Neighbor/parking WWYD

[msmerymac]

Because I'm spineless. 


Our street is only 1 car lane and then one parking lane, on the opposite side from our house. Right across from our house is a parking spot, but from our driveway to the corner there is a "no parking" sign. 

The people who live 2 houses away consistently park a large truck in the "no parking" spot. It's not super close to the corner and you can easily fit a car (even 2), so it's not readily apparent that the reason there's no parking there is because it makes it really difficult to back out of our driveway. Thankfully, we have a small car, so we CAN, it's just annoying and involves pulling up and backing out a few times. 

Unfortunately, we have not met these people. They moved in sometime between when we bought the house and when we moved in, so they've been there for a year or so, and are renting. They do have a driveway, but they are on the corner and their driveway is on the other street, so my husband thinks maybe it's harder for them to pull out than it is just to park on our street. 

For some reason I jumped to, "have parking enforcement ticket them and they'll stop parking there," but I worry that 1) they will know we called, since no one has EVER been ticketed in that spot or 2) if will screw me over if I or someone I know needs to use the spot someday and then we get ticketed.

[msmerymac]

For the app:

1) nothing - you can get out of your driveway just fine, so leave it alone

2) introduce yourself/do something nice/ask if they can not park there

3) ask town parking enforcement to start ticketing that spot

[maddiepaddy]

Unless they've done something else that makes you think they'll be unreasonable about it, I'd talk to them first before calling the parking enforcement people. The way I'm picturing your description makes it seem totally possible that they don't realize that they're making it hard for you to use your driveway.

I know some people don't want to be overly friendly with their neighbors, but I think that being nice and trying to talk to them first is the kind thing to do. I suppose there is a chance for backfire though. If they suck, and you still have to call parking enforcement, they will totally know it was you :/

[lurknomore]

We've had two cars hit by across the street neighbors when our cars were parked (legally) in front of our house. The first one was SIX days old! I feel your pain on tight parking. Especially because they're renting, I would also just ask parking enforcement to deal with it. But I'm non confrontational like that.

[ECB]

Honestly, I'd probably call and have them ticketed. If it happens once, they'll know and wont' do it again. You going over and asking- if they know people don't really get ticketed, they may just not care and will keep doing it. THEN if they are ticketed ... they'll know.

[msmerymac]

Jan 28, 2015 13:15:06 GMT -5 ECB said:

Honestly, I'd probably call and have them ticketed. If it happens once, they'll know and wont' do it again. You going over and asking- if they know people don't really get ticketed, they may just not care and will keep doing it. THEN if they are ticketed ... they'll know.

Yeah, that's the problem. My street is mixed business and residential. The businesses sometimes have wider driveways/delivery areas, which cuts down on street parking AND the employees will usually park on the street during the day. So asking them not to do it means that they might have to park way down the block or on another street entirely. (It's possible their driveway is full of other cars; I can't see it from my house.) So they might comply at first, but how long until they're coming home at 10pm when it's 25 degrees outside and they just park in the easy spot?

[tripleshot]

Call and have them ticketed. And if they're renters and you know the landlord, I'd mention something to him/her too.

[msmerymac]

I DO want to know the neighbors, and I do know many on the street, just not them. I don't know the landlord. It's a SFH that was purchased about 3 years ago and AFAIK it's been used as a rental since.

Also, I don't know if they care about knowing neighbors since they are renting - no offense to renters, I rented until last year and I had pride in my community, but different renters have different schools of thought on that. I mean, the people in the house between us have lived there for 50 years, so I think they are a little more emotionally invested in the neighborhood than someone who is renting might be, but I don't know.

[imojoebunny]

Jan 28, 2015 13:18:28 GMT -5 tripleshot said:

Call and have them ticketed. And if they're renters and you know the landlord, I'd mention something to him/her too.

Please don't call the landlord about something like this.  Either say something or call the parking people, or move on, but as a landlord, I have nothing to do with how my tenants park, and I am not going to do anything about it because I am not my tenant's mom.   

[BeagleMama]

I'd call the city because it's not my responsibility to manage the neighborhood parking. And, I wouldn't talk to them first because, as already mentioned, if they don't move the car and you have to call for parking enforcement, they will know it was you.

[irene adler]

Jan 28, 2015 13:53:09 GMT -5 BeagleMama said:

I'd call the city because it's not my responsibility to manage the neighborhood parking. And, I wouldn't talk to them first because, as already mentioned, if they don't move the car and you have to call for parking enforcement, they will know it was you.

