Discussing parking problems with neighbours

[Axeman52]

Hi - I hope this is the right place to post this, seems that way but I could be wrong.

I started out by expaining the situation in a lot of depth including why finding parking spaces on the street is a little problematic in my neighbourhood people don't have garages and driveways to put their cars in but I decided that was too much of a tangent. Going to try to keep this short:

Basically there's a guy who is relatively new in the neighbourhood who runs a business and keeps parking his two commercial vans out in the street when he has more than enough room for them in his garage and driveway, leaving other local residents with nowhere to park their cars near their own homes and causing arguments between them - some of the neighbours are old and/or frail and have difficulty walking short distances. It's incredibly selfish, and while it makes no difference to me personally as I don't have a car, It still kinda frustrates me a lot that he keeps doing it.

It took me a while, but I have reached the conclusion that perhaps he's not aware of the problem he's creating. I have come up with 2 ways I could go about dealing with this:

1) I could go and talk to him about it face to face, and try my best to do it in a non-confrontational manner even though I'm pretty frustrated with him (not only for the parking issues, he also likes to rev up car engines at ridiculous times too - maybe I'm the only one who is bothered by this due to sensory issues?) because I think it would be counter-productive to be anything other than friendly, but I'm worried that approaching him in person might cross over some kind of social boundary because it seems like neighbours rarely even acknowledge each other around here unless they already know each other pretty well. It might be considered somehow disrespectful to even approach him to talk to him in the first place...

2) I could send him a friendly email about it which I can take time editing and get someone to proof read before I send it, and explain who I am and which house I live in so that he has the option of discussing it with me face to face should he wish to discuss it further - Maybe there are some problems with sending an email which I haven't considered?

On a side note: I have considered the possibility that in this particular part of the country there might be a certain technicality making his unnecessary street parking against the law for the same reason that the guy who put signs up in the street advertising his car washing services was breaking the law - because the vans are essentially giant billboards displaying the company logo and contact details (that is how I have his email address). But I think that jumping straight to trying to get legal action taken against my neighbours might create a bit of hostility that I'd like to avoid if possible.

 

[Ste11aeres]

It is considered appropriate for neighbors to communicate when one of them is causing problems for the other. Unfortunately, I don't really know what is the best way to go about it. Maybe someone else will have some more concrete advice.
Out of curiosity, why do you have his email address if you don't really know him?

 

[Axeman52]

Out of curiosity, why do you have his email address if you don't really know him?

Because it's written on the side of one of his vans.

 

[Christy]

Axeman, either the guy is incredibly ignorant, in which case you would probably have no issues talking to him, or he is arrogant, in which case you probably do not want to be the one to talk to him. If it's the second, I'd be concerned for any fallout that would then be directed at you, all for something that is not directly your concern.

I suggest you leave it alone. Let the people directly effected decide when it becomes enough of a nuisance to take action.

I appreciate your concern and willingness to act though, that is sadly lacking to today's society.

 

[Grumpy Cat]

Axeman, either the guy is incredibly ignorant, in which case you would probably have no issues talking to him, or he is arrogant, in which case you probably do not want to be the one to talk to him. If it's the second, I'd be concerned for any fallout that would then be directed at you, all for something that is not directly your concern.

I suggest you leave it alone. Let the people directly effected decide when it becomes enough of a nuisance to take action.

I appreciate your concern and willingness to act though, that is sadly lacking to today's society.

I'm with you Christy. Why create a problem for yourself if it really doesn't involve you. If it still bothers you, try something anonymous like a post-it note on his windshield and see if that works. If I turn anything in about a neighbor, I always go through the HOA that we have here. My friend Mary believes in confronting a person face to face and it has gotten her nothing but problems.

 

[Ste11aeres]

You said

and causing arguments between them

Does that mean that other neighbors have already confronted him about this issue?

 

[Judge]

Can't help but wonder if this person is somehow evading local resident parking permits.

