I appreciate all the thoughtful dialogue on my dilemma ("'Greener' city bars wood chip driveway," Jan. 19). If nothing else, it made me realize that I am not alone in my frustration with city officials and their narrowly focused decision making. After 13 years in Baltimore, this citation is just an example of the numerous obstacles I have faced in trying to create a suitable space with enough interior and exterior room to inspire my art. Perhaps I was a bit naïve about city codes and politics, but I had no idea that I would be spending so much of my precious free time fighting city hall. My greatest frustration is the lack of creativity in resolving issues for Baltimore's citizens.

Before I moved in I was told I had to get a use and occupancy permit. My first contact with city officials was to be told to my face that my house had been razed by the city. It wasn't until I insisted it was certainly standing last time I looked that the Department of Housing and Community Development issued me a use and occupancy permit for 126 N. Madeira St., Block 1706 and Lot 091. If an inspector had actually taken the time to come out to the property I had purchased, he or she would have cleared the matter up then and there. Then there was the mysteriously changing property use code from residential to commercial, which increased my property taxes tremendously. This change resulted in my loss of the Homestead Tax Credit. After being passed around Baltimore city offices, it took a call to the constituent services in Annapolis to resolve this.

Next I dealt with an obscure law that fines property owners a vacant lot fee. Unbeknownst to me, I had five "vacant" lots and faced new annual fees, which would surely go up over time. I wrote a letter to the office of the mayor to object, but this issue was not resolved until I agreed to consolidate all of my lots, as part of another citation I received for graffiti on the outside north wall of my property. An inspector, sent out in relation to my complaint, told me he was instructed to "find something wrong with my property," and all he could find to cite me for was the graffiti. This was the year prior to the current wood chip citation. He then told me to paint over the graffiti and that would abate the citation, which was done. The outcome of this was that I agreed to initiate the process of consolidating my lots to any eliminate future issues. That was a year-long process resulting in my having to pay my property taxes twice, which took another year to be refunded.

I must add that there are knowledgeable and caring people within the city government, I have found a few, they are just very hard to find.

That brings me to the current parking citation triggered by a 311 call that has escalated to a stand-off between the city and me. I understand the rationale behind the existing law and know that this code is proposed to be changed to allow more pervious surfaces for residential parking. I am simply asking the city to consider the specific configuration of my spacious lot -- a lot that does not drain storm water or woodchips into the storm drain because of its grading -- and a reasonable decision based on a humanistic consideration of the facts. I am not an engineer, but maneuvering two vehicles on 18-inch parallel strips seems like a more environmentally damaging solution than wood chips to me. My home is truly a green oasis in an ultra-paved environment – a simple look at Google Earth would confirm this. This oasis should be celebrated rather than cited.

Maxine Taylor, Baltimore

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