Neighbor keeps boat on lawn in Port Washington -- is this legal? (Hempstead: houses, neighborhood)

[LuvLI]

I have a neighbor who keeps his boat on his lawn to the side of his driveway pretty much year round, with the exception of the few short weeks he actually has it in the water during the summer. This has been the second year that his boat has been parked on his lawn.

He also tests his boat from time to time -- it has an outboard motor -- and was wondering about the legality of that, too.

At the risk of sounding like a snob, the sight of that boat is beginning to get to me, to say the least. It seems to have become a permanent fixture on an otherwise nice piece of property. It really does seem to cheapen the look of the neighborhood. I've tried to bring up the subject of the boat to him, but I find it difficult to say what I want to say, and also figure that this sort of thing would make anyone defensive.

Are there any laws against this sort of thing in Port Washington, or in the Town of North Hempstead in general?

[Coachgns]

I recall a lawsuit in Port Wash about 10 years ago over this exact issue. I do not recall the outcome however. Newsday & News 12 both carried the story, pointing out the appropriate street names. The boat was at the intersection of Boat Ln & Dock Ln.Same property?

[LuvLI]

Boat Lane and Dock Lane? Talk about irony!

No, the boat is in an entirely different neighborhood. I guess the fact that there was a lawsuit kind of indicates that it might not be an ordinance issue, but more of an esthetic (quality-of-life, maybe?) one.

I did look at North Hempstead code on-line, but their search feature leaves a lot to be desired.

[Coachgns]

The irony of the name was the lead of the News 12 story. May have been on the city broadcast channels,too. I lived in the area, and it caused quite a stir.

TRying to use the N Hempstead Code online is virtually impossible. I tried to do it once - ended up going to the offices & asking questions in peron. When I mentioned how difficult it was to use, the clerk laughed.

[modmondays]

Originally Posted by LuvLI

I have a neighbor who keeps his boat on his lawn to the side of his driveway pretty much year round, with the exception of the few short weeks he actually has it in the water during the summer. This has been the second year that his boat has been parked on his lawn.

He also tests his boat from time to time -- it has an outboard motor -- and was wondering about the legality of that, too.

At the risk of sounding like a snob, the sight of that boat is beginning to get to me, to say the least. It seems to have become a permanent fixture on an otherwise nice piece of property. It really does seem to cheapen the look of the neighborhood. I've tried to bring up the subject of the boat to him, but I find it difficult to say what I want to say, and also figure that this sort of thing would make anyone defensive.

Are there any laws against this sort of thing in Port Washington, or in the Town of North Hempstead in general?

You dont sound like a snob at all . ..you sound absolutely "in-the-right" to me. How about those houses with about 10 cars in their driveway all the time? That one ticks me off too..... Go for it with your town hall...there must be ordinances concering this stuff....

[OhBeeHave]

Originally Posted by LuvLI

I have a neighbor who keeps his boat on his lawn to the side of his driveway pretty much year round, with the exception of the few short weeks he actually has it in the water during the summer. This has been the second year that his boat has been parked on his lawn.

He also tests his boat from time to time -- it has an outboard motor -- and was wondering about the legality of that, too.

At the risk of sounding like a snob, the sight of that boat is beginning to get to me, to say the least. It seems to have become a permanent fixture on an otherwise nice piece of property. It really does seem to cheapen the look of the neighborhood. I've tried to bring up the subject of the boat to him, but I find it difficult to say what I want to say, and also figure that this sort of thing would make anyone defensive.

Are there any laws against this sort of thing in Port Washington, or in the Town of North Hempstead in general?

Town of N Hempstead Code Re: Noise
Noise disturbances prohibited.
(1) No person shall make, continue or cause to be made or continued any noise disturbance at any time.


(2) In determining whether a violation of this section exists, the following factors shall be considered:
(a) The volume and intensity of the sound;


(b) The vibration intensity of the sound;


(c) Whether the nature of the sound is usual or unusual;


(d) Whether the origin of the sound is natural or unnatural;


(e) The volume and intensity of the background sound, if any;


(f) The proximity of the sound to residential sleeping facilities;


(g) The nature and zoning of the area within which the sound emanates;


(h) The time of day or night the sound occurs;


(i) The duration of the sound; and


(j) Whether the sound is recurrent, intermittent, or consistent.







B. Specific prohibitions. The following acts and the causing thereof are declared to be in violation of this chapter:
(1) Radios, television sets, musical instruments and similar devices.
(a) Operating, playing or permitting the operation or playing of any radio, television, phonograph, drum, musical instrument, sound amplifier or similar device which produces, reproduces or amplifies sound:
[1] Between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m. in such a manner as to create a noise disruption across a real property boundary or within a noise-sensitive zone.


[2] In such a manner as to create a noise disruption at approximately 50 feet from such device, when operated in or on a motor vehicle on a public right-of-way or public space or in a boat on public waters.


[3] In such a manner as to create a noise disruption to any person other than the operator of the device, when operated by any passenger on a common carrier.

[LuvLI]

Thank you for the information about the noise (which luckily is infrequent, but disturbingly loud when it happens).

I don't really know this neighbors well, and for all I know he and his family might be fine people and not even realize how this boat makes their property look, or how annoying it is to hear them run the motor (I don't even live all that close to them, and it's really, really LOUD). But most of all, keeping a boat on a lawn, or even a driveway, isn't exactly appealing after even a short period of time -- and this has been anything but short.

I will keep digging for answers. I've wanted to avoid involving the town, but I suppose it couldn't hurt to at least find out if there are any laws against this.

[Port North]

Why don't you just go over and talk to the guy and politely let the guy know how you feel about it. No, instead you have to be all sneaky about it and get the town involved.

That's what I hate about Long Island, people just can't live and let live, they always are in everyone else's business. It's a boat, people aren't going think negatively about a neighborhood just because someone has a boat in their driveway. Don't you have better things to worry about?

I have to laugh that people on LI worry about boats but ignore the illegal aliens living 50 to a house two doors down. They are ignored because god forbid they don't have illegal workers to cut the lawn for them!

[LuvLI]

I have tried bringing it up directly to him (I even mentioned that in my post), but that didn't seem to make much impact. Perhaps I was being too tactful about it with him, for fear of putting him on the defensive (which I also mentioned I was trying to avoid). I've never been in anyone's business, but this is going on two years. I've seen plenty of renovations around me, for example, that I know were done without permits, and have never said a word about them -- even though every single bit of work I've ever had done on my own house was done WITH the benefit of permits.

I don't care what improvements people make to their houses, but boats parked in driveways don't seem like much of an improvement to me, anyway.

You don't know me, or anything about me, so don't assume I would have no problem with "illegal aliens living 50 to a house two doors down." If my neighborhood had this sort of issue -- and as far as I can tell, it doesn't -- you can bet I would do something about it. And I don't need anyone to cut the lawn for me, thank you. I do pretty well on my own.

[ClarkStreetKid]

It's not a boat, but an amphibious patio.
Boats on the lawn were very common on the Island, at least in my old neighborhood.