What to do about bad neighbors 2

[Prototype]

There's someone who lives on my street that works for a contracting company, and parks his truck and cat trailer beside our house. We just bought the place, and moved in about a month ago. I'm sure it wasn't a big deal with the old owner, but we like to park there, and he's there by the time I get home. We use our side/back door more than the front door, and this spot is right where the side/back gate is.

I've called the company on the truck's phone number and talked to the owner about it once, being as polite as possible about the situation, even coming up with a solution of them parking behind our house in the alley, which is where I have to park when he parks where I want to park.

I'm sure I have no recourse to complain to the city, cause it's a public residential street, but is there any action to get these guys to stop parking there, without ****ing anyone else off?

[Flashpoint]

Did you talk to the guy himself before calling the company? What did he say?

[Reaper]

Actually, you can call the city about a business vehicle being parked on your street. However, I would talk to the guy who drives the truck and nicely ask him if it would be possible if he could park his truck and trailer somewhere other than in front of your house.

[Prototype]

Originally Posted by Flashpoint

Did you talk to the guy himself before calling the company? What did he say?

If I had the chance to face to face with the guy I would. I'd rather handle it with the individual. I don't even know what house he lives in, or if infact he is a "he". I know nothing about the driver other than he's parking beside my house where I want to park.

The only reason I called was cause I assumed the number on the truck was the guys number. I'm sure the guy I tried to be human with shrugged it off, or maybe hasn't talked to the guy who's doing it.

Either way, I'll probably put a note on his windshield asking nicely to park somewhere else before I do anything else.

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by Prottotype

Either way, I'll probably put a note on his windshield asking nicely to park somewhere else before I do anything else.

I'd word the note differently; ask him to come by for a beer to discuss the parking options.

"Hey there. It's your neighbour at 123 Anystreet. I was just wondering if you might pop by for a beer one evening so we can discuss what limited parking the developer left us with on the street."

Offer him something; be friendly, and blame the problem on a faceless third party. That way it isn't confrontational.

Is it worth a 6 pack of beer to you to get this resolved?

[Prototype]

Originally Posted by ken0042

Is it worth a 6 pack of beer to you to get this resolved?

That's a steep price... I'd rather just give him $5...

Seriously, I never thought about it that way. Maybe in the summer I'd invite him into the back yard, but I'm not big on inviting strangers into my house. Personal preference, but you've given me direction.

[Jagger]

How big is the truck? If it over a certain size or length with the trailer attached it's likely against the city bylaw to park there.

I had a 5 ton truck that parked opposite my house along with two other work vehicles. THey were really ugly looking. I actually called the Police about it and lo and behold the trucks never parked there again.

[Ford Prefect]

Originally Posted by Flashpoint

Did you talk to the guy himself before calling the company? What did he say?

This would seem like the right thing to do, but I've tried it three times and each time it made things worse. Once was with a neighbour whose yard was full of junk, once over a neighbour's dog that attacked my mother, and once over a work vehicle parked alongside my house. In each case the neighbour went into denial, got beliigerent and when other neighbours complained to police or bylaw afterwards, I got blamed. I didn't offer any of these guys beers for ice-breakers, but I don't think my approach was adversarial either. I think you really have to know who you're dealing with before iniiating a one-on-one confrontation or you run the risk of starting a war. If you know your neighbour well enough, then a direct approach is definitely best. But if not, you can make a bad situation worse.

[fizzydrink]

I realize you don't like having people come into the house, and I agree that can be a little weird, but you might want to reconsider just for this. Talking directly to this person will be the best route, and the friendly way of getting to know one an another and telling them how you feel without confrontation is probably the best way to go about it.

[metallicat]

Originally Posted by Jagger

How big is the truck? If it over a certain size or length with the trailer attached it's likely against the city bylaw to park there.

I had a 5 ton truck that parked opposite my house along with two other work vehicles. THey were really ugly looking. I actually called the Police about it and lo and behold the trucks never parked there again.

Y eah, if it's big enough, it's likely breaking city truck route bylaws.

[Indi]

so he is parking beside your house, on a public street...not blocking your driveway? Seems to me that on street parking is first come first serve....I hate when people park in front of my house, but they are not parked illegally, ****es me off, but nothing I can really do about it.
try getting there first...

[Engine09]

If it's a huge truck then I can see what a pain in the ass that must me. I wouldn't want heavy machinery in front of my place either.

Something amusing. There's a house a few blocks away from my place where the owner has put up small non-permanent no parking signs on his lawn to prevent people from parking on the street next to his house.

Alright pal, you do not own the street. I felt like flinging those signs in the bushes.

[ken0042]

As much as I agree with the fact that you don't own the street in front of your house; there's a difference between somebody just parking there once in a while, and somebody using it as their permanant parking spot.

Case in point- my cul-de-sac. We all have our unofficially designated parking spots, but sometimes I come home and find somebody parked in my spot. If it's a one of a kind type of situation; no big deal. But my next door neighbour who owns two cars decided 2 years ago to remove his back alley parking pad and make his yard bigger. Then last year his brother in law moved in, and I found myself without a parking spot in front of my house all the time. I called him on it, and he started parking a car in the back alley.

It wasn't that he was taking "my spot" so much as the fact that there's only one spot in front of each house, and he was taking up 3. Same as Prottotype's situation; the other guy is taking up more spots than he has to offer. It's just a matter of making sure the other guy has a community mindset. Neighbours have to live together; and to do so everybody has to be considerate. Sometimes we all have to be reminded that we aren't being considerate.

[Delthefunky]

Originally Posted by MainFlame

Gun.

Yeah i'd definetly go postal on him. Colt .45.