Does anyone know if this is even legal?

[flybye023]

We've been having issues with one of our neighbors and parking. I'll try and describe the layout. We live in a cul-de-sac. This guy is on the west side of the entrance. His house is on the corner lot with sidewalk on the south and east sides of his home with the driveway on the south. There's really only one section that has parking and that's along that east side. There used to be room for four cars.

However, he bought a boat a couple of years back and that's when the trouble started. Last summer he pretty much parked his boat in the spot the whole summer. He took it out, I think, only once. Then he built a parking pad/boat ramp/driveway in his yard which took up 1 1/2 spots approximately. Lately, he's been doing some kind of car restoration/repair and has replaced the boat with a trailer. Even with the pad though, he still will park several of his cars widely spaced to take up all that parking if given the chance.

This afternoon when I got home, though, there was a disabled parking sign planted in his yard and a blue rectangle painted on the street in front of it. We think it's BS and that he is just trying to reserve that whole curb for himself.

I have tried the city website and can find absolutely nothing talking about residential parking, period. So my question is twofold--is this even possible, and where do we start to find out if it is, in fact legit? The police? DMV? Like I said, I haven't been able to find any rules on residential parking so I'm kind of at a loss as to where to start.

[ApolloSZ]

I'd say contact parking enforcement/police on a non-emergency line, and ask them if the parking sign is legit or not. If not... park there with impugnity!!!

But I'm evil like that.

[BookstoreEscapee]

Call the police non-emergency line, and if they can't help they should be able to tell you who to contact.

[Solumina]

This sounds like one of the few cases where a HOA would actually be helpful.

[Seshat]

He has the right to control what occurs on his own space.

He cannot control who parks where in municipal/shared space, except by agreement with the appropriate authority.

[Eric the Grey]

While I don't know, I could see getting a permit to put such a space in, provided he or one of those living in his house is in need of it.

What I would do is, the first time one of his cars is parked there, without a handicapped sticker or tag, call the police and have him towed.

I'm evil like That!


Eric the Grey

[draggar]

What I would do is, the first time one of his cars is parked there, without a handicapped sticker or tag, call the police and have him towed.

You don't need to be evil - you have no idea how quickly one tow will make people who abuse parking or even park illegally change their habits.

We had a problem with people parking on the front lawns (it damages the lawns as well as the sprinkler systems). Any given day we'd have 3-5 cars parked there. The old board did jack for it but when the new board took over the first offender got towed. No one has parked there since.

The same with people who don't live in this community parking in our spaces.

[lordlundar]

You don't need to be evil

You are no fun, you know that?

[Exaspera]

Sneak out some night and steal the sign. Easy!

[taxguykarl]

Back to query in the OP: Public works or your city engineer would know about the status of the handicapped parking and signs in the public right-of-way. The zoning board would know about building permits.

[protege]

I'm sure the fact that the boat or trailer is parked on the street...violates the code in many areas. I know that it does where I live. As such, I think your area's government would be very interested in what the guy is up to

[drunkenwildmage]

Might want to also call the local road commission...

My Guess is that the sign and the space are "legit" as far as the city is concerned.. Probability just needed a doc to sign off on it. I've seen around here where the space is reserved for either a curtain address, or even License plate number.

As far as the trailer..

The laws around here state that a boat/trailer/RV needs to be parked either on the side of the house or behind the house where it can't be visible from the street, and not parked on the grass....I believe that is fairly common..

[flybye023]

Well, I called the general police line this morning. They were very interested to hear about the sign and thought it was "very weird" that there was a disabled sign in a residential area. They suspected as I did, that he may have stolen the sign from somewhere so I was transferred to dispatch. They sent an officer out to check it out.

I received a call from her about an hour later and she said that the sign was definitely not supposed to be there. She pulled up the blue rectangle (turns out it was painter's tape, not spray paint) and left a notice on his door that he needs to remove the sign within 24 hours.

She also said that Code Enforcement showed up about the same time she did and they were not happy at all. I confirmed with her that all the parking in our neighborhood--not just our cul-de-sac-- is city parking and available to anyone, first come, first serve.

When I got home though, the neighbor was out in his driveway doing something to the front of his house. The sign is still up. However, the office did tell me that both she and Code Enforcement will be driving by tomorrow and if it is still there, they won't be as lenient.

So we'll have to wait and see.

Eric the Grey: My dad said the same thing. He was like, "If this is the game he wants to play, then he's going to have to play by the rules."

[BookstoreEscapee]

Well, I called the general police line this morning. ...

This post made me smile. Schadenfreude is a wonderful thing.

[protege]

She also said that Code Enforcement showed up about the same time she did and they were not happy at all. I confirmed with her that all the parking in our neighborhood--not just our cul-de-sac-- is city parking and available to anyone, first come, first serve.

My borough's like that too. Still, it doesn't stop the nutjobs who live next door to my parents...from calling the cops on people "parking illegally." And yes, I park there just to torque them off