Question - Street Parking and Homeowners Association

[SoonerorLater]

Maybe somebody here has some experience with this kind of thing.

I was outside today when my neighbor across the street, who is President of our Homeowners Association, came over and told me we can't park our car in front of the house any longer. This is the car our daughter drives. The reason we do this is
because while our drive will fit four cars, you can only back two out at any given moment without having to move another car. She goes to school, has a part time job and is in and out at all different hours.

Let me preface this by saying there is absolutely nothing in our HOA covenants and restrictions that prohibits on street parking per se. (inoperable vehicles
are mentioned but not applicable in this case). Nor are there any signs that prohibit parking on the street. When I mentioned this he said that the car was creating a safety hazard. Asked to explain he said that if a firetruck needed to put out a fire it would impede them. I basically called BS and told him the car is 50 feet at least from the hydrant and causes no such obstruction. He then informed me we would be getting a letter from the HOA to desist. He intimated if necessary he could get the local law enforcement involved. At that point our conversation, which had gotten pretty sharp by that time, ended.

My impression is that this guy just doesn't like the way our car looks sitting on the street because it's what he sees every time he walks out his door or looks out his
front window. My question is has anybody had any experience with something like this or know somebody who has? I'm not trying to butt heads with the HOA but it would be a terrific hassle shuffling cars every morning and night when somebody wants to get out of the driveway, especially considering no restrictions or local laws are being violated to my knowledge. My first inclination is to just tell them to stuff it but I have the feeling I'm inviting extra scrutiny in other areas that might be subject to debate (along with just about every other homeowner in our neighborhood.

[olevetonahill]

IMHO If you are in line with all the Rules, tell him to go **** up a rope. How long has he been the Pres.? Sounds like he's just wantin to shake his weenie at someone.
I'd Call the Local PoPo and ask if its Legal to park in the street. if so and there is Nothing in the HOA rules about it Park ALL of your cars there.
Some times ya just have to fight the Tin pot dictators.

PS thats why I live in the Middle of 42 acres. **** em.

[olevetonahill]

Oh and If they start messin with ya on other stuff thats just minor BS Sue their asses for harassment.

[8timechamps]

I hate HOAs and typically their presidents are total d-bags (I know there are good ones out there, but not in my history).

That said, I would have been every inclined to tell him to STFU, but like you said, you could be inviting unwanted scrutiny. From what you've said, it doesn't sound like the HOA has any say in where you park your operable third car. As long as you're within the legal guidelines for parking near a hydrant (and it sounds like you are, but you may want to double check), I can't think of any reason why you would have to make other arrangements.

Maybe a resident attorney will chime in, but I think it comes down to how involved you want to get with the HOA.

Did I mention that I hate HOAs?

[8timechamps]

I don't know you outside of this message board, and I know nothing about your neighborhood, but dammit this has pissed me off. Just thought I'd add that.

[olevetonahill]

I don't know you outside of this message board, and I know nothing about your neighborhood, but dammit this has pissed me off. Just thought I'd add that.

Yup, My Sis and Bro In Law had to deal with a Lil Hitler in their HOA. They had lived there 40 years and never a Prob until this Pizzant little ****er that dint like them Got voted in and he tried to make their life hell, Especially after my BILs health went to hell.

Mostly they just told him to go **** himself and the board along with him. They got a few letters just sent em on the their attorney.

[rock on sooner]

As a former officer of an HOA, if it isn't specifically in by-laws or
covenants and there is no local city ordnance. Do nothing, let the
HOA send you a desist letter. In the letter, they should tell you by
what authority they are making the request. When it turns out that
it is a request, then by return mail, explain your situation politely
and continue what you are doing. If they persist, without legal
authority, then what Vet said, take em to court for harassment.

[olevetonahill]

As a former officer of an HOA, if it isn't specifically in by-laws or
covenants and there is no local city ordnance. Do nothing, let the
HOA send you a desist letter. In the letter, they should tell you by
what authority they are making the request. When it turns out that
it is a request, then by return mail, explain your situation politely
and continue what you are doing. If they persist, without legal
authority, then what Vet said, take em to court for harassment.

Or set a bag of flaming Dog Poop on his porch.

[rock on sooner]

Or set a bag of flaming Dog Poop on his porch.

Only do that at Halloween

[olevetonahill]

Only do that at Halloween

Ok so for now use elephant ****.

