Neighbor Continuously Parked in Front of my House

[KNS]

Looking for opinions...

I live at the and of a circular cul-de-sac. A couple of the homes (like mine) have space for a front yard and sidewalk. A couple of the others have a pie shaped front yard and no space to park a vehicle in front of their home.

One of my next door neighbors has been parking their car in front of my house for the last couple of years and has never asked if it was okay to do so. I believe he feels it's alright because a fellow neighbor with multiple cars - and no front yard - parks one of their cars in front of their next door neighbor's house. That neighbor's drive way is already full with no room for additional vehicles, this is understandable.

My neighbor has two driveways, one a is a two car width and the other has a single car width. Yet, their driveways are empty and rarely used for parking their own cars. Now said neighbor is parking a second car in front of my house. This same neighbor also has a non running truck parked in front of the neighbor on their opposite side (that house is empty and is currently unoccupied - awaiting sale and new owners).

So, basically three cars in the street and none of them parked in the empty driveways.

This is a nice neighborhood yet the cars in front of my house (forgive me for sounding like a snob) are not well kept. One leaves oil spots on the pavement.

I've been meaning to say something for a while and now this second car pisses me off. A friend said to see if I can get a collective opinion before I go off half-cocked.

What's the best way to approach this? They're otherwise okay neighbors.

Sorry for the long post.

[HobieMarty]

Give em an inch...
Sounds like this should've been addressed several years ago.
Why would they not park in their own driveway?

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[Zeke]

Neighborhood etiquette went away years ago. You can politely discuss this and see what the reaction is. Don't be surprised if the neighbor is clueless and what's more, gets pissed off at you for bringing it up. After the fact, anything you do or cause to be done will come right back to you.

The oil drops are one leverage you can use by reporting to whatever environmental hazard enforcement you have available. The 3 day parking rule is in effect in many places.

[Scott Douglas]

We have a similar problem with all the 'boarders' living in the ADU's the city has allowed to be built recently. Between the two houses across the street there are probably 14 cars among them. And no one uses their garage to put cars in either.
We recently got new pavement on our street and one of the neighbors cars was leaving oil stains on the asphalt. I told the owner that I'd be coming after him for any decrease in property value due to his car messing up the pavement if/when I go to sell my house.
Who wants to buy a house on a nice street that has oil all over the parking in front?
Needless to say, no one cares around here and my guests can rarely park in front of our house when they come to visit because of all the cars now.
Thankfully I don't have to look at the neighbors right next door. Their yard looks like a used car lot most days, they don't use their garage and only one of their boarders gets to park in their driveway. The other is usually in front of my house.

[rwest]

Just a point, but where I live, the street is legally fair game and anyone can park on the street in front of my house within the time limit or snow restrictions.

I would think most towns are like that, so just because it is in front of your house has no bearing on who can park there, so your only real solution would be to ask politely or park your car there before they can.

[KNS]

Doing a little delayed research on the subject -

It seems neighborhood streets are considered public property and one can park in front of your house if I'm reading the rule correctly.

However, a non running car is considered inoperable and can't be parked on the street long term. Nor can one have leaking fluids as that can also be considered inoperable.

[Cajundaddy]

Different towns have different rules but usually it is completely legal to park anywhere on a public street that is not marked "no parking". It is also usually legal to park in front of your house every day unfortunately. Check your local street parking ordinances for specifics first before proceeding. Cars that are not running, derelict, or slobber oil all over the street are usually exceptions and can be cited.

I would know the local laws first before proceeding but *might* leave a dear neighbor note on the car and ask him to kindly park the heap somewhere other than in front of your house every day as a courtesy to you. Then he will have your neighborly gratitude. If the problem persists, use the city ordinances and rat him out to the Popo. He will certainly know who did it and may retaliate but slobbering oil all over the street is no bueno.

We had a guy in the neighborhood who had several derelict vehicles on the street and neighbors got together and had him cited. The cars are gone so either he sold them or put them in a storage yard. He owns an appliance repair biz and often derelict washers or ranges would be on his driveway for months. Those are gone too. Sometimes the city needs to be involved to prevent blight.

Best of luck!

