Tractor trailer parked in front of neighbors house - is it legal?

[lecach]

We just moved into a new neighborhood on Saturday. Our 3 houses are the first 3 as you enter the neighborhood from the back entrance (we're in the middle). You have to enter an old neighborhood to get to our neighborhood. There is a long fence that runs from the last house in the old neighborhood to the first house in our new one. Anyway, almost everytime I went by the new house I saw a tractor trailer truck parked half in front of the next door house - the first one in our neighborhood. I figured once we all moved in it would move. The neighbors closed on Friday and will move in this weekend. We closed on Friday and moved in Saturday. The truck was there all weekend. And its a refrigerated truck that automatically comes on every 30 minutes or so. Its LOUD. The people next door are pretty mad about it since it was blocking half of their house. They called the trucking company and nothing was done. Then they called the police. The police went to the truck driver who was MAD. He drove up in an SUV into the neighbors driveway and confronted them. Told them he didnt respond to police, they didnt own the street and made some comment about the two neighborhoods (big difference in price between the two - our houses are around $225,000, theirs are well under $180,000). He then peeled out of the driveway. And his truck didnt move.

Yesterday the neighbor called the trucking company again. And a short while later the truck moved. Late last night the truck came back. While I know we dont own the street how can it be allowed that a tractor trailer can park in a residential neighborhood? And why cant he park in front of his own house? Can we do anything? That noise is so annoying. My DS JUST started sleeping through the night and I am so afraid the noise will mess that up. Plus its just darn ugly. Any advice?

 

[dznymom3]

I think it depends on where you live and what the codes are for that area. I know when we lived in California, it was against the law to even drive a tractor trailer in a residential neighborhood, must less park one there. Good luck!

 

[Marseeya]

Rent a U-Haul and park it in front of his house until he gets the message?

I don't know, but how infuriating!

I'm always so baffled when I see things like this. Why on earth would someone be so inconsiderate and rude as to park in front of other people's homes when they have their own house to park in front of?

 

[mudnuri]

well.......it depends on what exactly is going on.

If he's a O/O and using his house as a business, and it's not zoned- MAYBE you could do something. However, seems that a trucking company was called which would lead me to believe he's just a driver. I'm guessing he gets to bring his truck home at night.... Not sure why the Reefer would be coming on/off, because it seems to me that if he has a load, they'd want it delivered..certainly not sitting in a truck all weekend??

That said- My X owned a trash company, and he use to bring home trash trucks. He would try to only bring home one-ton type trucks, that were similar to pick ups, with rack backs. We did have a neighbor complain once, and My X explained to him that he was not running a business out of his home, was TRYING to wait till the last moment in the morning to start them, and we always parked in the driveway. It would be rare for him to diesel down, if he came home late at night, he'd just shut it off. On occasion he'd bring home one of the 10 wheeler big trucks, but the neighborhood kids all loved that so no parents really complained. Add to the fact that he use to take their crap for free when they cleaned out their garages...etc.

Guess, what I'm trying to say is- I have no idea LOL

Brandy

 

[musclecar_72]

I'd hate for his truck parked in the street to mysteriously come down with a few flat tires! He might start parking it in a safer place from then on.

 

[FayeW]

I'm not sure if you can do anything about this. Since you say that you saw the truck everytime you went to your new neighborhood (before you moved in) the time to address it would have been before you bought the property. You bought it anyway, knowing that the truck was there all the time.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

We had a rig in our neighborhood and I had a friend who had a rig. He did have the full truck when he was ready to go out--but otherwise it was just the front part of the truck. He'd have the trailer when he had to leave bright and early the next morning to go and do a pickup or a delivery. This didn't happen often, but really not a big deal in that respect.

We are considered "county" and have no ordinances against this.


It would depend on city ordinances, county ordinances and whether or not you have an HOA and it is a deed restriction.

Alas--in my area it is not illegal.

ETA: I know that somewhere in my area (I forget where) they tried to get a ban on business vehicles being parked out in the open. I guess people thought it was an eyesore to see Bob's AC and Repair van. oh--the horror of that. I have no idea if it passed....but keep in mind. This is what the man does for a living and why can he not bring his vehicle home with him. As long as the vehicle itself isn't breaking any noise laws (like cars that lack mufflers--talk about an annoying noise!)--then noise on it's own isn't a sufficient reason to say he can't have his truck there. Though I myself find semi-truck noise rather calming as opposed to irritating (I have no idea why).

 

[barkley]

the city can have laws but there can also be cc&r's that vary by street (our old neighborhood which was all the same developer had different ones for the same street depending on which side your house was built on depending on when the house was built). most cities won't enforce the cc&r's unless it's a pet peeve (in our area they enforced rv's and boats in driveways and on the street). but you can threaten a civil suit against the truck company (take some photos with a date/time stamp on subsequent days)-they may move to get the truck elsewhere.

if the truck is making noise that's disturbing you-call and see what the noise ordinance is, the police may be willing to enfore it.