[8timechamps]

Yup, My Sis and Bro In Law had to deal with a Lil Hitler in their HOA. They had lived there 40 years and never a Prob until this Pizzant little ****er that dint like them Got voted in and he tried to make their life hell, Especially after my BILs health went to hell.

Mostly they just told him to go **** himself and the board along with him. They got a few letters just sent em on the their attorney.

I had my own "ordeal" with the HOA years ago, it got to the point that I wanted to punch the president. We both ended up being wrong, which didn't bother me at all because unlike the HOA president, I didn't make a complete *** of myself.

[SoonerorLater]

Yeah, our plan is to sell and get out of here in the next couple of years after my youngest is out of school. When we first moved here we were one of the first people in the neighborhood. Most of the people who moved here when we did moved out of larger school districts and came here for a little more casual lifestyle with less restrictions then some of the larger areas. Now a lot of those people have left and we have a more officious HOA. Our president across the street bought a waterfront golf course lot and is already PO'd that the golf course can pump out the water for the course leaving a big, near empty hole in back of his house in the summer. I think he is just on a rampage to mirror our neighborhood into the image of what he thinks it should be.

I just hate getting into a pissing contest with the guy and the HOA because I could be sited just like about everybody else in the neighborhood for one infraction or another. Including the president himself.

[Mjcpr]

Why can't you park some in the garage...that's what it's for?

[yermom]

What does that solve unless it holds 3 cars?

[SoonerorLater]

Why can't you park some in the garage...that's what it's for?

This was another point of discussion with our HOA pres today. He pointed out that everybody has room for cars in their driveway. He is correct but that isn't the issue. I have a two car garage but it doesn't make any difference. The driveway itself while kind of long only has entrance/egress two cars wide. 3 cars in the driveway or garage necessarily means somebody is parked behind somebody else which is why we park one car in the street so we won't have to go out and move a car when the one that is blocked wants to get out.

[Tulsa_Fireman]

He may have a point.

1) Most city residential streets are set-up to accommodate the width of a vehicle on each curb plus the width of passage which is usually about 8-9 feet. Start by identifying the color of the street sign. In some communities they've purposely established "private" roads that aren't municipally maintained, but not subject to access restrictions either other than primary and secondary ingress/egress points to the neighborhood itself. If your street signs are a different color than the rest of the municipality, this may be the case. (Ex. Tulsa uses red when municipal signs are green)

2) It's not just hydrant access that poses a potential problem. In fact, hydrant access is the least of a fire company's worry when it comes to tightly parked neighborhoods. Depending on the municipality, clearances for hydrant access can be as little as a three foot radius from the hydrant. The presence of a series of cars with minimal clearances forces extended lays from hydrants to drop in the only accessible thoroughfare, therefore potentially cutting off access for remaining apparatus. Not to mention the narrow clearances potentially slowing response from navigating them.

3) All this said, your resource is your Fire Department's Code Enforcement division or Fire Marshal's office. In larger municipalities this is usually done in house and an Assistant Fire Marshal can find answers specifically bound in municipal ordinance, applicable fire prevention code, and their applicability to your specific street address. They can also advise you on practical answers outside of the code so that you can face your fartknocker neighbor with the actual applicable ordinances and codes for your home and neighborhood.

I'd bet money he's trying to be the neighborhood cop and is talking out his ***. Show me a wheelman that can't cut a pumper through an 9 foot gap and I'll show you one that shouldn't be driving because he failed the DOT portion of his certification. In other words, he's full of crap. But follow up so you can make him look like the idiot he is.

[BajaOklahoma]

By the time I was a Senior in high school, we had 5 drivers at home. Our garage would only hold one car, which my mother claimed. (the other side was used for storage) We had a double driveway, which held 4 cars.
Every night, just before the 10 o'clock news, my stepfather, two brothers and I would go outside and rearrange vehicles to suit the morning plans. It wasn't a big deal, just our routine.

We did a variation of this when my sons were driving.

[Soonerjeepman]

EXACTLY why I don't ever plan to live in any neighborhood that has an association...don't want or need anyone telling me what to do...(yes I know the city has ordinances).

He's not an older dark headed smaller guy...retired doctor? lol...might be my uncle (think they just bought a house on a golf course...course it was like 500K I think or more) and he can be a condescending person most of the time.

[8timechamps]

He may have a point.

