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We live in a residential neighborhood of higher end homes on a quiet narrow street - only one side of the street has homes, the other side has no driveways and backs on to the rear yards of the homes one street up. When all the homes were built 10 years ago, street parking was allowed on both sides of the street, but because the street is narrow, the city put no parking signs up on the side that backed on to the backyards of the above street, leaving street parking only on the one side in front of our homes.
Our home that we purchased when new, has a fire hydrant in front. Because, at that time, there was parking on the opposite side of the street it wasn't an issue. Now fast forward ten years and we now have teenage children and 3 vehicles, and probably growing to 4 vehicles in a few months. We are tight for parking.
Availability of street parking on our street isn't an issue. At any time there may be only 1 or 2 cars parked in front of the 12 homes on our street.
So here's the question... I started legally parking on the street between my driveway and our neighbors driveway. ...This week our neighbor told us that if we want to be a good neighbour we wouldn't park in front of her house. She doesn't want vehicles in front of her home. She told me to park down the street in front of someone else. I told her that while i understand her ask, and that I would try to change it up a bit by parking in different places, she emphatically told me that she never wants us parking in front of their home as she likes to have her home clear of cars in front...
Big breath... Street parking is legal on our street. We both bought our homes when parking was allowed on the opposite side... but when i tried to appeal to reason that because we have the fire hydrant that is there to protect all our homes, we don't have available street parking, that i could not agree to NEVER park in front of their home... she closed the door on my face.
We've had reasonable interactions with this neighbour in the past and out of good neighborly etiquette, we don't want to **** her and others on our street off... But am I wrong to think that she should have come half way and agreed that as long as we don't always park in front of their home then that's ok?
I really want to tell her to go to h*ll, but that probably would make things worse.
Your neighbour may be within her rights to request that nobody else ever park in front of her house at any time. Her household may have special needs that you don't know about that require an available parking space in front of her house at all times, and she's within her rights to apply to the municipality for a reserved parking sign. That is what she should do and then if anyone parks in front of her house without authorization she can have them ticketed and towed away.
You said your household has 3 cars now, soon to be 4 cars. If all of those cars are parked on the street then that puts your family in the wrong and showing lack of consideration for the rest of your neighbours as far as street parking etiquette is concerned. You said you have a driveway so why are you not using it to park your car in? Please don't tell me that your teens have their cars parked in the driveway or that the space is taken up by non-vehicles.
I can 100% guarantee you that your neighbour that you had the disagreement with is not the only neighbour who is concerned and that all of your neighbours are already resentful and mightily pissed off at you and your teenagers for hogging so much communal parking space. She is just the first one to say something to you about it but when the 4th car appears you'll be hearing snarky comments and worse about it from more neighbours.
If you want to demonstrate good street parking etiquette and regain any respect you ever had from your neighbours you need to make your teenagers park their cars on another street altogether. Otherwise if your family continues to be street parking hogs don't be surprised when a rash of repeated vandalisms on all of your family's cars starts happening. It WILL happen, you can count on it.
There's a lot of grey area here. Unlike Zoisite, I do not agree that vandalism or anything of the like should be expected or tolerated. That is clearly illegal. Street parking that is clearly designated by city bylaws is perfectly legal. You are completely within your rights to park your car in front of your neighbor's house every day for the rest of your life if you like, as long as you follow the bylaws around maximum parking times, etc.
Now - whether this is showing good etiquette or not is another story. First off, you have too many cars. 4? Really? That's not only unsightly, it's bad for the environment. Come on, you're giving the Fraser Valley a bad name. And I really hope these cars are fully insured - and that you don't have any old clunkers or work vehicles in this mix. I certainly wouldn't want to see a ratty contractor truck, or an old RV, parked in front of my house for days on end.
The good news is that your neighbor has already chosen to be rude to you. And she's wrong to say you can NEVER park in front of her house on a taxpayer-funded street. So you don't have a lot to lose at this point. Like I said, know your legal rights (a phone call to your local parking officer can't hurt) but for the sake of your self-respect and showing a good example for your teenage children you should do the right thing. Try to avoid parking in front of anyone's house for extended periods of time, and see about expanding your driveway or coordinating your car usage so that you own fewer cars and keep them on your property.
