Fight the City (help?)

[Jacob Dryer]

Does anyone have any info on how to go about fighting the city in the issuing of parking tickets on private property?



Better explaination.. my wife had a peice of paper left on her front window today. It is a nice lengthy warning that I'm sure many people around our neighborhood got.



Parking Regulations for Residential Neighborhoods



Prohibited: Parking of motor vehicles on the unimproved surface of the front yard, corner side yard or buffer yard of a lot in a residential district. (City Code Section 25-293.1)





We live in a lower middleclass neighborhood (maybe even just lower class but I like to think I'm middle ). Houses range from 50k to 150k. Our house along with many others does not have a paved driveway, and our street has no curbs. We have what has obviously been used as a driveway and is even paved off the road as a pulloff.



Can any give some insight as to how I should fight this? They haven't issued any tickets yet, but if either of us get one I'm going to be LIVID.



I'll post some pictures tomarrow to show what I'm talking about specificly in my yard.

 

[Todd Z]

Could your neighbor just be a JERK and put it there to scare you ??



Check with neighbors that have cars parked that way..



IF not, I allways found calling the local police ( NOT 911) the actual station number is allways helpful, they will tell you what they are targeting, or if it is a real number or not...



Todd Z

 

[Debbie Sanders]

I think I would start by contacting the city(or someone in the courthouse) and ask them if it is illegal to park there. If so...why don't they have it Posted!!

 

[Jacob Dryer]

It's MY yard.



And the paper is as official as a photocopied flyer can be, I HIGHLY doubt one of the neighbors put it there.

 

[George T]

Yea go to the city office,something like that and fight it there. We got a warning for not having the snow (more like ice) when they were the ones that piled it there two weeks after a big blizzard (the first time a snow plow seen in that blizzard). Tried fighting but they jsut made us do it. In your situation it is permanent and pretty serious.( i think)

 

[shawn stonbraker 2]

That's a load!!! It's your yard and you can do whatever you want with it. I would call the courthouse and see what they are thinking. Some Lawyers here will give first consult free. Look around to see if one in your area would be willing to give some advice. Just a thought. But really, it's your property, you pay the taxes on it, and if they don't like it, they can pay the taxes on it and you can then abide by what they want you to do.:wacko:

 

[Gene Zenk]

Our city has similar regulations. You can't park in the area between the sidewalk and the street unless it is paved. Graveled areas are not adequate. I think there's more to it than that, but that's the basics.



We have a large population of both legal and illegal immigrants (estimated at 1500-2000 of 7000 people) and have trouble with more people living in a house than it was intended for. Which stresses the home's utility services (water, sewer and electricity). 10 or 15 people living in a house designed for 4 people probably stress the home's electrical system significantly at certain times of the day; which can overload circuits, cause fires, etc. We've had people try to heat parts of a house with space heaters and cool them with window air conditioners that were never intended to be occupied (some attics and basements). It's definitely easier to make sure 4 occupants of a residence are accounted for than 10 or 15 if the home is on fire; which has a direct effect on what the firefighters do and the peril they place themselves into.



So, the city started enforcing existing ordinances and creating new ones to try and get a handle on this problem. One of them was that parking areas must be paved due to having several cars parked in the yard around some houses. One morning, I counted 11 cars prior to this ordinance parked in the yard at one house - which is somewhat common.



Ridiculous or not, it's easier to enforce ordinances on cars parked outside of a residence than count how many related and unrelated people live in a house.



So, I'm not saying this is right in your area but there are some legitimate reasons for doing this even if they are feeble attempts to fix other problems.

:wacko::blink:

 

[Jacob Dryer]

Thats all fine and dandy except we have 2 cars and no paved parking area. Like I said I'll have some pictures tomarrow to show what I'm talking about but you can tell it was "ment" to be parked on and just happens to have grass.

 

[Judd Quarles]

We used to have something like that here...the city didn't want you to park on your front yard because it didn't look good. You could park in the back, it just couldn't be visible from the street. But, then some people reminded our leaders about some other things that didn't look good (including some city owned property) and the issue kind of went away. Now I notice people pretty much do whatever they want in the way of parking. Of course, I feel that since I own my property and pay my taxes that I should be able to do whatever I want unless it is somehow dangerous to the public...which parking a car for a few minutes is not! In fact, to me it is more dangerous to park it on the street where drivers have to avoid it.

 

[Ron N]

I FOUND YOUR MUNICODE ON THE SUBJECT. I ALSO FOUND A PERMIT IF YOU WANT TO INSTALL A DRIVEWAY IF THAT HELPS._RON Sec. 25-293.1. Parking of motor vehicles on the unimproved surface of the front yard, corner side yard or buffer yard of a lot in a residence district.