Exactly this. I would be afraid of retaliation.

I've had a lot of asshole neighbors and am not comfortable taking that chance.

[kadams767]

I would just call and try and have them ticketed. If you park in front of a No Parking sign repeatedly, you truly cannot be shocked if you get a ticket.

I understand trying to play nice with neighbors, but I fear that someone who, again, is just repeatedly parking directly in front of a No Parking sign doesn't really care about what his neighbors think. It's not worth my time to try and deal with someone like that.

[awick14]

Jan 28, 2015 13:15:06 GMT -5 ECB said:

Honestly, I'd probably call and have them ticketed. If it happens once, they'll know and wont' do it again. You going over and asking- if they know people don't really get ticketed, they may just not care and will keep doing it. THEN if they are ticketed ... they'll know.

This is what I would do and what I have done before.

When I still lived with my parents the people across the street could park parallel in front of there house but as some point they decided that if they can parallel park one car there why couldn't they parallel park 2 cars there. (Like one half on the road/half off the road)

No one could back out of my parents driveway without doing what you have been doing. So I called it in, they got at least 10-15 tickets before they stopped. But they stopped. They actually sold the house because bylaw was being unreasonable, and they moved out into the country where "they could park wherever the fuck they wanted". They would vent to me every time I was outside, they never had any idea who called bylaw. Lol

[cheezer]

Jan 28, 2015 13:17:57 GMT -5 msmerymac said:

Jan 28, 2015 13:15:06 GMT -5 ECB said:

Honestly, I'd probably call and have them ticketed. If it happens once, they'll know and wont' do it again. You going over and asking- if they know people don't really get ticketed, they may just not care and will keep doing it. THEN if they are ticketed ... they'll know.

Yeah, that's the problem. My street is mixed business and residential. The businesses sometimes have wider driveways/delivery areas, which cuts down on street parking AND the employees will usually park on the street during the day. So asking them not to do it means that they might have to park way down the block or on another street entirely. (It's possible their driveway is full of other cars; I can't see it from my house.) So they might comply at first, but how long until they're coming home at 10pm when it's 25 degrees outside and they just park in the easy spot?

Then I'd just keep calling and when you do say that you can't pull out of your driveway because there's a car in the no parking zone.

[shopgirl07]

Just have them ticketed. It is a no parking zone, so it's not out of the realm of possibility that parking enforcement stumbled upon the violation. It's pretty ballsy to consistently park in a no parking zone.

[raangoli]

I've dealt with my share of unreasonable neighbors and have always tried the approach of being an adult and approaching them first with the issue rather than straight to reporting them for XYZ violation. It turned out that the neighbor did not listen to my kind appeal and even lied to my face. So...yeah. I am all for skipping the niceties since I've learned that people who break rules/disregard others don't usually respond to a kind request and are likely big jerks.

[mbcdefg]

If they're too dumb, or just plain thoughtless, to realize on their own that they're blocking your driveway, then I doubt talking to them would help. I would just call the police or the city parking authority and inform them.

I did this in the past when we were renting and some new neighbors parked a huge graffiti-covered van in front of our house and didn't move it for months (parking on our street was scarce). I called, and the city came out and ticketed them. They moved it into their driveway.

[DarcyLongfellow]

I would just call.

I'm all about keeping peace with the neighbors. But they are clearly parking in a no parking zone, so they are in violation of the law. I would feel no guilt about calling and asking the police to enforce it.

If you ask them not to park there, they might just ignore you. Then they will know it was you who asked the police to start ticketing. Then they might retaliate against you.

Also, if I were parking in a no parking zone and suddenly got ticketed, I wouldn't be angry with a neighbor for calling on me. I'd be like, "oh well, I finally got caught." So by calling the police, I wouldn't be doing anything to them that I would be angry at someone for doing to me.

[Deleted]

We have an almost identical situation except we knew the car not the actual person doing it and we called the parking enforcement every time he did it. (Incidentally he is now parking in another nearby illegal spot but it doesn't affect us so we don't call.)

[niq]

I would leave a note on the dashboard saying (1) it makes it hard for you to get in & out of your driveway, (2) suggest other places nearby to park, and that if they didn't (3) you were going to start calling parking enforcement regularly starting tomorrow.

