can't imagine truck fumes for two hours - that's unhealthy. Good luck!
COMMENT 315835	2012-09-04 07:34 AM
@315634 Thanks for sharing, and giving us such insight into the criminal mind.
COMMENT 315837	2012-09-04 07:36 AM
I think I'm going to go out and work on my car all day, and I dare one of you nimby's to say a word about it.
COMMENT 315851P	2012-09-04 08:07 AM
A midnight touch of Karo syrup in the gas tank will take care of that problem.
COMMENT 315864	2012-09-04 08:51 AM
My neighbor used to idle his Harley for an hour before he rode. It does get on ones nerve. Same neighbor left her bright light on all night. Thank goodness they just moved! I feel your pain. No suggestions as I tried and failed just support.
COMMENT 315882	2012-09-04 09:20 AM
837: Idling a car for an hour is not the same as working on it. I'm saying this as a guy who used to work on my car all day. OP: There is no reason to idle a car for an hour, he's doing it to be a jerk. Kindly ask him not to do so, if it doesn't stop, report it to the cops.
COMMENT 315886	2012-09-04 09:29 AM
Antiestablishmentarianism is SB's worst quality. Not sure why there is so much concentration of it here. Maybe because life if easy and petty rebellions give a sense of purpose or an excuse to keep doing nothing.
COMMENT 315906	2012-09-04 10:26 AM
Against the law to work on a car in the street, huh? Isn't that where a car is most likely to break down? And if something simple is needed (that I can do and save money on a mechanic) on my car in front of my own house then Great Balls of NIMBY, I am going to fix it! We slave until the sweat beads off of our foreheads to afford to live here and then there are nincompoops and busy-body nimbys telling us what we can and cannot do at our own home... No way Jose.
COMMENT 315917	2012-09-04 10:59 AM
906, it is illegal to work on a car in the street. Look it up. The street is not considered "your home", that is what your driveway is for. And putting a new battery in is NOT the same as doing maintenance on your vehicle. Just as you have the right to work on your car in your driveway, so does someone else have the right to leave their windows open on their house without breathing in your car's exhaust.
COMMENT 315965	2012-09-04 12:30 PM
This is what happens when you start to cram more and more people into the small lots and houses where most of us live. My fun time started with a hardly-working hard-drinking neighbor who decided to barbeque every night on his sidewalk 5 ft from my bedroom window, with the fumes funneled into our house from the prevailing winds. I put up with it until he got the Tiki torches (kerosene) and chiminea and started burning them all night long. Talking didn't help, and we wound up in court where due to his illegal retaliation actions he was legally restrained from barbequeing on my side of the property. He was not happy but moved soon after. But had he not started burning illegal stuff on his barbeque, there was very little that could be done. The Air Board doesn't have any rules against recreational burning or other actions that are not commercial or industrial in nature. The cops couldn't do anything but try to mediate. In hindsight I should have moved.
COMMENT 315970	2012-09-04 12:44 PM
965 - I would've bought one of those giant industrial fans that move masses amounts of air and pointed it straight over the fence. haha. what a jerk. sorry you had to endure that.
COMMENT 316026	2012-09-04 02:50 PM
917, you're absolutely right that one has the right to work on their car in their driveway. This is the diposition of private property, on private property. It's the most basic exercise of property rights. You overreach though, by saying that someone else has the "right" to leave their windows open without breathing exhaust in the air. There may be a violation of an idling ordnance or other law being broken, but this should not be mistaken as an affirmative right of the OP to have only clean and quiet air enter their house. Does this right apply to people in SB but not in LA? Hopefully, the OP and the neighbor can resolve this like civil adults. I can't imagine ever having a need to idle a vehicle for 2 hours.
COMMENT 316048	2012-09-04 03:27 PM
I had a guy at C street idle his car parked next to mine while we both watched the surf. he idled for about fifteen minutes as I had to breathe the fumes before I asked him if he would mind shutting off his motor. He went off on me on a tangent about how people surf C street that aren't even from here and that the cost of parking is going to go up because of people like me. I was like, uh, how do you know I don't live here? He stared blankly and put it in reverse.
COMMENT 316082	2012-09-04 04:35 PM
You do not mention if he is in the car while idling it or not and where it is being run. If it were on the street and unattended while running that is a violation of the vehicle code. Also there may be some recourse from the APCD due to the long length of time it is idling and whether he is working on it. Any garage that idles a car while working on it is required to comply with certain ventilation requirements for safety sake.
AUNTIE S.	2012-09-04 05:12 PM
That's right 634. Blame the victim. And yes!672 for the win.

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