Hoop Law In Wedgwood -- Neighbor Urges City To Shut Down Street Basketball

Something is wrong with Linda Mikkelsen's basketball hoop.

First you notice that the backboard in front of her house appears slightly tipped, and the net has slipped off one rung.

But those are minor details compared with the backboard's big problem:

It's illegal. And so are hundreds of similar hoops around Seattle.

Any backboard in a public right-of-way, or placed so that players using it are in the street, violates city ordinances.

But while most draw no action, or even attention, from enforcement officers, Mikkelsen has been ordered to take down the one her sons have played at for five years, because a neighbor has complained.

Retired law professor Eileen Bouniol, who lives two doors away, wrote to city officials citing "the attendant constant ball-bouncing which creates an unwelcome and annoying noise in a neighborhood which is quiet and well-established."

"It is surprising there has been no accident," she said in a June letter to City Council President Sue Donaldson.

The base of Mikkelsen's backboard is on the parking strip, part of the public right-of-way, and the hoop hangs out over the edge of the pavement on 26th Avenue Northeast in the Wedgwood neighborhood.

But within blocks of her home are at least a dozen other backboards, many of which project farther into the street.

Around the corner, for example, one is attached to a utility pole, its hoop hanging out over an intersection. And a few streets south, three hoops in one block are supported by bases sitting on the paved street.

And none of those has been ordered removed, officials acknowledge.

"It doesn't make sense that they would single out mine," said Mikkelsen.

Liz Rankin, Seattle Transportation spokeswoman, admits restrictions on basketball hoops are rarely enforced, getting attention only when a complaint is received.

"There are many ordinances that are enforced on a complaint basis. It's a matter of resources," she said.

The basketball-hoop issue isn't confined to Seattle. Some suburban cities have similar ordinances, and similar policies of enforcing them only when complaints arrive.

In Bellevue, permit manager Mike Boner said he gets one or two complaints a year, and homeowners usually move the backboards when directed to. "Streets aren't meant to be played in," he said. "They are meant to move cars."

After Bouniol's complaint, a city inspector investigated the hoop at Mikkelsen's home.

"He told me, `I'm here to cite your basketball hoop,' and he actually seemed a little sheepish about it. But he said he didn't have a choice," said Mikkelsen.

In response, she circulated a petition in the neighborhood, getting more than 20 signatures supporting the backboard as "a community gathering spot." And she sent her own letter to Donaldson, saying the hoop is a good recreation for her sons, 16 and 18, both high-school basketball players.

"I work out of my home. I want to be a presence, especially during their teen years, and make our home a place where they and their friends feel welcome," said Mikkelsen, who arranges medical conferences.

Bouniol's irritation grew after she received two letters from city officials saying the hoop is not legal, but meanwhile, it didn't move.

Late last month, she sent another letter to City Hall, citing in detail seven times the backboard was used in the previous month. She noted that on Sunday, Aug. 30, the hoop was used at 11 a.m, 1:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.

In that letter to Transportation Director Daryl Grigsby, Bouniol asked to know what the city had done "to compel these people to discontinue breaking the law."

Though Bouniol has lived on the block for nine years and Mikkelsen five, they say they have never spoken.

"I keep to myself," Bouniol said at her home yesterday. "I don't know the names of any of my neighbors and I don't want to."

Bouniol said she's not seeking popularity in the neighborhood, but peace and quiet. "All I want is for the city to enforce the law."

What will happen next on this block is unclear. Mikkelsen said she doesn't want to take the hoop down, but she doesn't want to get in serious trouble with the city.

Bouniol said if action isn't taken soon, she'll contact city officials again, or get a lawyer of her own.

And Rankin said it's clear the backboard has to be moved, but she's not sure what the city will do if it isn't.

Meanwhile, she said, families considering putting up basketball equipment should be aware playing in the street violates city ordinances.

"Try to take every effort to put it in the safest place possible . . . out of the street," she said.

Seattle Times reporter J. Martin McOmber contributed to this report.

Jack Broom's phone message number is 206-464-2222.CQ His e-mail address is: jbroom@seattletimes.com