Residents' parking permits - Herefordshire Council

 

[Cali Cat]

I'm with Christy and Angie. There's no way to know what kind of fellow this man is. It seems rather arrogant to take up more parking space than one is entitled to. It could be as Judge said that perhaps he's evading having to pay for parking his vehicles, which is a cost of doing business, and, if he is operating legally, he could write it off on his taxes. I'd probably contact the council and just report that his vehicles are parked there repeatedly, and ask if that is legal. If it's not, they will probably handle it from there. If it is legal, then he may be within his rights, even if it's not very neighborly.

 

[AsheSkyler]

I'd be leery and skittish of talking to him too. If he's a normal ol' dude, you probably could ask him why he's parking there. If the elderly folk are the kindly type, you could probably ask them for advice and they could help you ask the fellow to park more considerately. Er, if they are also the kind of old people who have any sense of tact and don't let it all hang out since they are too old for anybody to feel comfortable socking them.

If he's the crabby type, aye, I'd let the legal people handle it.

 

[Gomendosi]

My two cents.
That you don’t know what is going on and as neighbors do not really talk to neighbors where you are you said, you may end up borrowing trouble for no good reason.

Consider the things you do not know, this fellow may have a standing rivalry with these other neighbors that makes them carry on like they think he is doing wrong, also, you and others may not be aware that he has already spoken to the relevant neighbors (that is, any directly concerned) and that they may have given him permission.

He may have a special license to park where he does or… he may even have a shotgun within plain sight in his truck cab so all those annoyed neighbors can do is grumble LOL

Consider that it may well be within the law to park as he does, I know that in Australia the space out front of your home is for the resident to park in first and all else to park there if it is vacant, perhaps he assumes that as nobody is parked there he is well within his right. Of course the flip side is that he may well be an inconsiderate jerk that thinks the planet revolves around him because the sun shines out of his butt, but that is neither here nor there, because at the end of the day the issue does not directly involve you so while an Aspie may feel compelled to right wrongs and serve justice, it behooves you to be in full possession of the facts before attempting to intervene, even if it is to only mediate or make a suggestion.

Also, if you send an email it will be as good as anonymous as he does not know his neighbors yet, so he may consider it like a warning and nobody likes to feel threatened no matter how nicely worded.

Another thing to consider is; would the other neighbors want you to intervene on their behalf? Should things escalate, say the guy takes it personally and starts to do other things to annoy, how the neighbors will view your input then is debatable.




One solution could be to welcome him to the neighborhood, just wander over and start going on about his business and mention that nobody has welcomed him to the neighborhood yet; you can then use this discourse as an opening to casually mention your concerns regarding the older neighbors without referencing him in particular and see how he takes it, he might just get the point yes.

It is a fine line you walk when you try to do good but kudos to you for wanting to ; ]

 

[Axeman52]

Does that mean that other neighbors have already confronted him about this issue?

Not that I am aware of, but I have heard people complaining about the parking situation to one another quite frequently (not necessarily arguing - that may not have been the right word to use).

Can't help but wonder if this person is somehow evading local resident parking permits.

Residents' parking permits - Herefordshire Council

I believe that only applies to certain areas which have residential parking schemes in place where everyone pays for a permit, which doesn't apply to the street I live in. Also I think the residential parking schemes are a bit of a scam - you can pay for a residential parking permit if you happen to live in an area that has the scheme, but if there are too many people with permits for everyone to be able to park their cars in the area (they will give permits to as many people as are willing to pay for them), that means you aren't actually guaranteed to get a space to park in the area even though you're paying for the privilege - which makes the whole system kind of redundant.

Thanks everyone for all the replies - I guess it makes the most sense to just leave it alone for the time being. Hopefully someone more directly affected by it will say something in the mean time, although I'm not sure how many people are actually aware of who the vans belong to. I guess I should try bringing it up with some of the neighbours I do occasionally talk to.