Residental Parking Bylaw

[MikeMc]

Anyone know the laws on residential parking?

I live on a cul-de-sac and many of my neighbors end up parking off their property as overflow. Or have multiple cars which literally have not moved in a year (have not been driven). Or work trucks for tow truck/plumber businesses.

I'm not trying to be a Nazi but it's beginning to drive me nuts. I can't back out of my driveway without having to worry about a huge truck parked behind me (which I know isn't owned by the person whose property that is, and I know it's a work truck (snow removal)). And to be perfectly honest I makes the cul-de-sac look like crap.

I have had a conversation with two of the culprits. They don't see the problem.

[Canehdianman]

Street parking is for anyone/everyone.

Do we live in the same cul de sac?

[CliffFletcher]

One of the downsides these days to living in a neighbourhood with a lot of blue-collar workers. I don't recall seeing anywhere near as many work trucks and vans parked on streets when I was a kid. and households nowadays are also more likely to have 2-3 vehicles instead of 1-2, with live at home 20-somethings having their own vehicles.

This is one of the legitimate criticisms of the proposed secondary suite bylaw. In many Calgary neighbourhoods there is already no street parking available. I've seen people resort to leaving their recycling bin sitting on the street in front of their house to deter squatters.

[Burninator]

Originally Posted by MikeMc

Or have multiple cars which literally have not moved in a year (have not been driven).

Do not leave unregistered, uninsured vehicles on City streets or lanes.

A vehicle must be operable and moved within 72, hours or it may be considered abandoned and removed as such.

http://www.calgary.ca/CSPS/ABS/Pages...c/Streets.aspx

You can call 311 to report the vehicles.

[Drury18]

Originally Posted by Burninator

Do not leave unregistered, uninsured vehicles on City streets or lanes.

A vehicle must be operable and moved within 72, hours or it may be considered abandoned and removed as such.

http://www.calgary.ca/CSPS/ABS/Pages...c/Streets.aspx

You can call 311 to report the vehicles.

This is unfortunately not the Bylaw according to Bylaw officers. I had a truck in front of my house with Ontario plates that did not move for 3 weeks. I called it into Calgary Parking Authority (311 will do nothing but give you the number for the Parking Authority) who took the plate, told me the truck wasn't stolen and that they would only tow it away if it was inoperable or if it doesn't move in another 2 weeks, I could call back and try again. Someone could have just moved to the neighbourhood or be on vacation and it would be wrong to tow it.

When I mentioned the 72 hour bylaw I was told by 3 different people on the phone that it is NOT the bylaw and that it is up to the discretion of the person who takes the complaint and bylaw officer to decide if action will be taken. One went so far as to say the City needs to update the website because that bylaw hasn't been in effect for almost 2 years.

[Ashartus]

My cul-de-sac has a similar situation but there are actually no parking signs around the island and the parking authority is still hesitant to do anything about it so I wouldn't hold your breath.

[Dan02]

Originally Posted by Drury18

This is unfortunately not the Bylaw according to Bylaw officers. I had a truck in front of my house with Ontario plates that did not move for 3 weeks. I called it into Calgary Parking Authority (311 will do nothing but give you the number for the Parking Authority) who took the plate, told me the truck wasn't stolen and that they would only tow it away if it was inoperable or if it doesn't move in another 2 weeks, I could call back and try again. Someone could have just moved to the neighbourhood or be on vacation and it would be wrong to tow it.

When I mentioned the 72 hour bylaw I was told by 3 different people on the phone that it is NOT the bylaw and that it is up to the discretion of the person who takes the complaint and bylaw officer to decide if action will be taken. One went so far as to say the City needs to update the website because that bylaw hasn't been in effect for almost 2 years.

Good because the bylaw was ridiculous. If you don't have offstreet parking at your place where are you going to park if you're leaving town for a vacation or something?

Unregistered, uninsured vehicles? by all means tow away. But then again I've never understood the mentality of people who insist the slice of pavement in front of their place is their designated parking spot then act like it's the worlds biggest inconvenience if they have to park 40 feet further away.

That's not necessarily directed at OP and his issues with people blocking his driveway.

[MikeMc]

Thanks all for the input and comments.

