04-25-2010, 08:05 PM
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#1
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Powerplay Quarterback
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Residential Bylaw Issue (Vehicles/Parking)
I'm running into a bit of a situation here and just wanted some advice/comments. This is my first home so I'm not used to these types of issues.
Anyways, three weeks ago (the first weekend of April) I'm about to drive to my girlfriend's house so she can drop me off to the airport for a Vegas trip. When I get outside I see that there is a tow truck parked along my driveway, preventing me from leaving, and it's dropping a large snow shovel (the type you attach to the front of a truck) on their driveway. I asked him why he was doing this and told him to leave and he refused and said the neighbour told him to do so. I confronted the neighbour and he just laughed at me and resorted to calling me names.
So after everything is said and done the tow truck dropped of a truck as well as this snow plowing blade. The truck is actually broken down, it has no hood, it has no front bumper/fender, and is rusting like there's no tomorrow.
I called the bylaw unit and made a complaint (April 4th) but nothing has really happened. The bylaw officer, who didn't seem happy when I talked to him, said he gave them notice and they will move their truck. This has yet to happen and it doesn't look like the home owners aren't making an effort to even fix the truck or move it. To add to the drama they've now parked a blue van (GMC Safari) along the road, directly behind the truck and snow blade so if the city were to try and tow the truck this van would be in the way. They parked it there on Friday and it hasn't moved since. It also has a flat right tire so I doubt it'll be moved any time soon.
These neighbours have about four vehicles (two working ones and two broken down ones) and it's turned into a parking lot around my house. Is there anything else I can do? Does the city actually aggressively enforce the bylaws? I don't want to talk to the neighbour because he's already made it known (through his comments) that he think I'm a certain type of person and doesn't even want to talk to me.
As a side note, he doesn't like me very much because he asked me to pay for a fence he put up. Well, he didn't really ask me. He dug holes, put posts in, bought all the supplies, hired a contractor, and then told me I have to pay for it. Since I refused to (as I never had any input on it whatsoever) he wasn't too happy. That's why I think he let the tow truck park on my property. My only worry is that because he has absolutely no respect for my property I'm worried what he/they might do in the future.
Any comments or advice would be great!
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04-25-2010, 08:10 PM
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#2
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Playboy Mansion Poolboy
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Close enough to make a beer run during a TV timeout
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Meelapo
As a side note, he doesn't like me very much because he asked me to pay for a fence he put up. Well, he didn't really ask me. He dug holes, put posts in, bought all the supplies, hired a contractor, and then told me I have to pay for it. Since I refused to (as I never had any input on it whatsoever) he wasn't too happy.
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That's your escallation point right there. What might have been a better start was to offer to pay for half (or some portion) of the materials- you are getting the use of the fence even though didn't ask for it. Last fall I put up a fence I didn't want; just to be neighbourly. Also to stop the neighbour from hiring a contractor and wanting me to pay half.
Anyway- with that being done have you actually called parking and not by-law? They seem to be a little more serious. Mention the flat tire- a vehicle parked on the street must be in movable condition.
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04-25-2010, 08:11 PM
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#3
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Norm!
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If the broken down vehicle is on the road and doesn't have a valid registration its considered to be an abandoned vehicle and the city has to tow it.
If he's being a tool dynamite the tow truck.
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04-25-2010, 08:20 PM
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#6
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Franchise Player
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ken0042
That's your escallation point right there. What might have been a better start was to offer to pay for half (or some portion) of the materials- you are getting the use of the fence even though didn't ask for it. Last fall I put up a fence I didn't want; just to be neighbourly. Also to stop the neighbour from hiring a contractor and wanting me to pay half.
Anyway- with that being done have you actually called parking and not by-law? They seem to be a little more serious. Mention the flat tire- a vehicle parked on the street must be in movable condition.
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Maybe if the neighbor had discussed the fence before putting it up paying half would make sense. Just going ahead with it and then handing a bill over is BS and the response was 100% appropriate.