(a) It shall be unlawful to park or store, or cause or allow to be parked or stored, any motor vehicle on an unimproved surface, including, but not limited to dirt or grass, or in an area not approved by the director of public works, in the front yard, corner side yard or buffer yard of a lot in a residence district.

(b) For purposes of this section the term "motor vehicle" shall be defined as set forth in Virginia Code section 46.2-100; and the terms "front yard", "buffer yard", "corner side yard", "residence district", and "lot" shall be as determined, defined, and set forth in the city's zoning ordinance.

(c) Any designated special police officer, fire marshal or any of his assistances, or law enforcement officer may enforce the provisions of this section.

 

[Woppy V]

Man alive! I have never heard of that in our part of Va. I have in Jersey. Normally these kind of restrictions only exist in neighborhoods where there is a large flow of traffic. And even then its due to the fact that someone called the police complaining. I would bang on the neighbors doors and finding out what they think. u might get some answers and if u dont... make it known that if they do it again hell will will follow with you.

 

[Matthew W]

Check with zoning ... here in Ohio that would be covered under municipal/township zoning regulations ... and have been upheld by many courts.

 

[Johnny O]

It's MY yard.

That's a load!!! It's your yard and you can do whatever you want with it.

Wrong. They have codes and laws and taxes that tell you what you can and cannot do with your property. You might not like it, but that's how it is. Town told me about 10 years ago I had to put in a new sidewalk, either at my expense or they would pay someone to do it and put a lien on my house at 18% annual interest. My house might be my house but if I don't pay the property taxes on it every year the government will kick me out and sell it out from under me to someone else.

There is no private property, you only rent your property from the government for the duration of your life and if you don't have your will done up right, the government will take it then too.

 

[TrainTrac]

Best way to deal with it if you don't agree: Get a lawyer.

 

[Gypsy me]

Yep check with city zoning if you are in a city or check with county zoning if in a county.



Put a sign up, private drive way. Good luck JD!

 

[Thomas Rogers]

You can't fight city hall.



Sure, folks, it's your property. But we all have to live by the zoning boards laws. Don't like it, then vote new board members in and lobby for a change.



If it really bothers you put in a driveway. Of course, you will need permits and an okay to do that too.



TJR

 

[Richard L]

Cities pass those kinds of ordinances all the time.



Somebody drives down the street and sees a car parked where they don't think it should be parked and they complain to the city that it looks unsightly. If enough complaints come in, the city may pass an ordinance that restricts parking.



We recently received a notice in the local paper stating the my town will not allow you to park an unregistered vehicle in your own private driveway if it is visible from the street?? The did qualify it by saying that the vehicle had to be easily recognized as inoperable as well as unregistered. You can park it on your property as long as it is behind a privacy fence. There are also some neighborhoods in our town that will not allow you to park an RV, Motorhome, or boat in your driveway if it sticks out further than the front wall of your house.



Somebody has deem this to be unsightly and that somebody probably has a lot of pull with city hall. I say, if you don't like the looks of my car in my driveway, then just don't look at it!



Last year I got a notice that a tree branch from a tree in my front yard was overhanging the street by less than 14 feet? The offending branch was actually about 18-20 ft high but a wispy little twig was bowing down to about 13-14 feet, but it only went out to about the curb, not really over the street.



Since we don't get truck traffic on our residential street, I'm really not sure what the problem was? And I had trimmed the tree just a few weeks before because a branch was hanging too low over my sidewalk. Anyway, I trimed a few branches off with my pole saw and I noticed a few of my neighbors trimming their trees as well.



As for fighting city hall, I don't think there is much hope without a lawyer, and since they won't make any money off the case they won't touch it. The only condition would be if there were a lawyer living in the same neighborhood as you...What do you think the changes of that are? And if there were a lawyer living there, he/she may be the ones who started complaining.:wacko:



...Rich

 

[Dre L]

Blame that on trying to keep the neighborhood looking upscale.

 

[Johnny O]

Pffft, if you think city ordinances are bad you oughta see homeowners' association rules. Check that stuff out before you buy a house. If I had to put up with the stuff that my parents do in FL and my sister does where she lives in OH, I'd be up on the roof with a rifle.

 

[Scott Doughtie]

JohnnyO hit the nail right on the head...a local ordinace listed above is a standard verbage in neighborhood association convenants. They may be a pain in the rear, but you made a choice to live there knowing there are covenants and/or it is your duty to seek out what local/neighborhood restrictions are in place.



The last house I bought came with covenants 75 pages long. The rules ranged from the normal: no burning or unapproved additions; to the obscure/insane: garage doors cannot be left open and you cannot plant fake plants - of course, all planting must be approved too. And there is always the stipulation that all of the covenants are in additon to any current and/or future local, state, or federal laws that may be applicable. There is typically no way to avoid this stuff. Live with it.