Advocate

 I think most of us are tolerant of the occasional escaped dog, somebody leaves the gate or door open and off goes the dog. It happens. What the ordinance addresses is the deliberate and repetitive act of failing to control an animal. Section 14-31 is pretty clear:  

 “It shall be the duty of the owner of any animal or anyone having an animal in his possession to keep the animal under control at all times while the animal is off the real property limits of the owner, possessor or custodian. For the purposes of this section, an animal is deemed under control when it is confined within a vehicle; is secured by a leash or other device held by a competent person; is under voice control; or is properly confined within an enclosure with permission of the owner of the property where the enclosure is located.” Be careful in thinking your animal is under voice control…if your dog will not stay on command when a cat runs right in front of him or her, it’s not under voice control.

A few more things… “Every animal shall be restrained or controlled so as to prevent it from chasing vehicles or attacking persons or other domestic animals. The owner or custodian of any animal that is proven to be at large shall be in violation of this section, regardless of the precautions taken to prevent the escape of the animal and regardless of lack of knowledge of the offense at the time it occurs. Any such animal at large may be impounded by the animal control officer or an authorized representative thereof.”

Lastly, Forsyth County has addressed tethering 3 times in the last decade or so; here is the current law about that: “It shall be the duty of every owner of any animal to ensure that it is confined by way of a fence, restraint, or other enclosure including activated invisible fence or in some other physical manner under the control of a competent person so that it cannot wander off the real property limits of the owner, it being the intent of this article that all animals be prevented from leaving, while unattended, the real property limits of their owners. The above requirement notwithstanding, it shall beunlawful for the owner of any dog to utilize a tether, chain, cable, rope, or cordas the primary method of restraining a dog, it being the intent of this section that tethering a dog shall be used only as a temporary restraint mechanism.In no event shall a dog be restrained by a tether, chain, cable, rope, or cordwhen the dog is not in the physical presence of and attended by the owner or adult custodian”. This is clear – no unattended tethering! Dogs develop a territorial disposition when tethered that can lead to unfortunate encounters if someone enters into the circumference of the dog’s tethered area.

 Forsyth County’s Municode clearly mandates how yard trimmings are to be handled and disposed of:

 “No person may dispose of yard trimmings in the county nor dispose of yard trimmings generated in the county unless such disposal is carried out in accordance with section 70-37.

Leaving cut grass on your own yard is OK: “Yard trimmings shall be sorted and stored for collection in a manner that facilitates collection, composting, or other lawful handling.”, but otherwise, “Yard trimmings shall be placed in separate bags or containers. Such bags or containers may include reusable receptacles provided by residents which meet the requirements of this part, watertight paper bags manufactured for yard trimming disposal which, when full, do not exceed 50 pounds in weight, or special containers provided by a solid waste collector, but may not include plastic bags. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this subsection, tree branches, tree trunks, and heavy brush which cannot be containerized and do not exceed four feet in length or six inches in diameter may be neatly stacked. No further preparation shall be required.”

 So no, it is against county code to blow yard trimmings into the street or into a storm sewer opening. Please don’t do it and don’t let your yard service do it.

It’s the season for the drive-by window replacement guys to inform you that your house has been selected to become a showplace on your street if you will allow your windows to be replaced at wholesale cost! Who can resist?

Aberdeen is a signed “No Soliciting” community…but read on. Let’s be clear on what is not soliciting. Per Article IV “The term solicitor or canvasser shall not mean an individual or field sales representative working for or on behalf of a bona fide charitable or nonprofit organization, or students or parents of students (i.e., PTA, booster club organizations) participating in approved school-sponsored fund raisers.” In addition, certain other activities such as census taking, religious activity and political activity may not be considered soliciting. So yes, our kids can still sell cookies and firewood and hit you up for donations in support of this or that.

In the past, our entire subdivision was considered to be signed as “No Soliciting”. A recent change in the interpretation of soliciting rules conveys that such a sign does not preclude a solicitor from soliciting individual homes; each residence must have a “No Soliciting” sign. Unfortunately, Aberdeen’s sign rules prohibit signs of this nature but the ACC does have the ability, without Board or Member concurrence, to allow such a sign at each residence choosing to have one. The ACC is working on this and any change will be communicated to the community.

The Sheriff’s office, through our assigned deputy, has instructed us to do the following if there is soliciting occurring.

1. Get a physical description of the person and any vehicle.

2. Determine in what direction they are going if possible.

3. Don’t answer the door, or if you do, don’t say “I’m calling the Sheriff”.

4. Do call 770.781-3087 and report the solicitor. You will be asked if you want to meet the deputy and answer accordingly.

As we head into swim team season with daily practices and 3 exciting home swim meets (date, date, date), it is important that we observe State Law and common sense safety protocols. In Section 78-1 of its Municode, Forsyth County has adopted that portion of the State Law known as the Uniform Rules of the Road,O.C.G.A. §§ 40-6-372 through 40-6-376, O.C.G.A. §§ 40-6-1 through 40-6-397, and it applies to the streets in Aberdeen. Here are some of the rules on parking in a residential area,emphasis added.

“Outside of a business or residential district,no person shall stop, park, or leave standing any vehicle, whether attended or unattended, upon the roadwaywhen it is practicable to stop, park, or so leave such vehicle off the roadway; but in every event, an unobstructed width of the highway opposite a standing vehicle shall be left for the free passage of other vehicles, anda clear view of the stopped vehicle shall be available from a distance of 200 feet in each direction upon the highway.”

“Except as otherwise provided in this Code section, every vehicle stopped or parked upon a two-way roadwayshall be stopped or parked with the right-hand wheels parallel to and within 12 inches of the right-hand curb or as close as practicable to the right edge of the right-hand shoulder.”

“no person shall:

(1) Stop, stand, or park a vehicle:

(A) On the roadway side of any vehicle stopped or parked at the edge of a curb of a street;

(B) On a sidewalk;

(C) Within an intersection;

(D) On a crosswalk;

(2) Stand or park a vehicle, whether occupied or not, except momentarily to pick up or discharge a passenger or passengers:

(A) In front of a public or private driveway;

(B) Within 15 feet of a fire hydrant;

(C) Within 20 feet of a crosswalk at an intersection;

(D) Within 30 feet upon the approach to any flashing signal, stop sign, yield sign, or traffic-control signal located at the side of a roadway”

 And for those walking, please be aware of this: “Every pedestrian crossing a roadway at any pointother than within a marked crosswalk or within an unmarked crosswalk at an intersectionshall yield the right of way to all vehicles upon the roadway unless he has already, and under safe conditions, entered the roadway.”

The four issues above are generally not able to be enforced by our Design Standard rules or our Architectural Control Committee, and therefore must be enforced by either Forsyth County Code Enforcement or the Sherriff’s deputies. Directors, ACC members and others have a duty to initiate enforcement of these rules.

                 

                                                                                                          - Jen Matthews,