By Patric Hedlund, with reporting
by Jeff Mowry
Imagine being chased around a supermarket parking lot by a summons server in Arizona because a year ago you sold a home in Lake of the Woods that contained a wood burning stove. Imagine receiving a citation from an agency that promulgates regulations never voted upon by an elected representative, an authority that threatens to fine you for a year of infractions even though you didn’t even know there was a rule to break.
Imagine these things, and you will know a little bit of what life has been like recently for David and Francis Abbott, a couple who sold their Cuddy Creek area Lake of the Woods home when they moved to a house on a river in Arizona. On February 23 Fran Abbott was tracked down in Arizona by a summons server hired by the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District (SJVAPCD) deliver a citation signed by Robert Goon, a SJVAPCD inspector.
In a letter written that same week, SJVAPCD Manager of Compliance, Mike Oldershaw, wrote a letter stating "On June 21, 2006, you sold a residence located at [number deleted] Frazier Mountain Park Road, Frazier Park, California. Included with the home sale was an operable non-EPA certified wood burning stove.
"The action described above is a violation of District Rule 4901…."
To summarize here, that rule states that no person can sell a home that contains a wood burning heater without first being sure that it is an "EPA Phase II Certified" stove or that it is "permanently rendered inoperable or removed from the home" and its destruction is documented. The rule also states that documentation of compliance must be received at the time of sale by the air pollution control district.
The Mountain Enterprise contacted Robert Goon, who wrote the Abbotts’ citation and had it served on them in Arizona. We asked how many citations of this type were being written by SJVAPCD.
"I’ve worked here three years," he said, "and this is the first one I’ve written."
Brenda Turner, public information representative for SJVAPCD in Bakersfield was asked the same question. "Not many," she replied, then hastily added, "it’s not like it has never happened before…there was a housing developer in Bakersfield who put in wood burning instead of gas fireplaces…." Her voice trailed off.
The follow-up question was obvious: Why are such significant resources being spent to track down the seller of a single home in the mountains far removed from the San Joaquin Valley where the air quality is so bad that accelerated measures against industrial level polluters has been mandated?
A quick look on the website for the agency makes the question even more urgent. "The San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District is made up of eight counties in California’s Central Valley: San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Merced, Madera, Fresno, Kings, Tulare and the Valley portion of Kern."
"This is not ‘the valley portion of Kern County,’" we noted to Janelle Schneider, in the Public Education Division of the agency. "Do you think this citation could be held credible if it got into a court of law, given the ambiguities regarding SJVAPCD’s jurisdiction, based on their own web site?"
"Probably not," Schneider said, then added, "I probably shouldn’t have said that."
With Schneider’s professional assistance, it took nearly half an hour to find a way to define that Frazier Mountain and all associated communities are indeed within the SJVAPCD’s "valley" jurisdiction, although the Tehachapi Mountains are not.
That clarification was not found on the agency’s own web site. Schneider had to peck around the California Air Resources Board site to find a way to use zip codes to confirm that this region is indeed within the San Joaquin Valley district.
Area realtors have been caught in the ambiguities of jurisdiction.
Jennings Realty Broker Jeff Mowry explains: "In mid-2004 local Brokers got wind of the new rules. They called SJVAPCD and spoke with an Air Pollution Control Operator (APCO). They explained that the air in the San Joaquin Basin was among the worst in the country. Brokers were told they could visit the web site for instructions on how we were to conform to their new rules.
"The web site stated clearly that they did not have jurisdiction over Kern County Mountains and Foothills. The web site did explain that all areas under their jurisdiction must comply with the "point of sale" requirement. No one was allowed to sell a Freestanding Wood Burning Stove that was not EPA Phase II. This included Real Estate sales. We decided that even though we were not under their jurisdiction, it was still important to disclose this information to all buyers. We have disclosed this info to all buyers since that time."
This story continues next week, and includes money-saving tips and a hopeful ending.
This is part of the March 02, 2007 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.
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