Woman's tires turned into planters could land her in jail

[The Straight Story]

SUGAR CREEK, MO (KCTV) -

A Sugar Creek woman says she is willing to go to jail over her recycling project.

Toni Shelton, who prefers to be called Toni Bones, has repainted old tires and turned them into planters.

"I was just really interested in recycling and I'm really big on self-sufficiency," she said.

But others consider the tires trash that could attract mosquitos and create other issues. So municipal leaders issued her a warning.

"They just said they needed to go," Shelton said. "I told them I was going to be using them for planters in the spring and they informed me it wasn't allowed."

Sugar Creek Chief Herb Soule said the city's concerns was the number of tires.

"We'd asked her to put them somewhere else because there were quite a number of them," Soule said."We try to keep people from accumulating tires because they retain water and they attract mosquitos. They detract from property values in the neighborhood too."

http://www.kfvs12.com/story/22738034/womans-tires-turned-into-planters-could-land-her-in-jail?utm_source=buffer&utm_campaign=Buffer&utm_content=buffer7d4cf&utm_medium=facebook#.UdLMsGidaLk.reddit

[catbyte]

1. How can the tires attract mosquitoes if they're filled with dirt & plants?!?

[MineralMan]

3. They can't, of course.

That's not why people want them removed. Some neighbor thinks they look tacky, and that neighbor knows someone who can tell the woman she can't use them.

They look like a good use for a difficult item to recycle to me.

[The Straight Story]

4. Some are not in use and stored in her truck at this time

Guessing that is one issue - so whatever you do, don't store things for later. Use things now so you have to buy later

[catbyte]

7. Ah, thank you

[Hassin Bin Sober]

17. People who store tires for later used are called junk yards and should be zoned and licensed as such

Store them in the garage or basement so they don't collect stagnant water and mosquitos.

This article is about the STORAGE of tires. Not the planter in the photo.

[tarheelsunc]

28. Great reply.

The article as it's presented is misleading and tries to make it sound like she's being punished for gardening, when that's not even remotely what this is about. Having a bunch of tires sitting in the back of a truck is a different story than using painted tires filled with dirt to garden with.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

19. The article says SOME are stored in the truck.

She should apply for a zoning variance as a salvage yard and see how that works out for her.

Until then, her neighbors shouldn't have to live next to a junkyard.

[Javaman]

16. By Magic! LOL nt

[Gman]

2. Tires in a front yard are ugly

No matter how you paint them.

[MineralMan]

5. Ugly is in the eye of the beholder, and it's her property.

Someone else thought they were ugly...probably a neighbor. That's why this is happening.

If you think tires are ugly as planters, then I suggest you find some other type of planter for your property.

[Gman]

10. I don't use tires, that's for sure

And the "beauty" is also in the eye of whoever decides not to buy my house because they don't want to live next door to someone with tires in their yard.

[WinkyDink]

12. Actually, property "ownership" doesn't carry unlimited usage. E.g., lawns must be cut. No farm

animals are allowed, probably. Trash containers must be placed just so, for collection day.

Zoned-residential property appearance and maintenance aren't, pardon the expression, as cut and dried as "in the eye of the beholder."

[WinkyDink]

6. They exemplify "tacky."

[Tansy_Gold]

11. The chickens are tacky

The tires are cool.


The flowers are gorgeous.


It's all an opinion.


I prefer mine.

[WinkyDink]

13. Well, good for you, but apparently mine bothers you, for your tone is decidedly "SO THERE!"

[Tansy_Gold]

21. Very perceptive of you. n/t

[Downwinder]

33. A City had a lot of complaints about the odor from an out-dated

sewage treatment facility. They hired someone to plant flowers, fields of flowers, and told everyone to come out and pick the flowers. The complaints stopped and everyone was happy.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

34. Is it worth jail time if she refuses to comply?

[kentuck]

8. Otherwise, where do the tires go?

Surely, we don't want to burn them? Too much pollution.

I think that recycling them in some way, even planters, is a better solution.

