Mentor's one-car garage rule, and what to do with a dead car

If the garage is already full, we buy whole non-running and junk cars. You sell the whole car as it sits, and our free pickup anywhere in the US reaches every Mentor driveway.

The garage rule in Section 1173.13

Mentor's residential zoning keeps it simple. The code's word is inoperable, glossed as "unable to move under their own power," and such a car:

• must be stored in a fully enclosed garage, attached or detached
• may not be one of two; the limit is one per dwelling unit

Plates matter too. A vehicle or trailer with no current license plate or validation sticker can't be stored on residentially zoned property except in a fully enclosed garage.

City code enforcement adds a front-yard rule: every vehicle there must have a current license and sit on concrete or asphalt. A gravel pad that already exists can stay, but it can't be made bigger.

Fifteen days after a notice

Section 303.10 covers two kinds of car left in the open on private property. One is a junk motor vehicle under the state definition, left out uncovered for over three days with the landowner's say-so. The other is an unlicensed vehicle, with no current plate or sticker, out in the open more than 15 days.

Mentor's notice comes from the police chief's office, either by certified mail or in person. Counting from receipt, there are 15 days to pick one of three fixes:

1. put it "in a garage or other suitable structure"
2. license it
3. remove it

Ignoring it counts as a minor misdemeanor, with a fresh charge for every further 30-day block past the deadline. Car dealers holding a license, and legitimate salvage yards with fencing, are exempt.

Why re-registering isn't always quick

Licensing the car clears the notice, but two state rules sit in the way. First, under ORC 4503.10 the clerk refuses registration while last year's registration and transfer fees remain unpaid, though nothing is owed for a year when the car wasn't taxable. Second, Lake County belongs to E-Check, and Ohio EPA withholds registration from a car due for testing until it has a pass or a waiver, exemption or extension certificate.

Snow, tows and storage

Mentor's snow emergency has no set depth. The City Manager declares one when snow, sleet, hail or ice has made driving hazardous, and it lasts until the Manager says it's over. While it lasts, every city street is off limits for parking. Police, fire or public works crews can haul away a car left there, and its owner covers the tow and storage bill plus any fine. Statewide, ODOT used 740,000 tons of salt in the 2020-2021 winter.

Officers can also remove unlicensed cars, cars disabled in a crash, and illegally parked cars from public property to an approved impound site. Section 303.08 puts the risk of that removal on the owner; Mentor won't pay for damage done in towing or storage. For a car pulled off public property, the Police Chief's notice says it will be "declared a nuisance and disposed of" unless claimed within ten days of the notice's mailing date.

Abandoning a junk car is a separate violation: more than three days on another person's land without consent, or two days at the curb without a word to the police chief.

The police non-emergency number is 440-255-1234. Code Enforcement's hotline is (440) 974-5792, and Planning and Development is (440) 974-5740.

Title office on Mentor Avenue

Lake County's title office at 8804 Mentor Ave., (440) 350-2800, lies about 1.3 miles southeast of the city's Census-mapped center, as the crow flies. The county's Wickliffe office is about 8.2 miles southwest. Ohio asks you to sign the title assignment before a notary, and to take the plates off when the car is sold.

Getting an offer

Call (877) 421-6008, or get started online. Tell us the car's year, make and model and the miles on it. Let us know if it runs, whether it's in the garage or on the gravel, and the date on any city notice. Nothing has to be fixed or removed first.