It does seem to be a new issue. From what I recall as a kid it was never a big problem (maybe I just don't remember it though). It also does seem to be tied to income. My parents still live in the city and the parking situation there is the exact opposite (which makes sense).

I'll give the city a call about the three cars which haven't moved in a year. See what happens.

Thanks again. More information welcome.

[The Ditch]

if youve talked to them about it, and now you phone and the city does something, be prepared for retaliation, some people can go nuts over little things like this unfortunately.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by Dan02

But then again I've never understood the mentality of people who insist the slice of pavement in front of their place is their designated parking spot then act like it's the worlds biggest inconvenience if they have to park 40 feet further away.

The flipside is people who have more vehicles than they can fit in their garage, driveways, and road in front of their house, who feel perfectly free to park in front of other peoples' houses, but don't stop to consider that if everyone on their street had that many vehicles there simply wouldn't be enough room for them all. This is especially ######y when the house in question has a garage that they don't use for cars because it's someone's workshop or man cave.

I'd be in favour of limits on how many vehicles can be registered to an address. If you feel you need a work truck, a family van, a pick-up, and a car for the son, and your property is only big enough for two of them, then maybe you should rent a garage somewhere.

And don't even get me started on running businesses out of home garages. It's called a 'residential' neighbourhood for a reason.

[taco.vidal]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

The flipside is people who have more vehicles than they can fit in their garage, driveways, and road in front of their house, who feel perfectly free to park in front of other peoples' houses, but don't stop to consider that if everyone on their street had that many vehicles there simply wouldn't be enough room for them all. This is especially ######y when the house in question has a garage that they don't use for cars because it's someone's workshop or man cave.

I'd be in favour of limits on how many vehicles can be registered to an address. If you feel you need a work truck, a family van, a pick-up, and a car for the son, and your property is only big enough for two of them, then maybe you should rent a garage somewhere.

And don't even get me started on running businesses out of home garages. It's called a 'residential' neighbourhood for a reason.

The way to do it would be to require permit parking and only issue X number of permits per home.

I doubt it would be possible to have something effective implemented and likely it any attempt would be unreasonable. The problem is that common sense and respect for your neighbours doesn't prevail.

I live on street with decent street parking available. But you have some idiots who create problems. Such as people who park in such ways that they take up multiple parking spots with one vehicle.

THen its the odd rental house that creates problems. If you have for example a couple with a young kid and two cars, its no problem and they don't cause issues.
Then you get renters where its two buddies renting, then their girlfriends spend most nights there. So you've got four cars plus a work truck or two if your lucky lol. And often these are the people who show little respect. They will not park using spots efficiently. Meh, I could go on but no point getting stressed over this. Just go slash some tires or bust out some windows.

[Minnie]

We live on a street that is access to an off leash dog park and city path system. So we get everybody and their dog, literally. Not usually too big a deal, most people are decent. We've only started running into issues recently because some guys in one of the condos across the way have started parking multiple work trucks and personal vehicles in the spots usually taken up by the dog park people. The condo set up is slightly odd - the street we are on faces the rear of the condos and between us and them is our street and then public sidewalk that leads into the dog park and path system and there is fenced condo property on the other side of the city sidewalk.

With these condo guys parking back here with all these trucks/trailers and personal vehicles, now the dog park people are fighting for parking. Which means I've been blocked in my driveway twice now because some don't seem to think any of us on the street use their driveways. Ummm...and yes, that is a direct quote from someone, to my neighbor.

Thursday was another blocking in and I could not manoever out in any way. So I called bylaw and they came and ticketed. Nice and all but I still sat there for an hour because they wouldn't tow it.

[Ryan Coke]

The bylaw says that care must be parked 1.5 meters from a driveway. I have it saved somewhere but don't have time to find it right now. Occasionally I have just printed off the bylaw with the applicable parts highlighted and leave it on their windshield if they are a repeat offender.

I haven't had to actually call bylaw yet, so I don't know how responsive they'd be.

[#22]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

The flipside is people who have more vehicles than they can fit in their garage, driveways, and road in front of their house, who feel perfectly free to park in front of other peoples' houses, but don't stop to consider that if everyone on their street had that many vehicles there simply wouldn't be enough room for them all. This is especially ######y when the house in question has a garage that they don't use for cars because it's someone's workshop or man cave

Sounds like my neighbor. 2 pick up trucks, camper on the driveway, wife's car, son's car, and a two car garage so full of crap that none of these vehicles can fit it in. The wife's car now lives in front of my house.

