Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Florida > Miami
 [Register]
Miami Miami-Dade County
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 10-07-2008, 01:10 PM
 
38 posts, read 241,437 times
Reputation: 45

Advertisements

I live on a corner lot. I take excellent care of my house and grounds. I pay a landscaper to take of my lawn area. Across the street from my side swale is another single family home where the owner rents. He has four automobiles and one large work van (although not registered as a commercial vehicle). They do not have enough parking for their own vehicles so they park on mine - for days and weeks at a time. Once when my gardener asked them to move one car so he could mow, they claimed the battery was dead (funny how it ran an errand that very evening). They are killing the lawn under the three cars. The lan in front of their house is completely dead.

Letting my ire get the best of me, I went out one day and my wife and I planted about 20 helliconia over the swale to prevent his from parking there. He drove by and stopped and told me not to, he said his landlord told him he could park there. I said, that the upkeep and maintainance of the property are my responsibility.

Yesterday, I got a citation from the city. Apparantly, we have ordinaces about what items can and can't be in the swale. The citation claims that (the skinny 1 inch thick helliconia) obstruct the view of oncoming traffic from around the corner.

I knew that you needed to get a tree permit to plant trees, but there are garden plants, three foot tall. Now I need to go back to ther drawing board to see how I can prevent the side swale from becoming my neighbor's parking lot.

Any ideas?


--------------------------------STREET---------------------------
|..... .. _________________________________________________
| ..... | ............................Helliconias
|..... . |......______SIDE SWALE______________________________
| .... . |.....|.. ____________________________________________
S .......| . . | |
T........| ... | |
R........| F | |
E .......| R | |
E ...... | 0 | |
T ...... | N | |...........................House
| . .....|..T | |
| .. ....| ... .| |
| .......| S . | |
| ...... | W. | |
| ...... | A . | |
| .......| L.. | |
| .......| E . | |

Last edited by MattyGit; 10-07-2008 at 01:37 PM.. Reason: fixed
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 10-07-2008, 03:20 PM
 
Location: Houston, Tx
3,644 posts, read 6,281,838 times
Reputation: 1633
Good luck. I don't thinkn there is anything you can really do though since it is community property (that, as you sid, you are still responsible for). You could always try parking yoru own cars there first. Maybe your neighboor will get the hint and look for a new place to lease when his contract is up.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-07-2008, 04:29 PM
 
Location: S.E. Florida
392 posts, read 1,256,245 times
Reputation: 155
Maybe a couple of nice bolders / rocks with small flowers planted around them.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-07-2008, 04:54 PM
 
Location: Living in Paradise
5,701 posts, read 24,088,470 times
Reputation: 3064
Quote:
Originally Posted by MattyGit View Post
I live on a corner lot. I take excellent care of my house and grounds. I pay a landscaper to take of my lawn area. Across the street from my side swale is another single family home where the owner rents. He has four automobiles and one large work van (although not registered as a commercial vehicle). They do not have enough parking for their own vehicles so they park on mine - for days and weeks at a time. Once when my gardener asked them to move one car so he could mow, they claimed the battery was dead (funny how it ran an errand that very evening). They are killing the lawn under the three cars. The lan in front of their house is completely dead.

Letting my ire get the best of me, I went out one day and my wife and I planted about 20 helliconia over the swale to prevent his from parking there. He drove by and stopped and told me not to, he said his landlord told him he could park there. I said, that the upkeep and maintainance of the property are my responsibility.

Yesterday, I got a citation from the city. Apparantly, we have ordinaces about what items can and can't be in the swale. The citation claims that (the skinny 1 inch thick helliconia) obstruct the view of oncoming traffic from around the corner.

I knew that you needed to get a tree permit to plant trees, but there are garden plants, three foot tall. Now I need to go back to ther drawing board to see how I can prevent the side swale from becoming my neighbor's parking lot.

Any ideas?


--------------------------------STREET---------------------------
|..... .. _________________________________________________
| ..... | ............................Helliconias
|..... . |......______SIDE SWALE______________________________
| .... . |.....|.. ____________________________________________
S .......| . . | |
T........| ... | |
R........| F | |
E .......| R | |
E ...... | 0 | |
T ...... | N | |...........................House
| . .....|..T | |
| .. ....| ... .| |
| .......| S . | |
| ...... | W. | |
| ...... | A . | |
| .......| L.. | |
| .......| E . | |
Contact his landlord and make a complain.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-07-2008, 05:43 PM
 
10 posts, read 76,733 times
Reputation: 30
I feel for you because I've been in the exact same situation, and you cannot win.

