My instinct is to support the old man who fixes things, but I'm cautious in coming to conclusions. He might have been doing real harm to his neighbor, or to the environment. He may have had reasonable outs and been stubborn and not taken them. We don't know enough, and I think that's a failure in journalism.
Property Owner maintains vehicles: check
Property owner owns propane and and gas powered generator for tools, keeps them within back yard: Check
Californian having an aneurysm because someone uses their personal space in a way they don't like or understand: Check
The absurdity is strong with this one.
Oil is only an issue when changing or leaking, and even then only the once. If you've changing it, or have leaks, use a pan. If he's not doing that, charge him with that. It's not like simply having a car on the grass emits a wave of environmental destruction? Stop harassing the man.
And if they're citing people for fruit on the grass, I want to see citations for leaves in autumn, yard furniture, hoses, sprinklers, bicycles, children's toys, planter boxes, and landscaping materials. Y'all would probably have a fit over composting.
Owning property lets you do a lot of things, but not everything i.e. making such a mess or danger that you affect your neighbors, like never cleaning up dog shit causing a fly problem, or making a neighborhood unseemly by turning a house into a junkyard.
I’m sympathetic to the man, that’s a massive fine, but it seems self inflicted when he could have obeyed the ruling, and sued the city at his leisure, avoiding the penalty costs.