[Ducay]

Besides being a GMG issue, I hate how so many more people now adays use garage for storage and driveway/road for parking.

Not if you've gotten any answers, but I'll just list the things I remember from my various parking adventures in my last 2 houses and days as a renter.

Normally you can use some of these in your situation and adapt them as needed.

• - Doesn't matter how long cars sit as long as registered, operable and owner knows its there. Even if commercial vehicle. (ie no license plate it'll get towed, or flat tires gets towed). Not sure if you can leave unattached trailers on road for more than 24h
• - No broken down or inoperable vehicles on roadway or even on your own driveway (which many don't know the latter).
• - No RVs or trailers parked in front of house, must at least be behind front setback of the house (the face).
• - Can't park within 1.5m of anyone's driveway
• - Cul-de-sac: Can't park on angle unless signage indicates allowed (aka virtually none). This basically is your carte blanch for cul-de-sac violations, as most people park on an angle, and if they park properly along road, they're usually within 1.5m of a driveway.
• - Can't park and block sidewalk.

[btimbit]

Too many people using garages as storage is a big issue.

My brother has lots of toys. Between him and his wife, 4 vehicles, 2 motorcycles and an RV. So he bought a corner lot with an alley so he wouldn't need to leave anything on the street. 2 cars and bikes in garage, 2 on driveway, RV in the back (And behind a fence and gate) Corner lot so if he has people over there's lots of parking in front and next to his house, nobody ever needs to park in front of someone else's house.

To many people are just inconsiderate and/or don't care.

[Minnie]

Originally Posted by Ryan Coke

The bylaw says that care must be parked 1.5 meters from a driveway. I have it saved somewhere but don't have time to find it right now. Occasionally I have just printed off the bylaw with the applicable parts highlighted and leave it on their windshield if they are a repeat offender.

I haven't had to actually call bylaw yet, so I don't know how responsive they'd be.

I talked to the bylaw guy that came to ours. He said it's very hard to enforce the 1.5 m thing, but didn't expand much on it. If I was to read between the lines of his reply, it would be that the courts don't enforce it if it's challenged?

What is the law about parking on curves? Because what I thought was obvious/the law, perhaps isn't. Our home (no garage, only driveway, going to build a garage) is second from the corner which has a big curve. We get a lot of very large trucks that park on that curve, and between that and all the dog park people parking, it not only narrows the street but you absolutely can't see if anyone is coming around that corner. We back out very carefully but I can see it being an issue when the dingbat around the corner comes screaming around it like he usually does and someone and their kid is crossing the street. We've already managed to grab a half dozen dogs whose owners think the leash laws don't apply to them because they're in sight distance of the park, right before the dog is going to be hit by an oncoming vehicle.

[Handsome B. Wonderful]

Originally Posted by Ducay

Not sure if you can leave unattached trailers on road for more than 24h

http://www.calgary.ca/CSPS/ABS/Pages...-vehicles.aspx

Detached trailers and campers cannot be parked on city streets or alleys.

[WhiteTiger]

The 1.5m thing really gets me. The roads around my apartment are tight as it is, then you get everyone parking as close to the alleys and driveways as they can, which makes getting out of the alleys and driveways a visual challenge treat. Want to know why that 1.5m rule is there? So that someone trying to enter the roadway can actually see what's coming. Yet I consistently see people parked even with the nose of their vehicle just inside the alley. Makes it a lot of fun trying to leave and see what's coming down the road.

[photon]

What about people that put up their own no parking signs and/or pylons? Should one call 311 about that?

Been doing some work for a client where there's residential and commercial all close together, and there's not a ton of non-2hr max parking around so finding a spot within a few blocks of where you want to go can take a little while.

There's one house where a guy owns some kind of business with big trucks and whenever some of the trucks are gone he blocks off the spaces with pylons and no parking signs. Sometimes I've seen the whole half block full of trucks, sometimes only one truck and the rest of the block with signs.

Might they have a prior arrangement with the city to do that? On one hand I get he's just trying to run a business, on the other it seems to suck for others trying to find somewhere to park and have half a block roped off.

I kinda wanted to just move a sign and park there to see what would happen.