Arlington - Unrelated Residents in Same House Causing Parking Issue (Washington: renters, houses)

[The_Virginian]

In my neighborhood of single-family houses, the house next to mine has 5 to 6 cars, with several always parked in front of my house. This is annoying, because when my friends or family come to visit, they have to park several houses down to find an empty spot. I don't want to get into who has a right to these spaces, as that has been covered in other discussions.

What I do want to know is, does Arlington have a limit on the number of unrelated adults who can live in one house? I've heard of that in other areas, but not sure how to go about researching it for Arlington (of course I googled it, couldn't find answer). This is not a family, this is one owner who is renting out rooms.

And if Arlington does have a restriction, how would I go about getting it enforced?

[HokieFan]

According to this link, Arlington County does not address overcrowding based on the number of unrelated persons.

Code Enforcement | Building Arlington


In VA, it's illegal for 4 or more unrelated people to live in a home. But I'm not sure who you would call to report the violation.

New Virginia Law Goes After Rogue Renters | NBC4 Washington

[boyd888]

You don't have any right to the parking space on a public street in front of your home, but to actually answer your question the limit is 4 as previously mentioned, but you will not have much luck with enforcement unless it is some crazy situation like 20+ people in the house.

[robbobobbo]

Originally Posted by HokieFan

According to this link, Arlington County does not address overcrowding based on the number of unrelated persons.

Code Enforcement | Building Arlington


In VA, it's illegal for 4 or more unrelated people to live in a home. But I'm not sure who you would call to report the violation.

New Virginia Law Goes After Rogue Renters | NBC4 Washington

That states it's illegal for more than 4, not 4 or more.

[HokieFan]

Originally Posted by HokieFan

According to this link, Arlington County does not address overcrowding based on the number of unrelated persons.

Code Enforcement | Building Arlington


In VA, it's illegal for 4 or more unrelated people to live in a home. But I'm not sure who you would call to report the violation.

New Virginia Law Goes After Rogue Renters | NBC4 Washington

Originally Posted by robbobobbo

That states it's illegal for more than 4, not 4 or more.

You're right. Ooops!

[Carlingtonian]

Leave your trash cans out. That's what we do to keep the neighbors' lazy-ass nanny from parking in front of our house instead of theirs. As to enforcement, I think that's zoning enforcement you would call.

[South Jersey Styx]

Originally Posted by The_Virginian

In my neighborhood of single-family houses, the house next to mine has 5 to 6 cars, with several always parked in front of my house. This is annoying, because when my friends or family come to visit, they have to park several houses down to find an empty spot.

Not unless you have a designated handicapped sign post in front of your house. Otherwise, it's up for grabs or considered "shared space". This can be extremely annoying if you return home with a bunch of groceries, unloading furniture or shrubs, etc. -- especially if it's snowing or raining.

Not sure how/if you communicate with your neighbors, but you can ask them about being courteous and agreeing to park in front of each others' home, and overflow/friends/ family can easily park at . . . . (wherever).

We live on this kind of street too and when we first moved here, the neighbors across the street kept doing this. I don't know if it was out of habit (knowing the house was unoccupied until the new Buyers (us) moved in) or they were doing it deliberately. And, every one of them had SUVs. What was worse that on Sunday mornings, one of them would blast his music while cleaning out his car (right in front of our house). Giving them dirty looks and talking loud about them didn't work. So one day, we just wrote a note and put it on their windshield. That seemingly did the trick.

Otherwise, do as Carlington says and put your tall trash cans out there in the spot. Some neighbors use old plastic patio chairs or their recycling bins. We've had to do this during the Apple Blossom Festival Season (about 2-weeks of ongoing events, parades, and festivities) since we live downtown and people are looking for places to park.

I also had one neighbor who took a fat piece of chalk and drew parking lines in front of his house. Not legal by any means, but a humorous and effective approach.

[stateofnature]

Is it legal to block part of a public street with trash cans/chairs/recycling bins, etc.?

[Carlingtonian]

Originally Posted by stateofnature

Is it legal to block part of a public street with trash cans/chairs/recycling bins, etc.?

It's against the County code, but it's never enforced.

[stateofnature]

Couldn't somebody just move the object off the street and park there anyway, and there would be nothing the homeowner could do about it?