1) Most city residential streets are set-up to accommodate the width of a vehicle on each curb plus the width of passage which is usually about 8-9 feet. Start by identifying the color of the street sign. In some communities they've purposely established "private" roads that aren't municipally maintained, but not subject to access restrictions either other than primary and secondary ingress/egress points to the neighborhood itself. If your street signs are a different color than the rest of the municipality, this may be the case. (Ex. Tulsa uses red when municipal signs are green)

2) It's not just hydrant access that poses a potential problem. In fact, hydrant access is the least of a fire company's worry when it comes to tightly parked neighborhoods. Depending on the municipality, clearances for hydrant access can be as little as a three foot radius from the hydrant. The presence of a series of cars with minimal clearances forces extended lays from hydrants to drop in the only accessible thoroughfare, therefore potentially cutting off access for remaining apparatus. Not to mention the narrow clearances potentially slowing response from navigating them.

3) All this said, your resource is your Fire Department's Code Enforcement division or Fire Marshal's office. In larger municipalities this is usually done in house and an Assistant Fire Marshal can find answers specifically bound in municipal ordinance, applicable fire prevention code, and their applicability to your specific street address. They can also advise you on practical answers outside of the code so that you can face your fartknocker neighbor with the actual applicable ordinances and codes for your home and neighborhood.

I'd bet money he's trying to be the neighborhood cop and is talking out his ***. Show me a wheelman that can't cut a pumper through an 9 foot gap and I'll show you one that shouldn't be driving because he failed the DOT portion of his certification. In other words, he's full of crap. But follow up so you can make him look like the idiot he is.

SoonerorLater,

This is what you need (for advice). Follow Tulsa_Fireman's directions, then (hopefully) you can tell the president to stick it.

[SoonerorLater]

SoonerorLater,

This is what you need (for advice). Follow Tulsa_Fireman's directions, then (hopefully) you can tell the president to stick it.

Yes thanks Fireman. I will make some calls tomorrow when the offices open. I think the safety issue is just a subterfuge but I will find out. If not then we will just have to deal with moving a few cars around.

[Jammin']

Has this been resolved?

[FirstandGoal]

I don't know you outside of this message board, and I know nothing about your neighborhood, but dammit this has pissed me off. Just thought I'd add that.


I was just thinking the same thing. I live in a neighborhood that has a HOA, and the previous president lived 2 doors down from me and was a complete jackass. Thankfully he doesn't live there anymore and all of the neighborhood kids celebrated when the bastard moved. They guy would always give me a hard time about misc. stuff and I loved telling him to **** off.

[Midtowner]

As said, if this Pres. asks you to do it again, please very politely ask him to show you where in the HOA covenants or bylaws it says he has this authority. It could be that you're wrong. If you are, at least you'll know. It could be he's wrong and this will force him to do the research to confirm this fact. It sounds win-win to me.

[SoonerorLater]

We received a letter from the HOA today. It wasn't really a letter to desist like the president implied but a "Friendly Reminder" letter to the residents. Among the the "friendly reminders" was a notice not to park cars on the street for any extended period of time because it could make it difficult to respond to an emergency. Said they would be "requesting assistance" from the police to enforce this to "maintain safety" of our neighborhood. Of course this is BS because where we are at you could have cars lined on both sides of the street and still have room for two vehicles to pass each other.

Since I got home a little late and my wife had already called the city. They put her through to the Assistant Chief of Police. The guy knew exactly where we lived because he described our car. He said he has driven down the street many times before. According to him there is no problem with us parking in the street as we do now. No violations with regard to fire either. My wife said he sort of bristled when she told him the letter said his department was going to be enlisted to carry out our HOA new found safety campaign. Said they would never be involved in anything related to HOA issues.

Here is the real kicker. I went over our restrictions and covenants backwards and forwards and there is nothing about street parking (other than an inoperable vehicle restriction I mentioned in a previous post). I have lived here 12 years and have off and on parked cars in the street without a problem. Now that my neighbor across the street became HOA president, on-street parking has become a big safety issue. It's pretty clear to me the guy is trying to throw his weight around to change some things that just annoy him.

[RUSH LIMBAUGH is my clone!]

Maybe somebody here has some experience with this kind of thing.

I was outside today when my neighbor across the street, who is President of our Homeowners Association, came over and told me we can't park our car in front of the house any longer. This is the car our daughter drives. The reason we do this is
because while our drive will fit four cars, you can only back two out at any given moment without having to move another car. She goes to school, has a part time job and is in and out at all different hours.

