Court hears Riverside vs. Ralph and Jan Schnoebelen

The City of Riverside has taken Ralph and Jan Schnoebelen to court over alleged nuisance violations. Magistrate Judge Daniel Kitchen heard arguments from both sides Thursday morning. Kitchen ruled that the Schnoebelens would have to pay a civil penalty of $100. Kitchen said the Schnoebelens have until Aug. 15 to clean up the pallets, barrels and scrap iron on their property. The Schnoebelens were represented by Jeffrey Powell and the city was represented by its attorney, Les Lamping. In an interview Friday morning, Ralph said he and his wife had not yet decided whether they would appeal the decision.

Legal proceedings began in December when Lamping issued a citation to the Schnoebelens, alleging they had violated the city?s code of ordinances. The Schnoebelens own property at 450 E. Fourth St. in Riverside. Lamping?s citation stated that the Schnoebelens were guilty of eight separate nuisance violations, which included unstacked and uncovered tires stored outdoors, visibly empty pallets, barrels and scrap iron, unsecured LP tanks, and structural problems with the warehouse located north of the Schnoebelens? personal residence and west of Ralph?s implement business.

By the time of Thursday?s hearing, the prosecution had dropped six of the eight violations from its list. Lamping said that five of the eight had been taken care of, and one of the violations ? inadequate containment of fuel leakage ? was judged to be an issue for the Department of Natural Resources and not the City of Riverside. However, the City maintained that the Schnoebelens had not removed all empty pallets, barrels and scrap iron from their property, nor had they repaired the roof to the warehouse.

The prosecution called four witnesses to testify ? Riverside City Administrator Tina Thomas, Riverside City Councilor Kevin Kiene, Riverside Mayor Brian McDole and Riverside Building Inspector Terry Goerdt.

Thomas testified that the Schnoebelens were sent a nuisance letter on May 27, 2010. She said the letter was sent through certified mail, but that the Schnoebelens refused to pick up their mail, so it had to be delivered through the Sheriff?s Office.

The city council held a public hearing outside the Schnoebelens? property on July 13 to discuss the alleged nuisances. Thomas took photos of the property at the conclusion of that hearing and then she and the council met in the council chambers to discuss the matter further. Schnoebelen was absent from that meeting. The council passed a series of motions that required Schnoebelen to abate specific nuisances on his property, such as covering the tires left outdoors that do not have a rim, labeling the oil tanks, securing the LP gas tanks, stacking the wheel weights and removing the batteries, barrels, pallets, and scrap iron from public view. The council sent the Schnoebelens a letter on July 16 which contained the specific nuisances the council wanted to be abated.

Ralph Schnoebelen took the stand to testify. On direct examination, Ralph explained that he runs a retail store next to his house at which he sells farm implements. He said he rebuilds farm equipment using parts from other machines. Ralph said he uses scrap metal ?all the time? by converting it into a usable piece of equipment.

Ralph said that, twice a year, he puts his scrap metal on a trailer and hauls it to another city such as Muscatine. He said he stores the metal out of public view. He said he places wooden pallets under his equipment so the equipment is out of the dirt.

Ralph said Thursday morning that he did everything the council asked of him by November 2010. Ralph said he met with Goerdt that month and discussed the Schnoebelens? warehouse. Ralph said the warehouse, which was once a house, hadn?t been used since 1985, and all the utilities had been shut off with the exception of electricity outside the warehouse which the Schnoebelens still use. Ralph said he was ?shocked? to receive the citation from the city in December.

Powell asked Ralph if he has taken care of the ?empty pallets, barrels and scrap iron,? the city claims are still there. Ralph said he stores the pallets in the back of his business among trees so no one can see them.

?We have some pallets stacked around the lot where they?re handy to get to with a skid loader when we need to use them,? said Ralph.

Powell asked Ralph, ?Do you have barrels that are worthless and just need to be taken to the garbage??

?No,? said Ralph. ?We have barrels down in the field that are recycled. We?ve usually got them stored in boxes or on pallets. We do give out barrels to customers because we recycle used oil all the time. Our empty barrels are all stored down there.?

Powell asked, ?Do you have scrap iron sitting around for no apparent reason??

?Not really,? said Ralph. ?There are some items that we will probably scrap. We have stuff piled up that is going to get hauled to the recycler.?

Ralph said he put asphalt shingles on the warehouse roof. Goerdt said during his testimony that the warehouse appears to have more than three layers of shingles on it, which is more than what the building code allows.

Ralph said gray squirrels have torn holes in the roof, creating leaks into the attic. He said he had half of a nearby tree cut down so the squirrels couldn?t get on the roof so easily.

On cross examination, Lamping asked Ralph a series of questions about specific nuisances on his property documented by photographs taken in the last two months.

?Is there an abandoned IH truck on your property?? asked Lamping.

?It?s not abandoned. My son plans to fix it up,? said Ralph.

?The license plate says 1986.?

?I don?t know. I haven?t looked at it since last year.?

?And there?s a flatbed semi out there with headlights busted out??

?That?s my implement truck. Someone with a BB gun did that last year. And it runs. You can go down and fire it up if you want to.?

?Even with the flat tire??

?It doesn?t have a flat tire.?

?We?ll let the pictures speak for themselves.?

Lamping directed Ralph?s attention to a photo of stoves sitting outside his business.

?What part of your ag business are those stoves for?? asked Lamping.

?Those are personal. I think they came from St. Mary?s church,? said Ralph.