(no subject)

[ocelot]

I apologize to those of you seeing this multiple times, but at this point we're seriously concerned about our immediate safety.

Remember when the car crashed through our fence from the church parking lot next door? On two different occasions?



They just finished reconstructing the parking lot, and made it worse:



That's a slope down from the parking lot into our fence, with no barriers whatsoever.

http://www.koyoteknives.com/church/ has more details.

Comments

[tellinellen.livejournal.com]

that is INSANE. i just emailed them.

[colinwalker.livejournal.com]

You may actually want to contact the city -- building codes frequently exist which guide parking lot requirements. At the very least, you may be able to show them pictures of the two previous accidents, and explain your concerns. The church could be forced to deal with the issue.

[therealocelot.livejournal.com]

We do plan to. Our concern is that going through official channels will take a long time and may result in minimum possible compliance, whereas public opinion could potentially get faster action.

http://cityofdavis.org/cmo/citycode/detail.cfm?p=40&q=1893 is the city code. It's not totally clear to me whether they are abiding by the letter of the law or not.

B. makes it sound like the six foot high fence is their responsibility, and I believe the current fence is part of our property. In any case, while I believe it is six feet from ground level, it isn't six feet from the parking lot surface.

C - well,. it's set up to drain! And the code doesn't specify where it is supposed to drain to. Other portions of the lot are "bordered for permanence" with a concrete edge that is level with the surface of the parking lot.

I'm not sure it is possible for them to be in compliance with F, given that there are no planters in the middle portions of the parking lot, but there's also a rather broad timeframe for them to fix that.

[purdypiedad.livejournal.com]

That is just freaking amazing. Having grown up in churches, I can't imagine any of the churches I attended being so unconcerned. Peace with our neighbors was a top priority! Every church I ever attended had a parking lot with spaces facing someone's fence, and in the 28 years I attended regularly, no one ever went through a fence. There are some seriously jacked up drivers that attend this place! Regardless, had one horrible incident occurred like this, every church I've ever attended would have gone to great lengths to prevent it from ever happening again. What is wrong with these people? I am sure there are codes that are being ignored here.

[jodisue.livejournal.com]

why don't they just put those little concrete barriers in front of each space? I mean, it wouldn't solve everything, but if I were you that would give me some peace of mind.

But, who the heck is driving their car through your fence? TWICE? I mean really, that is some bad driving!

[jodisue.livejournal.com]

okay, um, nevermind, I just went and looked at the full story on your link. yikes.

[therealocelot.livejournal.com]

Actually, my worry is that they will put the little concrete barriers in place and call it done, because there were little ones there previously. They were pretty wimpy, and maybe the higher ones would have helped.

[koyote.livejournal.com]

truth is that the 6 inch high versions of the concrete barriers, combined with the slope, would almost certainly be adequate to prevent a LOW SPEED accident.

This isn't rocket science. you need 8 inch pipe, in 6 foot sections. you hammer it into the ground 3 feet deep and fill the remainder with concrete. space 6 foot on centers, or better, 4 foot on centers.

[hideousallusion.livejournal.com]

what you really need are spikes. big steel spikes, mounted in the earth at the base of your fence, pointed directly at the parked cars.

no that is an unhelpful solution. but it's what first came to mind.

i hear that the DoD has lots of Jersey Barrier lying around. CHEAP. Problem is, you have to buy such big lots of it. :)

[koyote.livejournal.com]

you have no idea how baldy I want to weld up real old school WW2 style tank traps.

[murphymom.livejournal.com]

Have you spoken with any of the other people whose homes are abutted by the parking lot? What about people who use the park? There's strength in numbers, after all, and certainly more strength when those numbers include *local* people who are as likely to suffer harm as you are. I will go to the site and express my concern, but since I'm removed from the situation, my input is not as likely to be taken seriously as that from others more "on the spot".

[barelyproper.livejournal.com]

Start filing complaints with the city. Make yourself a nuisance if you have to.