The city is inching toward a planned purge of the island’s abandoned vehicles and assorted clutter.
The unsightly problem has been a longstanding issue in public parking spaces such as at Shoemaker Bay Harbor, with unroadworthy vehicles left there to the elements. But under municipal code junk vehicles on private property are also not allowed, and the rule extends to other collections on display deemed to be a “nuisance” by authorities. This means disused vehicles like cars and boats, rusting piles of scrap or broken equipment, and other items.
The City and Borough Assembly touched on the issue last September and in December, tasking city manager Lisa Von Bargen with raising its importance on her list of priorities. To that end, Public Works had offered incentives for scrap metal disposal and other dumping, and letters had been dispatched to 20 property owners out of compliance with municipal code and zoning.
The assembly’s stated intent was to see action by the beginning of May, and at last week’s meeting raised the issue again.
“We have given people six to eight months to work on this,” member Stephen Prysunka noted. “We offered free dump times. We’ve gone above and beyond, and I think we need to go out and start enforcing it.”
With experience in similar matters from her time in Valdez, Von Bargen has been reviewing the city’s resources and legal options, and is putting together some recommended actions. She will have a report ready for the assembly at its May 8 meeting.
“I wouldn’t say it’s on hold,” Von Bargen explained. “It’s a far more involved process than people realize.”
For one thing, she has identified some issues with Wrangell’s code itself, such as an abatement process not being clearly defined. Also, city employees cannot simply move in onto private property and clear out clutter, she explained. Depending on how far the matter goes, injunctive authority to intervene can be sought through court order. But that process takes time and expense, not to mention the unpleasantness it may bring about.
Chief Doug McCloskey of the Wrangell Police Department explained another enforcement issue with regards to junk vehicles is determining ownership, and whether the vehicle has actually been abandoned. In the case of parking lots, he said it helps when the managing department identifies which vehicles or items have been left behind for too long. They will then try to notify the owners, once determined.
“Then we’ll start issuing citations and making impoundments,” he said.
There are two considerations driving this particular initiative, Von Bargen explained. One is heading off issues with contamination, particularly as the Byford junkyard cleanup finally gets put to rest (see monofill story). While not expecting issues near to the same scale as that, she noted that a number of the island’s properties have become repositories for old vehicles, engines and parts. If not properly drained and prepared for disposal, these pose contamination issues of their own to the immediate neighborhood.
The other consideration is tourism, with the sector being a growing contributor to Wrangell’s economy. While sights like the Anan Wildlife Observatory and the Stikine River draw in visitors each year, the town’s appearance is something they also factor in to their overall experience.
However, the push is not limited to private property owners, and Von Bargen said city staff will be focusing on making sure its own facilities are up to standard as well.
Prysunka was expecting Von Bargen’s recommendations to take a phased approach to the wider cleanup, focusing on a few offenders at a time.
“I think that’s a really good approach,” he conceded. Of the members on the assembly, he has been the most vocal about the issue, and hoped to see some action taken sooner rather than later.
“I hate it when we say we’re going to do something and we don’t do anything,” he said.
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