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Write down what you want to say. Repeat it a few times. Edit. Repeat. Think of possible responses. Edit. Practice with responses in mind. Knock on door. Say script. Probably done as long as you are prepared for possible responses.

[vash]

I live in a similar culdesac. I feel your pain.

I hate confrontations for the most part, so most of my solutions are passive aggressive. like keeping my old truck and camping out in front with it. hahha...

my 96 year old neighbor doesnt even have a car and she will cane-walk her ass right over there and badger them..hahah...scary. nobody parks in front of her place out of fear.

sucks, bottom line, it is only etiquette and politeness governing here, you have no other grounds. so maybe and adult conversation and a tray of cookies?

[cabmandone]

If it's a public street they're well within their rights to park there and have no responsibility to ask. That's the legal answer. The right answer is, the neighbor should ask if it's okay. That's what a good neighbor would do. My son bought a house last year. The neighbors across the street parked in front of the house even though there is enough room for them to park their cars on their side of the street. It seems they don't understand how to use reverse in their vehicles. Anyhow, we were remodeling his home and their vehicle was parked right in the middle of the space in front of his house... so we parked their car in. After that I started asking them if they'd move their car when I needed to park out front with my trailer. The neighbor said "it's a public street you know?" I said, remember that when my trailers are parked in front of your house and my truck is parked in front of my son's. My son didn't want to cause any trouble and asked me not to park my trailers in front of their house. I didn't. They still park in front of his house. I could have fixed the problem. I did decide to pressure wash his sidewalk while their car was parked in front of his house. That nice black mold that grows on concrete ended up all over the side of their car.

[Rick Lee]

Everyone hates HOAs until you get a neighbor like this one.

[john70t]

They have the means to store on their own property..but chose not to. Instead you are now affected. Kind of a clueless move to say the least. I would take a few cookies over and try to catch more flies with honey. Maybe one spouse doesn't like it either. It's a small thing, and they are legally able to, but you'll find out who they are after starting a nice conversation. Most people don't seek out unneeded negativity. Maybe he thinks you don't care either way or something. Maybe he starts griping about the other neighbor and you just made a friend.

Getting the local constables involved is a big step down imo.
Then 3hr parking zones, Buying permits to park in front of your own house. etc Everybody loses.

Or. Friday night Pelican party?
https://www.pelicanparts.com/More_Info/PEL3768SCH02A.htm?pn=PEL-3768SCH02A&bc=c&SVSVSI=

[Zeke]

Of course streets are public unless they are governed by an HOA or actually privately owned as in a gated development. Gated is the case for my wife's daughter and even they have trouble now and then.

As I said, neighborhood politeness is dead. Being as it is now instead of times past, you might as well regard your neighbors for who they are. If they are thoughtless dirt bags then that's what you get. Consider them just that and live life as it has become.

Cities are the sewers of the world. Some stink more than others. Just look at many members here that have a few acres and see that they don't have as many problems. I live in a city mainly for my own convenience. I behave like I live way far out in the country.

I do have some consideration when making noise. Building some cars from frame up has resulted in me making a lot of noise at times. I try my best to do this when there are a lot of planes overhead (200 flights a day right over the house), when gardeners are blowing dirt everywhere, and maybe when the 3 different trash trucks are out in the alley. The city is a noisy sewer, I just try to stink a little less.

But the neighbors are oblivious. I'm just happy I don't have to carry a gun while outside (yet).

(edit) Google AI blurb:
Long Beach Airport (LGB) sees roughly 1,000+ total daily operations, with around 58 commercial flights (41 minimum + extras) plus many more general aviation (private/flight school) flights, making it very busy for general aviation despite commercial caps, leading to high overall traffic daily, averaging over 1,000 operations/day as of late 2023.

