does anyone know (or can link to) the laws for curbside parking in a neighborhood cul de sac?
I just moved into a house at the apex of a cul de sac a couple months ago and I don't even have enough room to fit one car on my curb on either side of my driveway. Occasionally, people park next to the curb beside my driveway and their car reaches onto my neighbor's part of the curb.

at first I didn't realize it was a problem, then she started leaving notes on any car that parked there, and she finally talked to me about it. being very cordial and everything and using the excuse that she never knows when she will have a lot of people over and will need the space (even though i've never seen a single other car over there, and she leaves notes on cars who park there at odd times, like yesterday, Saturday, morning from 7-10AM)

anyway - the first time she mentioned it to me, i was caught off guard and I just told her I would do what I could and would try to tell everybody to pull into my driveway.

but if she mentions it again, or leaves another note, I want to know what the law is. Isn't curbside parking on a public street public property? Do homeowners have any right to any of the space on the curb along their property lines?

7/29/2007 9:43:22 AM

as long as you're not within 5 feet of her driveway, all she can do is bitch

7/29/2007 9:56:09 AM

^ is that a law?
we're in Raleigh city limits, btw

7/29/2007 10:01:33 AM

i know that's illegal b/c i've gotten a ticket before, but everything else should be kosher. the complete city code is here:

http://tinyurl.com/hyeej

...for your reading enjoyment

[Edited on July 29, 2007 at 10:08 AM. Reason : .]

7/29/2007 10:07:33 AM

Who owns the road, the neighborhood? If so, it's their rules you need to look at. If this is a public road and no neighborhood association, then you can park in front of anybody's house. But even then, it's a matter of courtesy.

7/29/2007 10:23:23 AM

yeah, it's public road as far as I know. There is no HOA, and it's not a named development or anything.

and I'm trying to be as courteous as I can because at my last house we had a big corner lot and yes, it did annoy me when cars would park in front of my house. But the main problem there was that there was no curb, so they would actually pull 2 wheels into my yard, which pissed me off.

So, i understand that people don't want random cars in front of their house, and I let all my guests know that (even though it requires pulling both of my cars into my grass so more cars can fit in my driveway). but what annoys me about this situation is that a normal car will extend maybe 5-7 feet into her curb, and that part of the curb is completely covered by shrubs anyway! so when she looks out from her house, she can't even see the car because it's blocked by her own bushes.

the more I think about it, the more pissed off I get. her original excuse was "you know, in case I ever have guests over, i will need the space". Yeah, that's fucking great - just let me know if you ever do (hasn't happened in 3 months), and if i happen to have someone over at the same time, then i'll let you have your 7 feet of curb back.

7/29/2007 10:33:08 AM

just b/c it's in front of your house, doesn't make it "your curb"--i don't know why people get this idea

7/29/2007 10:55:48 AM

Yea, if it's a public road she doesn't have any recourse. It's just an issue of courtesy. I would tell her that I would ask my guests not to park there unless they can't park elsewhere and offer to let her guests park in front of your house when necessary.

7/29/2007 11:01:08 AM

that seems the most logical. i mean, if they cant fit in your driveway they have to park SOMEWHERE. it is unreasonable to expect you to move your cars onto the lawn to accomidate the occassional guest.

now, if you have friends over every day then I might be able to understand her issue. i wouldnt want cars taking up the entire space in front of my yard at all time either.

7/29/2007 12:22:48 PM

BLOW UP A BAG OF SHIT ON HER PORCH

7/29/2007 12:49:59 PM

^^ yeah, that's basically my feeling. We have people over maximum once/week, and generally now I do go out and move my car down so they can fit in my driveway. So.... it's been like 1.5 months since we've had anybody over, then yesterday morning my wife had a friend come over around 7AM to leave for a bike ride, which they would be back around 10-11. Her friend parked on the curb b/c she's never been to our house, and by 9AM there was a note on the car. i mean, come on - i seriously doubt we were cramping her style by using up 5 feet of "her curb" early on a Saturday morning.

7/29/2007 6:10:41 PM

just let her leave notes

i wouldnt worry about it at all

7/29/2007 6:11:46 PM

yeah i should have read the whole thing

7/29/2007 7:02:25 PM

what?

7/29/2007 7:20:51 PM

if you read above, it doesn't sound like the cars are blocking her driveway at all. just sitting 5-7 feet on the curb in front of her property. on a public street, this is perfectly legal unless otherwise prohibited.

