Neighbour parking on our side if Drive - what to do?

[sinbin]

I never said not to be civil. You can pick a paint that compliments the colour of the neighbors car.

lol! thanks I needed that! Will sleep on it and take the Boss out for a spin tomorrow and start looking into the municipality of Vaughan permits. Will post the results so anyone else in the unfortunate position knows what to do. I hope they listen to a polite request.

 

[sinbin]

Careful! thats vandalassaultterrorism!

Can you put some kinda semi-permanent structure there for now? i mean.. the low planters with shrubs suggestion works. It would probably look better than a fence.

well the shrubs will take courage I guess and I wouldnt be surprised if they just shove them over so that they are in front of our garage or something. These are ppl who wouldn't scoop doggy doo a few inches on their side of the drive after a visitor to their place brought a dog that did it's business there.
I fear it will just escalate the issue as opposed to a fence, which we will inform them will be the outcome if the behaviour persists. I can't endure another yelling lol! I may just burst into tears

 

[twinn]

Sounds like your communication line has already broken down.

I would list your options as either

build a fence-- but dont get made in that fence gets damaged-- assuming its at all viable

if a fence is not an option, there are plastic control style pods-- they might be an option, they are the things that you see on the highway sometimes when they block of lanes for months at a time-- not the large orange ones filled with water or sand but the thinner plastic ones that are vertical and bolted into the ground.

talk to the owner-- stand firm in your resolve, guy is probely happy that the tenants are paying rent

contact city bylaw-- many times there are obscure bylaws in place that limit the amount of cars in a driveway to the actual designated spaces BUT THIS MIGHT BACKFIRE ON YOU if you ever decide to try to cram in a few cars into your driveway. This issue will be between the tenant and the owner of the other property- as it will be a city ticker

thats all i can think off right now

 

[OpenGambit]

well the shrubs will take courage I guess and I wouldnt be surprised if they just shove them over so that they are in front of our garage or something. These are ppl who wouldn't scoop doggy doo a few inches on their side of the drive after a visitor to their place brought a dog that did it's business there.
I fear it will just escalate the issue as opposed to a fence, which we will inform them will be the outcome if the behaviour persists. I can't endure another yelling lol! I may just burst into tears

lol... doesn't sound like it could get much worse... that being said you probably have some leverage. I mean.. guessing a basement tenant in a suburb area.. there is probably lots of things that are violations of one rule or another, the guy probably doesn't report that income to the CRA etc etc...

But if thats the route you go... well.. there is no going back...

 

[jc100]

you could also just scatter crap over your driveway just on your side.....I don't mean literal crap..just odd items etc.

 

[Red_Liner740]

put up a sign on your house that says that illegally parked cars without permission will be towed at owners expense.

then when they park again call a tow truck and have it towed away...

i'd first remind the owner that you're not sure about the laws of tenants in basements and the legallity of it and you might call up the department and ask, oh and if he minds if you use his case as an example...

bet you 20 bucks hes renting out illegaly.

oh, and install spikes down the middle of the driveway but on your side...

Oh, you blew a tire? thats strange, that means you trespassed on my property....so sorry!

 

[psycho44]

the easiest solution is to park on his side of the driveway. That way he won't be able to park on your side of the driveway anymore. Even better if you have just one car is get a beat up $100 car and leave it there. No worries of scratches from your neighbour. Might devalue your property though lol. Bah having too many cars on a property devalues the entire neighbourhood anyways try to get rid of the tenants best you can.

 

[WrothWaith]

What my parents did was get 3 4' concrete parking bumpers (the ones about 6" tall and hexagonal shaped, that can be staked down) and put them down the driveway in between the garages such that the neighbor would need an off road truck to drive over them, and impossible to do accidentally. no permit needed, and made for a sightly solution.

 

[warp speed]

buy a dog and have the dog repeatedly pee on his tires.
OR
just come home early and park your car right at the center line.

This happened to me waaay back when I used to live in a condo.
I just parked my old rust bucket so close to his car that the guy
had to go thru the passenger door to get into his car. He left me
a note on my windshield saying "blow me" so, I waited for the
dimwit at the end of the day and I told him off... I still kept
parking inches from his priceless honda civic and he learned to
back into the parking spot so he doesn't have to crawl in from
the passenger seat.

Oh... and I had 2 dogs that I had repeatedly pee on his tire

 

[TomC]

buy a dog and have the dog repeatedly pee on his tires.
OR
just come home early and park your car right at the center line.

This happened to me waaay back when I used to live in a condo.
I just parked my old rust bucket so close to his car that the guy
had to go thru the passenger door to get into his car. He left me
a note on my windshield saying "blow me" so, I waited for the
dimwit at the end of the day and I told him off... I still kept
parking inches from his priceless honda civic and he learned to
back into the parking spot so he doesn't have to crawl in from
the passenger seat.

Oh... and I had 2 dogs that I had repeatedly pee on his tire

definitely the best part of owning a rust bucket...no worries

 

[f1mauro]

Buy yourself an old school, beat up winnebago and park it right on your side of the line. Jack it up on blocks and forget about it. Would make a great storage shed to boot. This guy sounds like a real jerk!