as far as i know ( from personal experience calling City parking bylaw officers) anybody can park on their street without fear of ticket or tow if you are a resident of your city block. Had a a vehicle park often in front of my home that i did not recognize. It had Saskatchewan license plates on it. I was getting annoyed that it was very frequently paring in front of our home even tho plenty of parking right across the street/forward & back. S o i called the 311 City bylaw parking enforcement, gave details and waited. Bylaw officer came out to check out the car. Then i was called by the bylaw officer, was told the vehicle belonged to the neighbour across the street ( i think that house is an Air and B rental house...) and that the person lives across from me but had yet to switch his insurance and plates over from Ask. to BC plates ( i noted 2 months with Sask. plates had passed...). So bottom line: IF you or a neighbor park in front of another neighbor's home, there are no three hour time limit or worry of ticket and tow, as long as the bylaw officer runs the LIc. plates thru the system and shows belonging to a resident of the block, you have the right to park legally in front of any home . Trust me, for years now i have my neighbors on either side of me park in front of my house and i do the same, nobody gets ticketed or towed. Only non-residents have to abide by a 3 hour time limit of parking in front of a person's home. After 3 hours, you can cal the Bylaw officer and they do come out to ticket if the vehicle still parked in front of your home. Towing it will not happen till a certain amount of days and calls back to the bylaw enforcement.
Your neighbour may be within her rights to request that nobody else ever park in front of her house at any time. Her household may have special needs that you don't know about that require an available parking space in front of her house at all times, and she's within her rights to apply to the municipality for a reserved parking sign. That is what she should do and then if anyone parks in front of her house without authorization she can have them ticketed and towed away.
You said your household has 3 cars now, soon to be 4 cars. If all of those cars are parked on the street then that puts your family in the wrong and showing lack of consideration for the rest of your neighbours as far as street parking etiquette is concerned. You said you have a driveway so why are you not using it to park your car in? Please don't tell me that your teens have their cars parked in the driveway or that the space is taken up by non-vehicles.
I can 100% guarantee you that your neighbour that you had the disagreement with is not the only neighbour who is concerned and that all of your neighbours are already resentful and mightily pissed off at you and your teenagers for hogging so much communal parking space. She is just the first one to say something to you about it but when the 4th car appears you'll be hearing snarky comments and worse about it from more neighbours.
If you want to demonstrate good street parking etiquette and regain any respect you ever had from your neighbours you need to make your teenagers park their cars on another street altogether. Otherwise if your family continues to be street parking hogs don't be surprised when a rash of repeated vandalisms on all of your family's cars starts happening. It WILL happen, you can count on it.
.
You’re way off base here and are making a lot of incorrect assumptions.
There are no city restrictions, no one is disabled or special needs, and we have only one vehicle that is occasionally parked in the street. Your tone indicates that you believe I’m a bad neighbour - that is far from the truth. I’m the one usually plowing everyone’s sidewalks in the winter time just because I wanna to be a good neighbour. We never have parties and are quiet, we know all our neighbours and up until this, we got along well with this neighbor. No Rvs in the driveway, no garbage in the yard, we take care of our gardens and grass, and our home is one of the better kept on the street...
The issue is one neighbour who insists that no one park in front of her home...
There's a lot of grey area here. Unlike Zoisite, I do not agree that vandalism or anything of the like should be expected or tolerated. That is clearly illegal. Street parking that is clearly designated by city bylaws is perfectly legal. You are completely within your rights to park your car in front of your neighbor's house every day for the rest of your life if you like, as long as you follow the bylaws around maximum parking times, etc.
Now - whether this is showing good etiquette or not is another story. First off, you have too many cars. 4? Really? That's not only unsightly, it's bad for the environment. Come on, you're giving the Fraser Valley a bad name. And I really hope these cars are fully insured - and that you don't have any old clunkers or work vehicles in this mix. I certainly wouldn't want to see a ratty contractor truck, or an old RV, parked in front of my house for days on end.
The good news is that your neighbor has already chosen to be rude to you. And she's wrong to say you can NEVER park in front of her house on a taxpayer-funded street. So you don't have a lot to lose at this point. Like I said, know your legal rights (a phone call to your local parking officer can't hurt) but for the sake of your self-respect and showing a good example for your teenage children you should do the right thing. Try to avoid parking in front of anyone's house for extended periods of time, and see about expanding your driveway or coordinating your car usage so that you own fewer cars and keep them on your property.
Nope
We’re good neighbours, respectful, well kept home, etc... we live in the valley but there are no bus routes serving our area and needing vehicles are the only way to get to work, school or university. 3 cars now but we use the driveway and garage but occasionally use the street.
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