WEST MILFORD Like most municipalities, West Milford has a property maintenance code. Its purpose, in its own words, is to “Avoid, prevent and eliminate conditions which, if permitted to exist or continue, will depreciate or tend to depreciate the value of adjacent or surrounding properties. Lisa Caruso was pretty sure she had the law on her side when she called to complain about her neighbor’s rusting truck. Gary Miller has had the truck for 30 years. It was in his driveway, then his backyard and now its alongside Caruso’s driveway. She didn’t like it but wasn’t terribly concerned until she put her house on the market and according to her, potential buyers were put off by the eyesore, some of them cancelling at the curb before they looked at the house. Her current realtor, Susan Ugrovics, was on the planning board back when the maintenance code was written, which includes this description of things not allowed: “Vehicles or parts thereof, including boats and trailers, motorized or not, licensed or unlicensed, registered or unregistered, which vehicles or parts thereof are or have been junked, abandoned, dismantled or are in a state of disrepair.” Miller’s truck was indisputably in disrepair. The maintenance code is overseen by the zoning officer, who is Jim Lupo. So Ugrovics called Lupo to get something done. She herself had once had an unregistered vehicle on her property and had been told to remove it. She expected the same. But nothing happened. Since October of 2005 Ugrovics and Caruso repeatedly made requests to the town to enforce the code. In February Caruso sent a certified, return-receipt request letter to both Township Administrator Richard Kunze and Mayor Joseph DiDonato. She got the receipts back, but no one contacted her. Kunze said he was unaware that no one had contacted her since he had forwarded the letter to the appropriate person, Jim Lupo. Lupo didn’t contact Caruso, but he did go to Miller’s house and tell him to cover the truck with a tarp. Miller covered the truck, but Caruso felt that didn’t solve the problem. So, she told her story to The West Milford Messenger. While investigating the story, another point of view emerged. In the town of Mountain Lakes, Fred Kanter went to Superior State Court in defense of several unregistered vehicles on his property. He had been cited for the shiny, collector vehicles which are in perfect condition and parked in his driveway. Judge Catherine Langois found him not guilty, but in November the police in Mountain Lakes cited him again for the same three cars in the same three spots. He explained it this way, “In the Independent Republic of Mountain Lakes they are for life, liberty and the pursuit of conformity.” He’s confident he’ll win in Superior Court again, and said the victory is “one small step for Fred, one million miles for car collectors.” Although these two incidents happened in different communities, it is interesting to note how different municipalities handle adherence to code in different ways. Miller said he eventually hoped to restore the truck and was planning on moving it into his backyard once he finished leveling it, a project he has been working on for two years. Within 24 hours of The Messenger contacting town hall this week about the township’s non responsiveness to Caruso’s dilemma, Lupo hand delivered a citation to Miller demanding he move the truck within five days. He then called and spoke to Caruso. Lupo said he cited Miller this week because Miller had originally told him he would move the truck when the weather got better and the weather got nice but the truck was still there. Miller said Lupo only told him to cover the truck with a tarp and that was all. When asked how often neighbors call and complain about one another’s property, Lupo said several times a week. He said many of the situations are petty and are resolved without citing the residents. “It’s a fine line many times,” he said. “A lot of homes are on small lots with no room for a garage. It doesn’t seem very fair to penalize someone because they don’t have a garage. I always try to work things out.” Caruso is just happy that the old truck will be out of her line of sight soon.