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04-25-2010, 08:22 PM
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#7
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Playboy Mansion Poolboy
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Close enough to make a beer run during a TV timeout
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That's why I say part- like 1/2 of the materials. Which would likely be 1/4 of the total price.
Not saying the neighbour is right, just saying sometimes you have to suck it up a bit with neighbours so that they don't escallate things on you.
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04-25-2010, 08:26 PM
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#8
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Powerplay Quarterback
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ken0042
That's why I say part- like 1/2 of the materials. Which would likely be 1/4 of the total price.
Not saying the neighbour is right, just saying sometimes you have to suck it up a bit with neighbours so that they don't escallate things on you.
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Fair enough. But I told him that he should have come and talked to me. I have no problem paying but he already did the work. What if the fence was very expensive and my part was $1000 or something like that. I'm not paying that kind of money for a fence. But anyways, even if I didn't pay that doesn't give him a right to park a tow truck on private property to move something on his driveway.
I called bylaw and not parking because when I called 311 they said it would be best to file a bylaw complaint.
The truck is on a private driveway and the van is parked on the road.
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04-25-2010, 08:27 PM
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#9
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Franchise Player
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Tough situation, looks like he's big into this passive agressive BS and anything you do will likely be met with more of the same.
However, it sounds like the parked cars are not mobile, and could be an issue; by all means call parking and by-law. The rules for operable vehicles exist for a reason.
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04-25-2010, 08:36 PM
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#10
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Playboy Mansion Poolboy
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Close enough to make a beer run during a TV timeout
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I can't seem to find the parking authority number. It used to be online; when I lived in a condo we had issues with my neighbour's parking stall.
Maybe call the impound lot and ask them who you can call about a vehicle parked on your property. 403-537-7111
Some info here: http://www.calgaryparking.com/web/guest/ContactUs
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04-25-2010, 08:47 PM
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#11
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First Line Centre
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I'm a little unsure of the current placement of the vehicles. So the towtruck was originally parked on your driveway, but is now long gone, right? Now there is a broken-down truck in your neighbour's driveway, and also a van with a flat tire that is parked on the street?
If that is the case, I would think your only complaint to bylaw would be about the van since it is on the public street and is not in operating condition.
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04-25-2010, 08:54 PM
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#12
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Franchise Player
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Memento Mori
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Just start playing the drums.
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04-25-2010, 08:59 PM
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#13
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Powerplay Quarterback
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Quote:
Originally Posted by frinkprof
I'm a little unsure of the current placement of the vehicles. So the towtruck was originally parked on your driveway, but is now long gone, right? Now there is a broken-down truck in your neighbour's driveway, and also a van with a flat tire that is parked on the street?
If that is the case, I would think your only complaint to bylaw would be about the van since it is on the public street and is not in operating condition.
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Yes, the tow truck was parked on my property but is long gone. My point of adding that to my explanation was to show his disregard for my property.
As of right now there is a broken down truck in their driveway and behind that truck is a gigantic snow plow shovel (required a tow truck to place it there) and then there's a van parked on the road with a flat passengers side tire. The van is insured till August.
According to the Good Neighbour Guide ( http://www.calgary.ca/docgallery/bu/...bour_guide.pdf Page 11) "Dilapidated vehicles are prohibited anywhere on private property unless housed inside a building (Land Use Bylaw 1P2007)."
I would consider a truck without a hood, fender/bumper, flat rear driver side tire, with dresser drawers inside the cabin, and on a jack as being dilapidated.
My concern is that it seems like the neighbour is going out of his way to put things behind truck. It seems like it'll never be moved by him at least.
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04-25-2010, 08:59 PM
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#14
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Franchise Player
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Calgary
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I'm confused about that first part, a guy was doing a quick delivery and you got all pissy because he was blocking your driveway momentairily?
No doubt your neighbour is being a , but you don't seem like the best neighbour yourself either.
