Enough is enough

When will the City of Moses Lake stop harassing Tony Holiday and his family over parking?

In March 2006, a city code enforcement officer cited him for parking vehicles on a vacant lot Holiday owns, which is adjacent to another property with his home on it. The city instructed him he needed to place the vehicles on a city-approved surface and change the boundary line to join the properties.

Holiday moved the vehicles and spread gravel, just like the city wanted.

But he didn't want to pay $3,000 to join his properties and instead Holiday defended himself in municipal court, where he won.

The city didn't appeal the decision.

Then the city issued another violation notice for the same thing. Then two more violation notices for the same thing - making it four violations for the same situation.

The city took the stance that each day the condition remained was a new violation.

Then city resources were used to sue the Holidays in June 2007 to collect fines. They also planned to discuss the conflict in a city council meeting and placed it on the agenda.

Before the meeting, Holiday went to Grant County Superior Court and was granted an order prohibiting the city from further action against him.

In 2008, the city slightly amended the ordinance and sent a code enforcement officer to find the Holidays in violation a fifth time for the same situation. This time it was under a slightly-altered version of the ordinance from 2006.

The Holidays went back to Grant County Superior Court and a judge found the city violated the order to stop proceedings.

The city spent resources to appeal the judge's decision in appellate court and lost again.

Four years after the initial attempt to fine the Holidays, the city headed to the supreme court. The justices declined to hear the case.

Enough is enough.

It's time to stop using city resources - meaning tax money - to continue a four-year course of enforcement over parking vehicles. It is Holiday's property. He put down gravel. It looks nice. What purpose is it going to serve to continue this battle?

When the Moses Lake municipal court judge, a Grant County District Court commissioner, saw the demand to join properties he said, "This is the dumbest thing I have ever seen."

We agree. Holiday won, and won again. It is time to work on determining why the boundary suggestion was made and make sure it doesn't happen again. It seems like a waste of everyone's time and money to chase such an issue for four years through several courts.

- Editorial board