[VillainV]

I'm having trouble picturing the arrangement, but if you're near a corner, is it possible that the No Parking sign is also to allow emergency service vehicles enough room to maneuver onto your street? I mean, if a fire truck had to make that corner, would they be able to? That would be my primary concern, especially if they're not technically blocking your driveway.

[RoxMonster]

I would call.

If it was legal to park there and just made it inconvenient for you to back out, then I would go over, introduce myself, nicely ask, etc.

But they are parking illegally. If a parking enforcement officer was driving around, chances are they'd get ticketed (or they should). I don't think calling to get them ticketed will make them automatically know it's you. And if so, OK.

It is a PITA to deal with backing out of a driveway with a car opposite it. Sometimes the people across the street (legally) park across from our driveway and it makes it hard, so I get it. I don't say anything because it's legal and they maybe only do this 10% of the time, but in your situation, I would call.

[msmerymac]

Jan 28, 2015 19:40:26 GMT -5 VillainV said:

I'm having trouble picturing the arrangement, but if you're near a corner, is it possible that the No Parking sign is also to allow emergency service vehicles enough room to maneuver onto your street? I mean, if a fire truck had to make that corner, would they be able to? That would be my primary concern, especially if they're not technically blocking your driveway.

I hope this shows up since I just spent HOURS working on it in MS paint.

It's possible that it's for emergency vehicles to turn, given that the street is fairly narrow. Like I said, we also have businesses on the street and they get delivery trucks, including, occasionally, full sized tractor trailers as well. 




In the picture, the blue house and driveway are mine. The purple house and driveway belong to my lovely neighbors who shoveled my driveway yesterday and also put back my trash cans today. The green house belongs to the people in question, and their driveway is to the side, on the perpendicular street. 

So if you can see it, that yellow dot is where the no parking sign is on the street, and the red outlined section is where people are not allowed to park, and the red slashes are where they tend to leave their truck if someone is parked in the legit space right in front of that space, which is often, especially during the day.

To be fair, many people use the space (not-space) and someone left their car there for about 3 days straight once, but the people on the corner seem to use the space almost every day.

[VillainV]

Jan 28, 2015 20:37:26 GMT -5 msmerymac said:

Jan 28, 2015 19:40:26 GMT -5 VillainV said:

I'm having trouble picturing the arrangement, but if you're near a corner, is it possible that the No Parking sign is also to allow emergency service vehicles enough room to maneuver onto your street? I mean, if a fire truck had to make that corner, would they be able to? That would be my primary concern, especially if they're not technically blocking your driveway.

I hope this shows up since I just spent HOURS working on it in MS paint.

It's possible that it's for emergency vehicles to turn, given that the street is fairly narrow. Like I said, we also have businesses on the street and they get delivery trucks, including, occasionally, full sized tractor trailers as well. 




In the picture, the blue house and driveway are mine. The purple house and driveway belong to my lovely neighbors who shoveled my driveway yesterday and also put back my trash cans today. The green house belongs to the people in question, and their driveway is to the side, on the perpendicular street. 

So if you can see it, that yellow dot is where the no parking sign is on the street, and the red outlined section is where people are not allowed to park, and the red slashes are where they tend to leave their truck if someone is parked in the legit space right in front of that space, which is often, especially during the day.

To be fair, many people use the space (not-space) and someone left their car there for about 3 days straight once, but the people on the corner seem to use the space almost every day.

Love your diagram!   Okay, so whether or not it was ACTUALLY for emergency service vehicles, I would totally pretend it was, and probably make a casual call to my friendly neighborhood parking officer and express my concerns that the No Parking sign was being routinely ignored.   It would suck to find out the hard way that a fire truck couldn't get down your street because some self-entitled ass hole feels like he's special and can park in a No Parking zone.

[scout8]

I would call. If you ask them and they continue parking there, then you are going to be in a tough spot. You won't be able to call then as they will suspect it is you. So, I would just call now. They are parking illegally. I wouldn't feel bad about calling at all, but I have reported several neighbors on my street for not mowing their yards. So, I clearly don't have any issues with getting someone a ticket in these types of situations.

[mrsdoe]

I would leave a note or say something to them like "hey I noticed you parking there but you shouldn't since I've been ticketed there before" then if they keep doing it you can call because you already warned them they ticket there. But that's seriously ballsy of them. I park somewhere and get tickets and then find out there's some special street cleaning sign for the Third thursday of the month or something not blatantly obvious.

[soxin2]

We have a similar problem, but without the benefit of a no parking ordinance.


And I live in the boonies.