 

[Scuba Steve]

i would drive a couple of 4' tall steel t posts into the ground on the dividing line no excuses then and some ugly damage if they try to drive over them. You can buy them at TSC or fencing supply companies and drive them in with a post driver or sledge hammer.

 

[GreyGhost]

The fence down the middle of the driveway should be avoided if possible. To get out of cars on those driveways, you really do need to walk on your neighbours side. The fence will make it very difficult for everyone to get out of their cars.

I agree with the general consensus of small temporary barriers (and potentially a painted line (use driveway sealer so it doesn't look ridiculous but provides a visual reference for everybody). Starting a war with the neighbours should be avoided if at all possible, it only gets uglier until someone moves. If they moved my temporary barriers I would let them now that cars would start to be towed and then the next time they were on my side off they go.

 

[Chaos]

Put some long low planters with shrubs down the edge of your own driveway. It'll take up about 10" of your own driveway but at least the retards won't be able to cross the line.

agreed. concrete planters. they're removable, and they won't (relatively) look like an eye-sore.

 

[WoBblyCaT]

I live in a townhouse with a shared driveway also. The driveway has what's called an easement for both of us to use the driveway. That's probably true for your situation also in which case you're out of luck. I'd start by making a call to the town to find out.

In my neighbourhood I've seen someone put up metal posts with chains between them on the driveway presumeably to prevent their neighbour from crossing the line.

 

[Splash]

What my parents did was get 3 4' concrete parking bumpers (the ones about 6" tall and hexagonal shaped, that can be staked down) and put them down the driveway in between the garages such that the neighbor would need an off road truck to drive over them, and impossible to do accidentally. no permit needed, and made for a sightly solution.

I've seen this done and it looks fine.


As for someone talking on the phone on your front lawn, perfect time to water your lawn don't you think?

 

[FullMotoJacket]

Call someone who does landscape curbing to come out with their concrete curb extruder and have them put a low profile curb put in just inside your side of the driveway. Shouldn't take more than an hour.

 

[f1mauro]

Here's something quite subtle and yet would make it quite obvious when your property is being encroached upon.

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

 

[TimC]

I like the idea of a low/skinny planter (say 1 x 4 ft...maybe 2 ft high) coming out from the 1ft space dividing the garages....plant a couple of small cedars or boxwoods.....not permanent....looks alright and makes your point

what's it like in the winter with these neighbours regarding snow removal etc? thinking that if they're clearing the snow in the winter then that mighta made them think they can kinda lean on your side a bit?

feel for you.....

I've got a scenario with my neighbour where the roles are sorta reversed....as my side walkway and entrance run parallel with her driveway.....and over the past year I've had a lot of work done to the house (furnace, steel roof, kitchen reno etc) and the odd time a contractor when loading or unloading pulled up on her driveway for the short/easy path to my side entrance...I warn them ahead of time not to do that but I can't control it if I'm not at the house at the time.....even food delivery guys sometimes think her driveway is mine when they're dropping off food...not much I can do

this lady is 60-something and lives alone (doesn't have a car fyi)...so over the years after large snowfalls I've just shoveled her whole driveway while I'm out there without asking....figure that's what good neighbours do

this spring right before the kitchen reno began I needed to shovel a path through the snowbanks between her driveway and my walkway so we could get the fridge out my front door and around the side into my basement without completely breaking our backs over the slippery obstacle course and when I went out and started shoveling she came out and completely flipped out on me.....she ragged on me for an hour about folks using her driveway when they're dropping stuff off, not acceptig my apologies when it's not in my control...even accused me of throwing garbage on her property and purposely raking leaves from my lot on to her's etc....she was completely bent

so.....she unfortunately went to a place that good neighbours shouldn't and I've just washed my hands and basically ignore her now....and I will happily ignore her driveway when there's 2 feet of snow on it

now...if she tried to put up something permanent like a fence then it would be all out war from my perspective and I'd be calling the city to have her garage inspected for safety reasons cause it's far from being in good shape and I could easily make a case that it should be torn down at her expense before it falls down on it's own....something she likely can't afford to do anyway......and that would just get me started

so be careful what you do....cause having an argument with your neighbour is one thing....but doing permanent things that might cause an all out war will not be pretty

 

[jeero]

OpenGambit - dude that site crashed my browser...

Use a better browser? The link goes to a pretty small pdf file lol. I recommend Chrome.

Here's something quite subtle and yet would make it quite obvious when your property is being encroached upon.

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

This actually looks really nice and achieves exactly what the OP is looking for. Quite simple too, shouldn't cost an exorbant amount of money.

sinbin, walk/drive around your neighborhood and look for other homes that have a lot of cars and see if some people have created driveway division as well. I liked your idea of having the reflector poles coming out of the ground, but it sounds like they'll just drive over it lol. You need something a little more permanent. The shrubbery idea is also a nice one and can make things look really nice (especially if you have landscaping done) but they are not static so as you said they may just push them over further on your side to still use the foot they need.


I've attached a file which is an overhead view of what I am understanding from all this, is it a correct assumption of your situation?
The blue car is you and the red cars are them. The yellow is the imaginary property line on the driveway.