I've been known to get my rotors turned while the truck waits in the oriley parking lot.... Also spent a few days at the af inn while i worked on my truck at the auto hobby shop...

Now if you're pulling a Bruce jenner, or swapping a head gasket in the parking lot of the auto parts store. You have bigger problems, but least you're smart enough to get the stuff done....

Touché! But working on your car is an eyesore.

Funny thing is, the schitshow in the parking lot next to AZ, was adjacent to the other pictured schitshow. It's bad in Austin Texas, total schitshow all around. The local government invited all of it.

I should have taken pictures.

I live in a nice neighborhood for a reason. The same reason others here live here and we do have a HOA that will not put up with long term parking in the street. Park in your garage, or in your driveway. Of course if you have guests they can park in the street for a few days. No big deal.

I did a recent oil change, brake fluid change, and valve adjustment on my 911. A pro could have done it all in 1/2 a day. It took me three days, because I was not in a hurry, and I had the car parking in my garage, on the scissor lift.

I would have to say that owning a scissor lift is a tool most people don't have, and I have several torque wrenches, and an air compressor and air tools. I only work on my cars. No one else can afford my prices. I would not do a 911 valve adjustment for less that 10 grand if it was not my car.

Lots of people with a hobby have items that the average guy does not have. Apply that to model trains, model airplanes, Roman coin collecting, or skydiving. It is a term that is very vague.

I have zero worries that I will ever face restrictions on working on MY cars. Heck finding a guy to align my El Camino was a challenge. The tire shops might get a sort of alignment, but it is unlikely to be right. I had to ask a lot of friends to find "the guy" that is the old grey that knows Chevy G body alignment and how to do it right.

Reminds me of this commercial.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/R8-9oIq1hxw" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

There is a balance to these things. Nobody wants a full time shop next to their family abode but the rights of home-owners and/or small service businesses (both cottage industry and mobile repair) must be taken into consideration as well. Of course the political swings are massive and rules will always be tested and a poor economy just adds fuel to the fire of the situation.

There are already code enforcement and noise laws against running a business in certain zoned areas.
(A HS friend on the edge of town once had too many cars in his rural yard, shady tree stuff, and the city made him move them,)

Why not enforce those existing laws instead of creating new draconian ones?
Give warnings and allow for neighborhood review.
City government should be supporting it's citizens. Not being against them.

Certainly a neighborhood zoned as single family residences should NOT have a automotive repair shop in it unless the repair shop was there before the neighborhood.

That is a far cry from the article saying people can't repair their very own cars in their own garage. I would be upset if someone did an LS swap in their own 67 Camaro in the driveway of my neighborhood. If they did it in their garage, no big deal as long as it is the homeowners car.

I replaced the worn out 305 in my El Camino after 300,000 miles with a new crate 350 in my garage. I did it over the long Thanksgiving weekend and I closed the garage door every night so the place looked 100% normal. I did have to open the garage doors to actually pull the old engine and stab in the new engine. No one cared at all.

There are ways to shut down backyard shops- whether it's for operating without a business license, for-pay mechanical repair in a residential area or EPA violations it's easy to do.

Take this for what it is: A war against the automobile and you.

Oh the state of CA is so compassionate...

I was actually a bit shocked by this statement from yourself of all people.
Do you live in a HOA-controlled gated community?

Who owns that driveway? And who up-keeps and pays taxes on it? Yer gDamn right. And plenty of it.

I do make noise but keep it to a minimum and usually weekday working hours.
If a neighbor said to take it easy I probably would gladly.
Meanwhile their dogs bark 24/7. I don't complain about their illegal signage or B&B guests. Now get off my lawn.

Waiting for Thom to comment. I enjoy/respect his take on stuff like this.

*eatingpopcornemoji*

auto shops don't belong in residential zoning; they do belong in areas zoned for them

Take this for what it is: A regulation against pollution, hazardous wastes, and noise

We have a HOA, but it is not a gated community. Almost every house has a three car garage. We don't allow cars parked on the streets long term. The neighborhood looks nice. There is a guy three houses down from me that pretty much restored his old Jeep CJ in his garage. On occasion his project would be done in the driveway, but he had it all locked back up in the garage every night.

