The city of Sacramento, California dropped new ordinances that outlaw auto-hobbyists and do-it-yourselfers from repairing their own vehicles in their own garages.

The new ordinances outlaw any repair or maintenance to any vehicle not registered to the owner of the residence, and outlaw the owner of the vehicle from conducting any major or minor repair except for what can be considered maintenance like brake part replacement, minor tune-up, change of oil and filter, repair of flat tire, lubrication and other similar operations.

Additionally, if any of these procedures require a tool that would not normally be found in a residence like a car lift, it's also illegal.

You might think the ordinances were passed to keep neighborhood auto shops from popping up, but the city has other reasons for the new draconian measure. They say,

"The chemicals involved in automobile repair can pollute our neighborhoods and endanger the health and well being of our residents.

Furthermore, this kind of activity increases vehicle traffic and the visual impact can negatively impact property values."

So in short, the new ordinances are because of the environment but also to keep the poor people out.

And residents have already started receiving citations. The fines start at $430 for a citation.

If you want to contest the citation, you have to schedule a hearing and pay a $700 procedural fee to cover the inconvenience for the city officials having to listen to your complaint.

Do the math on that one.

Given California's plan to phase out out the sale of fossil-fuel powered vehicles by 2035, you can bet that many auto-repair shops will also be phasing out the tools and parts required to fix fossil-fuel powered vehicles, and if it's illegal to fix them yourself…

Well, I think you can see where this is going.

Everyone's going to be stuck at home with nothing to do.