Let me preface this by saying there is absolutely nothing in our HOA covenants and restrictions that prohibits on street parking per se. (inoperable vehicles
are mentioned but not applicable in this case). Nor are there any signs that prohibit parking on the street. When I mentioned this he said that the car was creating a safety hazard. Asked to explain he said that if a firetruck needed to put out a fire it would impede them. I basically called BS and told him the car is 50 feet at least from the hydrant and causes no such obstruction. He then informed me we would be getting a letter from the HOA to desist. He intimated if necessary he could get the local law enforcement involved. At that point our conversation, which had gotten pretty sharp by that time, ended.

My impression is that this guy just doesn't like the way our car looks sitting on the street because it's what he sees every time he walks out his door or looks out his
front window. My question is has anybody had any experience with something like this or know somebody who has? I'm not trying to butt heads with the HOA but it would be a terrific hassle shuffling cars every morning and night when somebody wants to get out of the driveway, especially considering no restrictions or local laws are being violated to my knowledge. My first inclination is to just tell them to stuff it but I have the feeling I'm inviting extra scrutiny in other areas that might be subject to debate (along with just about every other homeowner in our neighborhood.Dude is on a power trip, and you're stuck with him it seems. Vote his *** out if you can. But, in any case, he wants his way, and will gladly pee on you.

[rock on sooner]

We received a letter from the HOA today. It wasn't really a letter to desist like the president implied but a "Friendly Reminder" letter to the residents. Among the the "friendly reminders" was a notice not to park cars on the street for any extended period of time because it could make it difficult to respond to an emergency. Said they would be "requesting assistance" from the police to enforce this to "maintain safety" of our neighborhood. Of course this is BS because where we are at you could have cars lined on both sides of the street and still have room for two vehicles to pass each other.

Since I got home a little late and my wife had already called the city. They put her through to the Assistant Chief of Police. The guy knew exactly where we lived because he described our car. He said he has driven down the street many times before. According to him there is no problem with us parking in the street as we do now. No violations with regard to fire either. My wife said he sort of bristled when she told him the letter said his department was going to be enlisted to carry out our HOA new found safety campaign. Said they would never be involved in anything related to HOA issues.

Here is the real kicker. I went over our restrictions and covenants backwards and forwards and there is nothing about street parking (other than an inoperable vehicle restriction I mentioned in a previous post). I have lived here 12 years and have off and on parked cars in the street without a problem. Now that my neighbor across the street became HOA president, on-street parking has become a big safety issue. It's pretty clear to me the guy is trying to throw his weight around to change some things that just annoy him.

If I were in your position, I would send him a letter covering
all that you just mentioned, especially the part about talking
with the police. I think you should nip this now, otherwise, he'll
just keep pushing! Just my opinion....

[Tulsa_Fireman]

We received a letter from the HOA today. It wasn't really a letter to desist like the president implied but a "Friendly Reminder" letter to the residents. Among the the "friendly reminders" was a notice not to park cars on the street for any extended period of time because it could make it difficult to respond to an emergency. Said they would be "requesting assistance" from the police to enforce this to "maintain safety" of our neighborhood. Of course this is BS because where we are at you could have cars lined on both sides of the street and still have room for two vehicles to pass each other.

Since I got home a little late and my wife had already called the city. They put her through to the Assistant Chief of Police. The guy knew exactly where we lived because he described our car. He said he has driven down the street many times before. According to him there is no problem with us parking in the street as we do now. No violations with regard to fire either. My wife said he sort of bristled when she told him the letter said his department was going to be enlisted to carry out our HOA new found safety campaign. Said they would never be involved in anything related to HOA issues.

Here is the real kicker. I went over our restrictions and covenants backwards and forwards and there is nothing about street parking (other than an inoperable vehicle restriction I mentioned in a previous post). I have lived here 12 years and have off and on parked cars in the street without a problem. Now that my neighbor across the street became HOA president, on-street parking has become a big safety issue. It's pretty clear to me the guy is trying to throw his weight around to change some things that just annoy him.

Well done. Good job doing your homework on this.

If he pushes it, consider harassment. I'd hardly hesitate to lower the boom on a self-righteous ****** within the scope of the law, ESPECIALLY when said ****** is trying to act like the law is on his side.

[olevetonahill]

Dude sounds like a Big mouth with a little bitty dick.

[SanJoaquinSooner]

If the president wants no parking in the street, he should try to get the CC & Rs amended.