The Fairport Harbor Police Department said resident complaints over the past several months had them look into junk vehicles stored on peoples' property in plain sight.
The village's population is about 3,100 and is known for its lakefront views and small-town charm.
The department already has an ordinance on the books related to junk vehicles and will be stepping up enforcement.
"We're talking about cars that have been sitting for a number of years, cars that got trees growing up through em... a rowboat on them," Fairport Harbor Police Chief David Koran said.
Vehicles that are abandoned, have expired or have no plates at all, aren't operable or missing parts like tires or doors can't be in the public view like driveways or yards.
"We really didn't think it was that bad of a problem until we started to get an accounting of it and then we learned that there was well over a dozen of them," said Koran. "It can affect home prices. It can affect the neighborhood overall. It can bring rodents that could be living in some of them."
To prevent the quality-of-life problem from getting worse, Koran said better enforcement is needed. Residents are being told to remove or properly store problem vehicles or risk being cited for a minor misdemeanor.
Officers have been meeting with numerous residents to explain the situation and have learned a lot.
"There's a wide variety of stories behind them. Some of them are kind of personal. They bought the car. They couldn't get it running or it broke down. They don't have the money right now and we understand that. Times are hard."
Koran said the department wants to give people the benefit of the doubt and time to take care of business.
"I think the best option that we came up with- a solution to this- to at least get the conversation rolling, is, let's give them 60 days," Koran said.
A 60-day junk vehicle amnesty program started Sept. 9.
Vance Reed has lived in Fairport Habor for a few years. He said he's noticed abandoned vehicles on his block and thinks the grace period is fair.
"As long as they give you a reasonable amount of time… and it says here they're giving you 60 days. That's you know quite a bit of time," said Reed. "I'm all for it you know. So, anything to keep the property value up, you know, it's a great community."
Karen Sales lives across the street from where several vehicles are surrounded by and hidden in trees.
"Yeah, that one's been there at least 10 years or more," Sales said as she pointed to what appeared to be a classic car.
"All kinds of animals (are) probably living in there and the bottom's probably rusted out," Sales said.
But she said she's used to the sight and isn't worried about it too much.
"It don't really bother me," Sales said. "But it doesn't look good."
Jonathan Entin, a law professor at Case Western Reserve University, spoke to News 5 about concerns some people have raised claiming government overreach.
Entin said, "Local governments have fairly broad latitude to regulate land uses to promote public health and safety and public welfare. And so, these sorts of ordinances in general fit under that label."
He added that some concerns could be valid.
"It's possible that there might be some specific detail of an ordinance that might raise legal questions. And it's possible that some kind of skewed or biased enforcement might raise questions," Entin said.
Koran said, "It'd be one thing if it (junk vehicle) was behind fences in somebody's backyard that is completely obscure from public viewing. These are all in the view of the public. We're not going to go snooping in anybody's backyard. We ain't stepping foot in anybody's yard like that. It's just the ones that are in public view.
