<font size="5"><center>6 Cars at home have man facing jail</font size></center>
By PAUL KAPLAN
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 03/13/07
Azhar Zaidi has a wife, four children and a home in Roswell. That combination could land him in jail for six months.
Roswell has an ordinance that says only four vehicles parked outside a home can be seen from the street.
Such ordinances are common in metro Atlanta, but they're not strictly enforced.
What makes Zaidi's situation unusual is that he got caught — and then refused to buckle to authorities.
"What am I going to tell my kids — 'Don't come visit me?' Is that what the law is about?" said Zaidi, a U.S. citizen from Pakistan who can have six cars or more parked on his property when his children came home to visit from college.
Many homes in the upscale north Fulton suburb of Roswell have two-car garages, so they can legally have six vehicles on the property because two are hidden from view.
But Zaidi and his family live in one of Roswell's few remaining working-class neighborhoods, where enclosed garages are rare.
Those families are limited to four vehicles in the driveway or carport.
Zaidi and his wife both have cars. So, too, does one of his children living at home. Zaidi also has a stretch limousine from a business he once owned.
That puts him at four — the legal limit in Roswell.
But the Zaidis also have two children attending the University of Georgia who occasionally come home on weekends.
Some of his neighbors had complained to the city's code enforcement office because they thought Zaidi was running a limousine business from his home — which he was not, according to code inspectors who went to the home.
But Zaidi was cited for violating city zoning ordinance 17.3.2, which limits the number of vehicles.
As the population in metro Atlanta swells, so-called nuisance laws are becoming increasingly common.
For example, Cobb County recently created a Quality of Life Unit that targets junked cars and unkempt yards. Several cities, including Duluth, Snellville and Peachtree City, have passed laws limiting the number of unrelated people who can live together in residential neighborhoods.
The rules, city officials say, are designed to protect the integrity of neighborhoods. But some advocacy groups say the laws target immigrants.
Jeffrey Frazier, an attorney who is a neighbor of Zaidi's, was so shocked by the citation Zaidi received in August that he agreed to represent him for free. Frazier argued that the city's law was unconstitutionally broad.
Roswell Municipal Court Judge Maurice Hilliard told the city attorney's office he was concerned about the law, noting that he was having a big group over for Thanksgiving and would have more than four cars parked at his own home, recalled Bob Hulsey, the assistant city attorney.
But Hilliard found the law constitutional and sentenced Zaidi to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. He offered to suspend the sentence if Zaidi agreed not to violate the law again.
Zaidi declined the offer. His family situation would pose a problem, he said, and he didn't want to face jail at a code enforcer's whim.
"Right now there are four cars here," Zaidi told a guest one recent afternoon. "If a pizza delivery guy comes, and a code enforcement officer gives me a ticket, I go to jail."
Frazier is appealing the initial ruling. If Fulton Superior Court finds Roswell's ordinance unconstitutional, the city — and possibly several others — will have to rewrite their law.
If Roswell's law is upheld, the case will go back to the municipal judge, who's not obligated to suspend the sentence, according to the judge's solicitor, Milton Barwick.
In other words, Zaidi, 49, could be sent to jail.
That would be silly, said Dr. Dorsia D. Eubanks, a veterinarian who lives up the street from Zaidi and was among those who had complained.
"I think somebody would be stupid to go to jail for something like that," she said.
Her complaint, she said, was nothing personal.
"It's a concern for the neighborhood, " she said. "It'll become a slum if we're not careful."
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/northfulton/stories/2007/03/12/0313metroswell.html
By PAUL KAPLAN
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 03/13/07
Azhar Zaidi has a wife, four children and a home in Roswell. That combination could land him in jail for six months.
Roswell has an ordinance that says only four vehicles parked outside a home can be seen from the street.
Such ordinances are common in metro Atlanta, but they're not strictly enforced.
What makes Zaidi's situation unusual is that he got caught — and then refused to buckle to authorities.
"What am I going to tell my kids — 'Don't come visit me?' Is that what the law is about?" said Zaidi, a U.S. citizen from Pakistan who can have six cars or more parked on his property when his children came home to visit from college.
Many homes in the upscale north Fulton suburb of Roswell have two-car garages, so they can legally have six vehicles on the property because two are hidden from view.
But Zaidi and his family live in one of Roswell's few remaining working-class neighborhoods, where enclosed garages are rare.
Those families are limited to four vehicles in the driveway or carport.
Zaidi and his wife both have cars. So, too, does one of his children living at home. Zaidi also has a stretch limousine from a business he once owned.
That puts him at four — the legal limit in Roswell.
But the Zaidis also have two children attending the University of Georgia who occasionally come home on weekends.
Some of his neighbors had complained to the city's code enforcement office because they thought Zaidi was running a limousine business from his home — which he was not, according to code inspectors who went to the home.
But Zaidi was cited for violating city zoning ordinance 17.3.2, which limits the number of vehicles.
As the population in metro Atlanta swells, so-called nuisance laws are becoming increasingly common.
For example, Cobb County recently created a Quality of Life Unit that targets junked cars and unkempt yards. Several cities, including Duluth, Snellville and Peachtree City, have passed laws limiting the number of unrelated people who can live together in residential neighborhoods.
The rules, city officials say, are designed to protect the integrity of neighborhoods. But some advocacy groups say the laws target immigrants.
Jeffrey Frazier, an attorney who is a neighbor of Zaidi's, was so shocked by the citation Zaidi received in August that he agreed to represent him for free. Frazier argued that the city's law was unconstitutionally broad.
Roswell Municipal Court Judge Maurice Hilliard told the city attorney's office he was concerned about the law, noting that he was having a big group over for Thanksgiving and would have more than four cars parked at his own home, recalled Bob Hulsey, the assistant city attorney.
But Hilliard found the law constitutional and sentenced Zaidi to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. He offered to suspend the sentence if Zaidi agreed not to violate the law again.
Zaidi declined the offer. His family situation would pose a problem, he said, and he didn't want to face jail at a code enforcer's whim.
"Right now there are four cars here," Zaidi told a guest one recent afternoon. "If a pizza delivery guy comes, and a code enforcement officer gives me a ticket, I go to jail."
Frazier is appealing the initial ruling. If Fulton Superior Court finds Roswell's ordinance unconstitutional, the city — and possibly several others — will have to rewrite their law.
If Roswell's law is upheld, the case will go back to the municipal judge, who's not obligated to suspend the sentence, according to the judge's solicitor, Milton Barwick.
In other words, Zaidi, 49, could be sent to jail.
That would be silly, said Dr. Dorsia D. Eubanks, a veterinarian who lives up the street from Zaidi and was among those who had complained.
"I think somebody would be stupid to go to jail for something like that," she said.
Her complaint, she said, was nothing personal.
"It's a concern for the neighborhood, " she said. "It'll become a slum if we're not careful."
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/northfulton/stories/2007/03/12/0313metroswell.html