[handmade34]

24. Mulch...

"Tires create a versatile, long-wearing mulch that isn't prone to the same bacteria and pest infestations that may occur with woody and organic mulches. Turning old tires into mulch is a very cost-effective, green way to conserve soil moisture and even enrich garden beds. Tire rubber does contain small traces of heavy metals, and some gardeners avoid using it in vegetable beds, but tires also have the useful plant element zinc."
http://www.ehow.com/how_12116252_turn-tires-mulch.html#ixzz2XtlM9ETO

[KurtNYC]

9. So all her neighbors will get a property tax cut ?

"They detract from property values in the neighborhood too."

[HappyMe]

14. I think it looks kind of cool,

in a goofy kind of way. I'm glad I don't have cranky neighbors.

I imagine if she has too many stored, that would be a problem.

[cynatnite]

15. Looks okay to me...

I don't see anything wrong with it.

[Javaman]

18. "as of right now that the woman's property is not in violation of any municipal codes."

nosey neighbors with nothing better to do.

[Arkansas Granny]

20. There are a lot of ways to turn old tires into attractive planters.

http://www.google.com/search?q=make+planters+from+old+tires&client=ms-android-virgin-us&hl=en&source=android-browser-type&v=133247963&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=OtrSUebULYm48wSXjoG4Dw&ved=0CEAQsAQ&biw=320&bih=455

[Lucinda]

37. I really like the ones hanging on the fence!

[MineralMan]

22. Well, if they force her to remove the tires,

she should switch to planting flowers in old toilets. They make great planters, they're readily available, and are usually free, just like the tires. If she hunts a little, she should be able to find pink ones, yellow ones, avocado ones, and baby blue ones. They're quite traditional as planters.

That'd be hella cool!

[Lucinda]

35. Wow...gorgeous flowers in the second picture

Love the arrangements
A bit iffier on the planters lol

[RC]

23. From what I can tell, Toni dealt with the problem.

Leave her alone.

Edited to add: There used to be a home in Independence MO, on E 35th Street, that had a toilet out by the street, with flowers planted in the bowl. It was there all Summer last year.

[Cleita]

25. Nonsense.

Growing gardens in tires is practiced by many gardeners. My neighbor does it because he says it takes care of the gopher problem. People should learn to mind their own business.

[Are_grits_groceries]

26. Any standing water could attract mosquitoes.

Are they going to cite people with nasty birdfeeders that aren't refreshed and puddles that haven't dried?

[Deep13]

27. "wasn't allowed"

I would like to see the exact muni code section that says so.

Definitionally, I would dispute that these things are tires. Once painted and filled with dirt, there are now planters, not tires.

What the neighbors really mean is that it looks lower class, while the neighbors prefer a middle class appearance.

[dionysus]

29. ok, water filled, skeeter breeding tires = one thing.... colorfully painted tires filled with plants

is quite another. it unorthodox, but hardly an eyesore.

[pipi_k]

30. Wrong

She's not being cited for turning them into planters.

She's being cited for storing old tires for use in the spring as planters.

which means that, if they're outside, stored either on their sides, or straight up and down, they are able to gather standing rainwater, which then becomes breeding grounds for mosquitoes.

Mosquitoes can spread disease. At the very least, they are annoying.

That is the problem. Not the planters themselves.

[no_hypocrisy]

31. Prettier and makes more sense than how Southerner half bury their tires in their front lawns.

[Demit]

32. Interesting. Obviously she was collecting the tires from somewhere.

It sounds like she had many more than she possibly could have worn out on her own vehicle(s).

If she was picking them up from the side of the road, or wherever people were leaving them, then Sugar Creek, MO has a bad dumping/littering problem. This woman was helping alleviate it.

I'm not crazy about tires as planters, but then I'm not crazy about the garden ornaments people plunk all over their gardens. Gnomes, pink Flamingoes, garden fairies, cutesy frogs, stones with cutesy sayings—they all look stupid to me. But I don't think I have any business imposing my aesthetics on my neighbors. I doubt it affects the value of my house, either.

[EC]

36. She must have others

that aren't being used if they are complaining about mesquitos etc. I think these look okay though. I'm guessing she's kinda a hoarder who keeps lots of stuff thinking she's going to use them and over does it.

[CreekDog]

38. The tires won't land her in jail, refusing the pay the fine will land her in jail

there are rules about tires and it's related to West Nile.

believe it or not you cannot just do whatever you want in your front yard.

[EdwardSmith74]

39. I think they're attractive and don't see how water could accumulate in them with all that dirt.