At Home Mechanic

If you have derelict cars strewn across you property maybe you are not helping your standing in the community. If you are pounding out body dents late at night or early in the morning you may not be winning any friends amongst your neighbors. If you are testing reaction and 60-foot times in the street in front of your house, you are probably not going to make the local residents happy. Our actions do have an impact upon how we are seen by others.

A man's home is his castle, which is the English Common Law tenet that implies that each homeowner is the master of his domain. How a property owners uses his property is solely up to him, right? Not always. Without going into long and boring discussions about the legal findings on the topic, suffice it to say there are some very clear laws regarding Eminent Domain and Community Standards in the United States and they can be applied to property owners whose use of their property is not up to some set of standards. If you are sloppy about how you store and work on your cars, you could invite unwelcome attention from the local authorities.

I love my cars and I enjoy the time I spend in the garage working on a variety of Do It Yourself (DIY) projects. But I am also aware that my neighbors may not share my enthusiasm for old cars. That is why I make sure that my "project" cars are kept well out of sight until they are ready to be displayed on the street. I have torn a car completely down to its frame, sold off the parts that I did not want and have the hulk towed away without my neighbors knowing I had a junker on my property. I do all of my work on my cars during reasonable business hours, never early or late at night, and I keep dismantled cars in the garage well away from public view.

When I test my cars, I drive cautiously and courteously from my neighborhood. It is not until I reach a highway that I reach highway speeds. And I do not rev my exhaust where the local folks can hear and take offense.

I know that the value on my neighbor's home is dependent on the manner in which I keep my home. If my neighbor spends time and money to turn his house into a showplace, my house will drag his house's value down if I do not keep my home in a presentable manner. And this works in reverse as well; if my home is freshly painted and my garden is neatly trimmed, a dumpy house next door to me drags my property values down.

I have no sympathy for some in the auto hobby who claim to have the right to keep "parts cars" in full view of the public or operate their garage as long and loud as if it were a commercial establishment. We live in a society of cooperation; I try to be a good citizen by not offending my neighbors with my cars, my noise or my driving.