[greglepore]

Publicly dedicated street is one thing-public property subject to ordinances, privately maintained HOA street or condo property another, subject to their rules.
Most towns have ordinances about unregistered/inop vehicles parked in public rights of way setting time limits. Whether you chose to reach out to authorities is up to how roasted you feel.
Edit-Zeke beat me to it as I was typing, so mostly reduntant

[stevej37]

collective opinion or nothing

[speeder]

Originally Posted by cabmandone

If it's a public street they're well within their rights to park there and have no responsibility to ask. That's the legal answer. The right answer is, the neighbor should ask if it's okay. That's what a good neighbor would do. My son bought a house last year. The neighbors across the street parked in front of the house even though there is enough room for them to park their cars on their side of the street. It seems they don't understand how to use reverse in their vehicles. Anyhow, we were remodeling his home and their vehicle was parked right in the middle of the space in front of his house... so we parked their car in. After that I started asking them if they'd move their car when I needed to park out front with my trailer. The neighbor said "it's a public street you know?" I said, remember that when my trailers are parked in front of your house and my truck is parked in front of my son's. My son didn't want to cause any trouble and asked me not to park my trailers in front of their house. I didn't. They still park in front of his house. I could have fixed the problem. I did decide to pressure wash his sidewalk while their car was parked in front of his house. That nice black mold that grows on concrete ended up all over the side of their car.

This is the correct answer. And I have about 10 cars + an RV that I could park in front of their house. Hell, if someone wants to be a big enough AH, I'll pay some bum to park his RV in front of their house and take a dump on their lawn every morning.

FWIW, I have exactly one car on the street and it's a Mini on a street with apartments and tight street parking. No one has an expectation of parking in front of their building, we're happy to be anywhere on the block. When I want to drive that car, I pull my other one out of the garage and switch them.

If people are nice, I'm Prince Charming. If they want to be a prick, I'll show them how it's done. Show them the deficiencies in their technique.

[Cajundaddy]

Fun story:
A family friend had a small bayside beach bungalow on the Balboa peninsula near The Wedge. It was probably built in 1950 and was still an original 1 story with huge 3 story renovations being built all around them. Across the street is a public beach access to the bay side with a children's beach and small pier. During mornings and evenings they had an amazing view from their front picture window and could watch the boats coming and going but during peak hours the beach park attracted a lot of cars who parked in front of his house completely blocking their idyllic view.

He got to know the city workers while often out walking and saw them painting a red curb downtown one day. He casually ask them what paint they used that would hold up in the harsh beach environment and they showed him a can. He then went out and bought a can of this red paint and after dark one night went out, taped off his curb and painted it red to keep the flat landers from blocking his view. It worked like a charm and forever after the city workers maintained this red curb, repainting as necessary every few years. Idyllic view preserved!

He is gone now but I think the little beach bungalow is still an original one story with an amazing view of the bay from the living room window. Miracles do happen.

Another possible solution that some have use to keep vagrants away from their property: Change out all of the parkway sprinkler heads from 180* to 360* and make sure that parkway gets well irrigated 2x per day, every day, all year. He will get the message and move on.

[speeder]

Originally Posted by Zeke

Of course streets are public unless they are governed by an HOA or actually privately owned as in a gated development. Gated is the case for my wife's daughter and even they have trouble now and then.

As I said, neighborhood politeness is dead. Being as it is now instead of times past, you might as well regard your neighbors for who they are. If they are thoughtless dirt bags then that's what you get. Consider them just that and live life as it has become.

Cities are the sewers of the world. Some stink more than others. Just look at many members here that have a few acres and see that they don't have as many problems. I live in a city mainly for my own convenience. I behave like I live way far out in the country.

I do have some consideration when making noise. Building some cars from frame up has resulted in me making a lot of noise at times. I try my best to do this when there are a lot of planes overhead (200 flights a day right over the house), when gardeners are blowing dirt everywhere, and maybe when the 3 different trash trucks are out in the alley. The city is a noisy sewer, I just try to stink a little less.

But the neighbors are oblivious. I'm just happy I don't have to carry a gun while outside (yet).

Wow, sorry to hear about Long Beach. I knew that it wasn't the greatest place but what I've seen of it wasn't that bad. I live in a crowded but trendy neighborhood and it's nothing like you describe. Not a sewer and no need to carry a gun, at least not for 28 years.

[Por_sha911]

After a couple of years (?) this inconsiderate jerk assumes that you are OK with it since you haven't said anything.
Park in his driveway and leave a polite note on your windshield to have them call you so you can talk.

[billybek]

A few years back, one of my new neighbors started parking his cars in front of my house.

That changed when I parked my long box extended cab 3/4 ton truck directly in front of his place for a few days. Message received, no further conversation was required.