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04-25-2010, 09:00 PM
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#15
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Franchise Player
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Quote:
Originally Posted by frinkprof
I'm a little unsure of the current placement of the vehicles. So the towtruck was originally parked on your driveway, but is now long gone, right? Now there is a broken-down truck in your neighbour's driveway, and also a van with a flat tire that is parked on the street?
If that is the case, I would think your only complaint to bylaw would be about the van since it is on the public street and is not in operating condition.
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Ya, the only real recourse is against any:
a)Inoperable vehicles on the street (if its on their driveway then no dice)
b)Unregistered vehicles on the street
Well, those two and option c) where you take a tire iron to his lawn gnomes.
Edit: and with the whole delapitated thing, you're going to have a harder time with. What did by-law have to say about it? If they agree that it meets that description, you might have a case. Your best bet is still with getting "rid" of the van
Last edited by Ducay; 04-25-2010 at 09:02 PM.
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04-25-2010, 09:04 PM
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#16
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First Line Centre
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Well in that case, it sounds like 2 separate offences potentially. One would be having the inoperable vehicle on the public street, and the other would be some variation of having an unsightly yard/property due to the the dilapidated vehicle in the driveway.
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04-25-2010, 09:04 PM
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#17
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Franchise Player
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: 110
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Call the cops and report the van as suspicious, perhaps stolen, since it has a flat tire and it just appeared a couple of days ago. (this is mostly tongue in cheek)
The fence thing is kind of silly. If he had asked you ahead of time or even told you about it, you likely would have helped. Expecting you to pay after the fact is presumptuous. You never found out how much he wanted did you?
edit: from your last post it sounds like the guy wants to live in the stereotypical trailer park. I would hate to have that type of guy beside me. There are some people within a block of us who have broken down cars in their driveway and it would bug me if I lived beside them.
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Last edited by FurnaceFace; 04-25-2010 at 09:10 PM.
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04-25-2010, 09:06 PM
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#18
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First Line Centre
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dan02
I'm confused about that first part, a guy was doing a quick delivery and you got all pissy because he was blocking your driveway momentairily?
No doubt your neighbour is being a , but you don't seem like the best neighbour yourself either.
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While none of us witnessed the confrontation to see how he acted, I get the impression that the tow truck was there long enough to delay him when he was in a hurry (I assume, who isn't in a hurry when going to the airport?).
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04-25-2010, 09:13 PM
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#19
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Powerplay Quarterback
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dan02
I'm confused about that first part, a guy was doing a quick delivery and you got all pissy because he was blocking your driveway momentairily?
No doubt your neighbour is being a , but you don't seem like the best neighbour yourself either.
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The tow truck was parked on my driveway (approximately halfway between my garage door and the sidewalk). He was blocking my driveway and blocking my car because he was parked across my driveway and across the small portion of shared grass. I'm sure most people would be "pissy" if there was a tow truck parked on their driveway.
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04-25-2010, 09:15 PM
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#20
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Powerplay Quarterback
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FurnaceFace
Call the cops and report the van as suspicious, perhaps stolen, since it has a flat tire and it just appeared a couple of days ago. (this is mostly tongue in cheek)
The fence thing is kind of silly. If he had asked you ahead of time or even told you about it, you likely would have helped. Expecting you to pay after the fact is presumptuous. You never found out how much he wanted did you?
edit: from your last post it sounds like the guy wants to live in the stereotypical trailer park. I would hate to have that type of guy beside me. There are some people within a block of us who have broken down cars in their driveway and it would bug me if I lived beside them.
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No, I never found out. All he said was I had to pay him money. I wasn't told any other information. The only reason the fence came up was that I saw him doing it and I asked him if he had measured the property lines (another neighbour found out that someone built a fence on their property). Had I not approached him who knows when he would have come and talked to me.
I do hate living by this person. The truck is such an eye sore. Every morning and night I have to look at it. If I find my camera I can upload some pictures.
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