WESTMINSTER : City Clears Yard After Man Ignores Order

Five months after a municipal judge ordered Bruce Laukkanen to get rid of the piles of rubbish in his back yard, he was still in no mood to comply.

Frustrated city code officials decided this week to do the cleanup for him--and charge him for the cost.

“We had to do something,” said Michael Bouvier, the city’s planning and building director. “We were not getting compliance whatsoever. Neighbors were getting upset (at) the inaction.”

Laukkanen, an unemployed machinist, was not available for comment.

Workers from a hauling company hired by the city filled more than 10 huge trash bins with discarded machinery, auto parts, cabinets, scrap iron and other items from Laukkanen’s back yard. The cost of removing the materials is not known, city officials said.

Neighbors say Laukkanen has been collecting the materials since he moved five years ago into the four-bedroom, blue-and-white house in a neighborhood of mostly young families. Some of the junk was left in the sun or under the rain in Laukkanen’s front yard, giving the place a deteriorating look, neighbors said.

Bouvier said that the city was forced to do the cleanup because Laukkanen ignored repeated warnings, including a June ruling by Judge Sarah S. Jones ordering Laukkanen to clean up his property by July 15.

“He was in control of the situation,” Bouvier said. “But he chose not to comply.”

Bouvier said that a bank, which he declined to identify, has foreclosed on the property and Laukkanen was evicted but has refused to leave.

Water and electricity have been cut for more than a year now, but neighbors say that Laukkanen is often seen coming and going from the house.

Bouvier said that Laukkanen was with some friends when the city crew removed the junk from his back yard. Police were called when Laukkanen started to protest, but there were no arrests, he said.