7/29/2007 7:22:27 PM

yeah, i think it's a closed topic. I basically wanted to know the legality of it, or if she had any legal standing as far as telling my guests to not park in front of her curb (while never encroaching on her driveway or mailbox).

I will continue to tell my guests to park in my (very small) driveway or on my grass and do my best to be a courteous neighbor (because otherwise, she is nice and I've had several good "neighborly" conversations with her). But if she brings it up to me again, I will have to tell her I will do my best to stay off her curb, but if it can't be avoided every once in a while (if I have several people over or something) then she'll have to deal with it for a few hours. I just wanted to make sure she couldn't call the cops or have cars towed or something.

[Edited on July 29, 2007 at 7:37 PM. Reason : .]

7/29/2007 7:35:53 PM

As long as parking is allowed at the curbs (aka not a "no parking zone" or within 5 feet of a driveway), I don't think she has any right to ask you/anyone to move.

7/29/2007 7:43:52 PM

when we lived on a cul de sac we would park our front bumpers against the curb so we could fit 2 cars, then more overthrow would go up on the straight part before the cul de sac starts.

never got any flack for it

7/29/2007 11:50:05 PM

Quote :

"she leaves notes on cars who park there at odd times, like yesterday, Saturday, morning from 7-10AM"

YOUR FIRST PROBLEM

SATURDAY FROM 7AM-10AM IS NOT AN "ODD" TIME

7/29/2007 11:56:26 PM

it is an odd time if her excuse for not wanting my guests to park there is if "[she] would ever be so lucky to have people over".
.... even though she has a garage and a driveway that could fit 4 cars and enough curb for 2 more cars, where as I have no garage and a driveway that fits one car comfortably (one of my cars is always half on the grass already) and no curb to fit a whole car.

7/30/2007 12:41:32 AM

Next time she brings it up, I'd let her know it isn't "her curb" if it is a public street, but that you will try to have guests park in your driveway/along your frontage as much as you can.

7/30/2007 3:31:25 AM

Next time she brings it up, I would tell her to put it on my tab and walk off. Or say, in a condescending way, that on Tuesdays and Thursdays odd number houses get the curb. When she gets super fed up and calls the cops she will look like the fool.

7/30/2007 3:47:03 AM

my neighbor parks on part of my curb. it's cool though, they put up with a lot of shenanigans and i have plenty of driveway/yard/other curb parking.

7/30/2007 3:49:32 AM

nvm

[Edited on July 30, 2007 at 3:51 AM. Reason : i was ranting...]

7/30/2007 3:49:32 AM

let me get this straight

it's ok for her guests to park in the street

but it's wrong for your guests to park in the street

7/30/2007 10:11:22 AM

It's funny how all this could apparently be solved by parking the 50 feet up the cul de sac on the straight part of the road. But that would involve your guests having to walk 50 feet...

7/30/2007 10:44:12 AM

i always thought people liked cul de sacs because of the privacy and queitness, but i thought the front yard would always be small due to the triangular shape, but parking problems brings a whole new dimension

7/30/2007 12:11:48 PM

have your guest park perpendicular to the curb, that way the are not in front of her property.

7/30/2007 12:37:37 PM

^^the main problem with cul de sacs is that people tend to run over their own kids more often, so much so, apparently, that new ones have essentially been banned in charlotte. the parking issue is mainly b/c of the bitchy neighbor not the fact that it's a cul de sac

[Edited on July 30, 2007 at 12:45 PM. Reason : .]

7/30/2007 12:40:15 PM

^ yeah i was also thinking that....a lot of kids play in culdesacs, but at the same time, backing out of the driveway into the street would seem to be difficult because you need to watch all directions, b/c anyone of your neighbors could be pulling out as well for any direction

plus the children playing

7/30/2007 12:43:29 PM

i think your neighbor wants to bwn.

7/30/2007 3:06:21 PM

somehow I doubt that.....

She has a crew cut.
And she works at the Parks Department.
.... and she drives a Jeep Wrangler.

7/30/2007 3:40:29 PM

not you. your wife.

7/30/2007 3:43:20 PM

yes, that did come to mind. My wife is always going in and out of the house wearing her biking or running clothes, or sometimes a swimsuit on the way to the pool....

7/30/2007 3:50:37 PM