Once a year I have to deal with a few rude and inconsiderate people that will block my driveway and walk across my lawn. My neighbor plays Santa for neighborhood. Granted, it’s just a few out of anywhere from 600-1000 people that will stop by to visit with Santa. Perhaps the visitors are caught up in the moment and are not thinking about the consequences of their actions, when they park where ever they find a spot. They usually have a car full of kids that are anxious to see Santa. Since it’s only once a year, I’m much more tolerant.
I mention my parking dilemma because it’s sounds like that might be the real issue going on out in San Diego. Seems there might be a few inconsiderate people that don’t think about the consequences of where they park their cars at. The local news stories that I watched last night showed the neighborhood and the house being located on a cul-de-sac. The real problem here was all the cars and how they were parking. There were legitimate concerns about EMS services not being able to make it into the cul-de-sac. And that is the issue that should have been addressed.
The San Diego County officials should have cited the parking issues but instead they brought religion into it. A code enforcement officer warned the couple in April for holding a “religious assembly†without a permit. What was going on inside private property should not have been the issue at all. It should have been all the cars on the street. Was Pastor David Jones warned about the cars? Why did religion even have to come into play?
Chandra Wallar, the county’s general manager of land use and environment, said “the county was not targeting the Joneses because they were exercising their religion, but rather it was trying to address parking and traffic issues.” Well then, don’t bring religion into it. Address the real issue. Did the enforcement officer witness the alleged 30 to 40 cars that had been complained about? Did the pastor ask his visitors to be considerate of his neighbors and maybe consider carpooling or parking outside the cul-de-sac?
Where was common courtesy and respect for other people’s property in all this? Where was the Golden Rule that I hope this pastor preached about? And why on earth did the County of San Diego have to bring religion into this? Obviously, someone did not realize that a written warning that citing “unlawful use of land,” ordering them to either “stop religious assembly or apply for a major use permit,” was going to cause quite a stir. Now the County of San Diego finds itself doing some serious back-peddling.
To the County of San Diego, the world is now watching you. God is watching you.