Illegal to park in your own driveway

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That's right. The District of Columbia is ticketing people who park their cars in their own driveways.

"This is clearly an attempt by the city to extort money out of property owners," Anderson tells WTOP.

Anderson has received two of the $20 tickets in the past month. Anderson has owned the Capitol Hill house (and the driveway, so she thought) for more than ten years and has never gotten a ticket. And she's not alone.

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So what does the law say?

"Any area between the property line and the building restriction line shall be considered as private property set aside and treated as public space under the care and maintenance of the property owner."

Basically what that means is most property owners in the District don't own the land between their front door and the sidewalk, but they are responsible for taking care of it. It's why you can get a ticket for drinking beer on your front porch in the Nation's Capital. You're technically on public space. It's also why the city can ticket you for parking in your own driveway if you don't pull your car deep enough into the driveway beyond the façade of your house or building.

http://www.wtop.com/?sid=1659296&nid=695
 
"Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves."

Ronald Reagan
"No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth!"

Ronald Reagan
 
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I lived in a neighborhood a few years ago where the HOA refused to allow homeowners to park their contractor trucks (F-150's and similar) in their driveways. If there was any sticker, regardless of size, on either door of the truck, a fine was issued. HOA's blow.
 
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And people wonder why we moved from the city 10 years ago. The peace and quiet is therapeutic. I don't miss neighbors or city taxes or the over-achieving local cops. Peace, quiet. Clean well water... the list goes on.
 
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Thats why is far nicer to live in a rural area, no crazy rules telling you how to live your life on your own property.

No one to tell adjacent property owners either.

There are benefits to zoning and rule enforcers. A guy I know touted his 11 mil rate and then wondered why the town wouldn't enforce a barking and vicious dog state ordinance. Tough situation when you buy a 600K house and then have to share a long driveway with someone content with a lack of civility.

I have chosen the 1/2 way point, enjoying the benefits of both.
 
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Originally Posted By: ryansride2017
I lived in a neighborhood a few years ago where the HOA refused to allow homeowners to park their contractor trucks (F-150's and similar) in their driveways. If there was any sticker, regardless of size, on either door of the truck, a fine was issued.


Several of Chicago's suburbs have that law. Some restrict "trucks" of all types, with a contractor's name on it or not.

One of my co-workers owned a really nice S-10 pickup but seldom drove it to work; it was too much of a chore to juggle it in and out of the garage on a daily basis since the family's other cars always had it blocked in.
 
I've driven by some converted apartment complexes (condo's) and seen the service truck parked off of the property. My FIL's condo doesn't even allow pickup trucks or full size vans.

If you've seen the evolutions of developments, you understand why owners associations were formed. Most 70's developments are run down and no one really cares that the siding is faded or the shutters are half broken ..or whatever. They end up piled up with cars/boats/travel trailers that may or may not get moved ..end up with blue tarps on them or sap stained ..the shrubs aren't manicured .. there will be one or two owners who open up saw mills on the front lawn (when wood burning stoves were en vogue during the Carter Admin.) or start having half done projects sitting in the driveway ...for years.

It's the same way in your urban environments. You have to have community standards. Those types of rules stop 3rd worlder types from piling 52 fellow countrymen in a dwelling suitable for family of 4 or 5.

We run into this in my town. They're not overly punitive like in the OP's example ..but they're trying to keep the place something other than a free for all where anything goes.

My son towed a car to his service manager's duplex rental . The guy changed the engine out right in front in the driveway (no garage). A never ending rotation of "side work" in full view of everyone else that lives there ..cherry picker and all
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Now I'm this type of guy. Really. That's why I would need some place secluded ..but not all that isolated, so I could be the anal expulsive type (not anal retentive
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). Then I could "spread out" ..so to speak ..without offending others. I try and keep my bad habits to myself.
 
Originally Posted By: Gary Allan

It's the same way in your urban environments. You have to have community standards. Those types of rules stop 3rd worlder types from piling 52 fellow countrymen in a dwelling suitable for family of 4 or 5.


I can assure you that these type of rules do NOT stop 3rd worlder types from piling 52 fellow countrymen in a dwelling suitable for a family of 4 or 5, nor do they compel these 3rd worlder types to pay their HOA dues.
 
I don't see why Tempest has a problem with this. Government has not interfered with any pre-existing rights. The people who bought into those houses did so of their own free will. The free market has not been manipulated...

In fact, the only thing being manipulated is opinion, by those implying ownership which does not exist.
 
If it is in the rules of their development then so be it. It isn't unusual for there to be restrictions on commercial vehicles, boats or RV's. That is why I didn't buy into a new development and instead into a older neighborhood. I don't have the big brother telling me what color I can have my home or what shingles I have to put on.
 
I think people are getting sidetracked (or I am), it's not HOA rules or regs. It seems to be a law or ordinance stating property you purchased and continue to pay taxes on isn't really yours. I'm all for clean neighborhoods and not piling up washing machines in the front yard, but to say you can't park your car in your driveway is friggin nuts.
 
Hey, Tempest!! Here's a new "wealth gets help" method you can promote!! Get property taxing authorities to allow "ONE TIME LUMP SUM" fees to be paid for an eternal property tax exemption. Desperate taxing bodies will jump at the revenue, the clowns will spend it anyway and not manage it ..and the only ones that can take advantage of it are the wealthy. The default result is that the slimes will have to pick up the slack.


How's that sound??? Freedom for those who can afford it. Bring it up at the next "meeting"
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Originally Posted By: oilyriser
You can not own real estate in Canada since some time in the 1800's. It is all only rented now, kind of like a condo.


I guess I can't get kicked out of my house if I don't pay my mortgage, since I don't own it?
 
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