A swale is considered public property (yet, if you the homeowner, do not mow and maintain it, you get fined and ticketed!!)

You can't modify a swale in any way without an approved permit from the City. In addition, anyone can park in front of your house on the swale as often as they please, and you can't do a thing about it.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-08-2008, 09:13 AM
 
Location: Miami
6,853 posts, read 22,367,576 times
Reputation: 2957
What about putting those "elephant turds" (not sure what they are really called) in your swale area along the road and on the property line.

Heliconia can get pretty tall, so that is probably why you got the citation for them. Some of my neighbors have royal palms in their swale area, others have other trees in the swale area.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-08-2008, 10:07 AM
 
38 posts, read 241,437 times
Reputation: 45
After more research, I have discovered that NO items, other than concrete buttons and trees are permitted. NO bushes, NO boarders, NO shrubs, NOTHING. In fact, anything other than the rounded concrete buttons (which I have and get regularly driven over) needs to be permitted. In order to plant trees you have to bring the city a survey of your land and have to pay for and sign an agreement with the city and have it notarized.

So on one hand, the county encourages Xeriscaping landscaping in ways that do not require supplemental irrigation to conserve water and help So Fla environment; just not on municipal property. On you property it's encouraged, on their property they want it grassed and mowed. Grass, of course, being just about the most anti-xeriscape plant out there.

So basically it means, my neighbor, with 5 cars for 3 adults living in their rented home, can park wherever they so choose, for however long they wish, and I have no recourse. They can tear up my lawn and I still must maintain it - or I get a citation. I was told that I was cited because they received a call (from the neighbor no doubt) so they had to come and cite me, otherwise it would have been let go.

I would encourage you all to download Miami-Dade's Golden Guide at http://www.miamidade.gov/teametro/guide_to_services.asp (broken link) for a truly eye opening read.

Last edited by MattyGit; 10-08-2008 at 10:09 AM.. Reason: fixed text
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-08-2008, 11:05 AM
 
Location: Heartland Florida
9,324 posts, read 26,645,979 times
Reputation: 5038
When my parents had that problem I put broken glass all over the swale area with barbed wire and nails. Later on I dug out the swale and filled it in with muck and kept it very wet. After the cars were getting stuck they finally stopped parking there. I also smashed a car blocking the driveway with my old truck.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-08-2008, 11:28 AM
 
38 posts, read 241,437 times
Reputation: 45
Quote:
Originally Posted by tallrick View Post
When my parents had that problem I put broken glass all over the swale area with barbed wire and nails. Later on I dug out the swale and filled it in with muck and kept it very wet. After the cars were getting stuck they finally stopped parking there. I also smashed a car blocking the driveway with my old truck.
Hmmm... I think if they are citing me for plants, then the barbed wire and nails would get a similar citation... but I so appreciate the spirit of your post... and I would love noting more than to perform the similar.

I love how Miami-Dade's ordinances tell you that you have to maintain the swale, but they also allow for your neighbors to use it at their will. At least in Miami Beach they have the following ordinances:

Only residents, their tenants and guests are allowed to park without restriction on the swale adjacent to their property.
All other swale parking is limited to temporary parking, limited to no more than six hours in any one day and no more than two times in a week.
Only one vehicle may be parked in each 20 foot section of swale.

Here - no such luck... however, if I am getting told that my 3 foot high, one inch thick plants have to go because of visibility issues, you can bet that the police will be called whenever they park there because of the same visibility issues... I hate that I have to be this sort of neighbor, but I have had it.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-08-2008, 11:37 AM
 
Location: Naples, FL
376 posts, read 1,803,331 times
Reputation: 262
I'm a little confused In my neck of the woods, "adjacent to" means abutting only YOUR property -- therefore my tenants could park in the swale in front/side of my house, but not in front of my neighbors' house. I'm in collier county so it may be different here?

I'm not understanding how "adjacent" could mean across the street ---maybe you need to start calling code enforcement everytime a vehicle is parked on the swale adjacent to your property. It might be worth your while to contact your attorney and have them prepare a letter to go to your neighbor (kind of a informational warning) and cc'd to Code Enforcement. Lot less stress on you and your wife and less confrontational with your neighbors.

Last edited by mytimenow; 10-08-2008 at 11:45 AM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Florida > Miami
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top