The neighborhood just to the west of me is typical of a neighborhood one step down, as they mostly park on the streets, and have project cars jacked up in the driveway, or a garage stuffed full of $50 bucks of garbage and their $50 grand SUV parked outside. Boats parked in the driveway that have not moved in several years, and just not the nice look of our neighborhood.

We work hard at making our house look nice. I don't want to see junky cars and Cousin Eddy parking his ski boat in the street.

You're being an apologist for big dumb gubmint stupid policy. Isn't that what I said? Read the article, it says ANYONE working on a car.

In other words, your average joe schmoe who manages to somehow obtain a Torque Wrench and using it on his own CAR in their own driveway is technically in violation.

You don't need operate a black market auto repair shop to create that scenario, so quit making it look like just a normal law aimed at guys running full on repair shops- it's not

rjp

Already law on the books for the commercial stuff.

May 4, 2018
Strike team targets 24 locations in Wilmington and issues 16 citations

Sacramento – Investigators with the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) conducted an enforcement operation in Los Angeles County aimed at combating unlicensed vehicle dismantlers. DMV investigators targeted 24 locations in the Wilmington area and issued 16 misdemeanor citations for offenses such as operating as an unlicensed dismantler or auto repair facility, or unlicensed dealer. DMV investigators collaborated with the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration and the Department of Consumer Affairs (Bureau of Automotive Repair).

DMV investigators have conducted more than a dozen undercover operations throughout the state and issued 192 citations related to unlicensed vehicle dismantling since 2017. In addition, the department has received approximately 162 complaints on its online reporting form.

I responded to your idiotic post, not to the Sacramento law.

If you cannot say what you mean, then ask for help in writing.

But "your average joe schmoe" is not exempt from noise regs. much less haz waste laws.

People have done plenty of great things in garages near me. Some were insanely great.

It's pretty clearly written, using a torque wrench on a project that takes 24.01 hours gets you fined. Also, I didn't know such scary things like Torque Wrenches were so noisy and disruptive. I own one and I do not run a garage out of my house, how is that possible?!

You're a perfect example on how voters with comprehension issues = bad policy. Yes, it is aimed at guys like US. Well, me more than you, likely.

rjp

Bottom line, the law is just dumb. Anyone, paid for or not doing anything more advanced to a car using specialized tools is subject to this.

I think I see where this is going. The legislation is over-the-top severe but enforcement will be selective. If a dog has no teeth, he can't bite. No one is going to come to your home and fine you for having a torque wrench.

On the subject of compressors, there are noisy ones and quiet ones. I don't think anyone wants to listen to one of those upright HF, HD, Lowes units all day or especially at night. If there is a complaint about one being used daily then the law or code will be there to use as enforcement. Otherwise what statute does one cite for a loud compressor or a pneumatic rattle gun?

The problem is the current crop of legislators plainly do not know how to write legislation. I agree the CA is over legislated but I blame that mostly on pork so everyone of those idiots gets his ass scratched.

A few years back I had a framing crew on a job and they unloaded cheap, loud pancake compressors for just about every nail gun. The 2nd day I showed up with a belt driven cast iron compressor capable of running 3 or more guns using a manifold. I told the framers to put their cheap ass compressors back on their trucks.

You know, for the rest of that job we could actually talk to each other w/o yelling over some stupid compressor(s). I think the neighbors appreciated this from a couple of perspectives. I know I did because I was running the operation and I wasn't going to yell all day.

+1 on difficulty of enforcement.

CARB requires inspection and the cars are "measured" periodically. There is a system for enforcement.

This Sacramento legislation is a function of who is going to squeal on you and that will be subject to resource availability of enforcers.

"So, Mrs Kravitz, you saw him arrive home with a Harbor Freight Tools bag and it appears to be a bearing puller he removed in plain sight? He was simply outside on his driveway when he removed it from the bag? Are you sure? Thank you, we are on our way. Please stay inside your home during the intervention."