This little boy already missed out on driving through Main Street on grandpa’s lap, but guess what he’ll miss out on now? Well, if he lives in Fairfax, California he may miss out on washing the family car. While he might not complain about it, a recent proposition might have him sipping an over-sweetened coffee flavored slushy while he and grandpa are forced to pay somebody else to perform the soapy labor (at least that’s what I see going on when you pay to have somebody wash your car).
Anyhow, here’s the full story as reported from KGO on October 1st, 2007. This one will have you asking… What’s next?
For all the big debates about the environment and global warming, there are small ones, as well. Consider the town of Fairfax in Marin County. Residents are looking hard at a proposal some say violates a basic right — to wash your car in your front yard.
It is the kind of environmental debate you’re likely to find only in a mostly affluent community.
One resident asks, “do you save the fish or wash your car?”
It’s the debate du jour in Marin County’s Fairfax. There’s a town council proposal to ban residents from washing their cars in front of their houses, for fear of what the runoff may do to fish in their creeks, and downstream in the ocean.
“I think that the spirit of the ordinance is a good one,” says Lew Tremaine with the Fairfax town council.
“Well we have a strategic plan that has been intended to make sure that we go green as fast as we can on a lot of levels. This is just another one of those levels,” says Vice Mayor Mary-Ann Maggiore.
Fairfax has already banned pesticides, styrofoam and plastic bags. This ordinance would empower police to write tickets in extreme cases.
“They would probably just issue them a warning and that would be an opportunity to educate the person,” says Lindy Kelly, town manager.
In reality, most parties expect some kind of compromise like biodegradable soaps, for instance. However, those would not spare the environment from all the all other stuff soap would remove, and the nearest full-service car wash is three miles down the road in San Rafael.
A car wash is a closed system. All the soap, all the grime, goes into a drain and then it’s reused.
Don’t you just LOVE California? The NANNY State. In Santa Ana Calif. it is illegal to have a FOR SALE sign on your car.
By Squido W Cash. May 4th, 2008 at 11:37 pmAnd, are you gearheads ready for this? It is illegal to CRUISE in your beloved car. More than two times in a given hour, past the same check point and you are BUSTED. Isn’t that why we buy these cars? Go figure.
this is soo stupid! if it isnt one thing its another. people always complain about something. now washing your own cars going to be illegal? thats stupid. there are way more important thing going on, that kill the environment, then washing your car. what about the oil spills that happend every year where millions of gallons of oil get dumped and end up with the whole ecosystem looking like the cast of “grease?” im glad i live in seattle washington. we dont have the “terminator” tryna terminate our muscle cars and have us all driving toyota prius’. and if i had one id still put a big block chevy in it! instead of crying about people washing off the crap we pick up driving our cars every day, we should focus on the coal plants and every other plant thats dumping all that smog into the atmosphere. people need to stop looking for the next scape goat and start looking at the major causes. and ill still wash my car even if that law creeps up here, thats what midnight is for haha!!
By seattle jay. December 21st, 2007 at 11:44 pmLet’s put a few things in perspective. I live in Fairfax. I own a 65 convertible Mustang that I love to wash in my driveway with my 6-year-old son. Almost as much as I love to walk 50 yards from my driveway to watch Salmon swim up the narrow creek in the spring.
What’s missing from this story is that Fairfax is tucked back into a major watershed, where almost all of the houses are built on hillsides that drain into narrow creeks. It’s one of the last places around where steelhead and coho salmon spawn–and it’s basically on life-support. Salmon numbers have been in steep decline for years–which means the watershed will die and fishermen will have nothing to catch.
What’s also misrepresented in the story is the availability of car washes. Yes, the nearest *full-service* car wash is three miles away, but there’s a *self-service* car wash right in downtown Fairfax. Wonder why they left that out.
I love washing my car with my kid. But not half as much as living in the middle of nature where my kid can play on the banks of a creek and watch steelhead swim in the shallows. If I need to wash my car somewhere else to preserve that, I will in a heartbeat.
And by the way, it’s not the dirt that comes off your car that I’m worried about. It’s the solvents in the soaps designed to cut through oil and tar and road grime.
By Chris. December 6th, 2007 at 8:09 amand what do these people think happens when it rains?
By Brian. October 16th, 2007 at 3:20 amFollow the money. There is almost always some lobbying involved in measures like this. Often those folks in office have never washed their own car.
By Fred Garvin. October 15th, 2007 at 8:25 amThey reuse the grime?
By Cleveland_Rocks. October 14th, 2007 at 6:23 pmNo big deal really,we’re not even allowed to wash our cars with water restrictions here and they encourage 4 minute showers as well.
By Gregaust. October 9th, 2007 at 3:46 amYou know what I used to do, I parked my car on the grass and wash it there. Guess what Ive yet to see the grass turn yellow or brown. So it cant be all that bad.
By John. October 8th, 2007 at 1:01 pmJust another example of ultra-ecology that is so prevalent in Northern California. In Socal we lag behind somewhat on this nonsense, but it’s still a “people last” kind of environment.
By Larry. October 8th, 2007 at 7:38 amA few months ago I got BUSTED fer having the axles out of my truck, I had 10 days to put them back in and demonstrate to the cops that the truck could start and drive 2 feet foreward and 2 feet backward……
By gchero351. October 7th, 2007 at 9:44 pmGood thing my car is in primer. Gets dirty, just repaint.
However, if I had a ride with a mult-thousand dollar paint job on it I would not take it to the local car wash. And I would be plenty pissed to learn I couldn’t even use a “friendly” soap.
I like the environment as much as the next human, but this tree hugging has to have a happy medium somewhere.
I forsee clandestine late night backyard carwashes, events similar to street racing. Probably have the same penalties, wash your car and have it impounded for illegal rinsing.
By Murff. October 7th, 2007 at 4:54 pmYes, California is always on the leading edge–of Bolshevism. Just another diversion.
By John. October 7th, 2007 at 4:12 pmThere is nothing on your car that is not on the road anyway. Which ends up in the sewer when it rains.
Land of the free, Me thinks not. Then again, There is always your back yard!!
By Wildo. October 7th, 2007 at 3:33 pm