 

[jrmasm]

Our HOA does not allow work trucks to be parked on the streets.

 

[pirateofthecarolinas]

Do you have a HOA? Maybe they could help. The only problem would be that he doesn't live in your neighborhood.

I can't believe the person moving in wouldn't have noticed this truck while his house was being built. I would have discussed this with the builder.

Lori

 

[lecach]

I emailed the lady at the development office to see if she could help. While our neighborhood is still under construction the HOA is just run by some company - there are no meetings and no resident officers or anything like that.

I also emailed the trucking company - maybe I will get further with an email than a phone call. Plus now its a weekday so the bosses will probably get the info whereas on the weekend it probably wasnt the people in charge that we talked to.

I also tried calling the city but I got nowhere with them. The neighbor next door is a lawyer so I guess I will just leave it up to him to deal with it. I think they did say something early on to the builder but they probably wrongly assumed - like we did - that once people lived there it would stop. If we do see the truck moved we all talked about parking our cars where he has been parking . But we cant do that all the time. I also thought about figuring out where he lives (we know what his SUV looks like so we can find his house easily) and parking in front of his house. But that would just stir up more ugliness.

 

[JayCT]

You mean this truck driver does not live right there? He lives somewhere else nearby and just parks the truck on your street? He has a lot of nerve to do that. He probably started doing this long before any homes were built and doesn't want to lose his parking spot.

I would keep calling the company. Call everyday. The more you annoy them, the faster they will address the situation. I would ask to talk to a manager. Or even go to the place and talk to them in person. I have found that if you keep after someone, they will do something just to get rid of you. Good luck. Jay

 

[lecach]

nope - he lives on another street. He doesnt want the truck in front of HIS house. But sees nothing wrong parking in front of someone elses. Jay - you are exactly right - he found this primo parking space before the houses were built and doesnt want to give it up.

From what I have seen and heard from the lawyer neighbor I dont think they will let this drop. Our lawyer neighbor was a thorn in the side of the builder and everyone in the development offices. So I think something will happen and I wont have to deal with it personally .

I just dont know how the trucking company can afford to have one of its trucks so inactive. It's now been there pretty much around the clock since Friday. My DH confirms its there now.

 

[eeyoreiscool]

You could also call the police each time and say there is a suspicious truck that has been left unattended and see if they can tow it away. Or if it is in front of your house (or neighbors) have them call a towing company and have them move it.

 

[Southern4sure]

This would not be allowed in my neighborhood now as the HOA would take care of it quick. They would have it towed at the owners expense.

Our HOA states if you have a vehicle with a business logo you have to park your vehicle in your garage. It cannot be left out overnight and absolutely no parking of any vehicle of any kind in the street overnight. Some residents have the magnet signs they just stick on when they leave in the morning.

 

[Chicago526]

The town I grew up in had 5 ton weight limits on all residential streets, you could only have a tractor trailer on a residental street if you had one of those big moving vans when you moved in/out. If this happened in my town, the guy would have been forced to move the first time the cops were called and gotten tickets and maybe even towed if it happened again.

My second home was a condo and the association wouldn't have put up with this either.

My current home is in an old neighborhood and the streets are so narrow that if you parked a large truck in the street, you'd totaly block it!

Anyway, if the lawyer nextdoor is as, ummm, agressive as you've made out, then let him take the lead and just back him up on the issue if and when it's needed. Between your development and the trucking company, hopefully he'll be made to move the truck soon!

 

[Tinkin]

You could also call the police each time and say there is a suspicious truck that has been left unattended and see if they can tow it away. Or if it is in front of your house (or neighbors) have them call a towing company and have them move it.

Great idea, that's exactly what I would do! I bet that would get his attention.

 

[golfgal]

I know in all of the towns we have lived in they have all had an ordinance where cars could not be left on the street for more then 48 hours, basically so you can't park a junked car on the street and leave it, but it would cover this truck as well. I can't believe that the trucking company didn't do anything about that. I can't believe they would allow someone to park one of their trucks like that unattended for long periods of time. Weird. I would keep calling the police because once the lawyer gets him to move it from his house, it will be parked in front of your house.

 

[Dznypal]

if a car or truck is parked over 24 hrs it is considered abandoned!!!

our neighbor is sort of like that but not quite so bad but he used todo that--

he would park on the street from Fri evening until sun nite --and just it leave it there!!!!

I asked my DS since he is a Milwaukee police officer what we could do

he told me about the 24 hr thing --he told his friends that work out of the district we live in to keep an eye on things---


well after he got one of those orange stickers (they are impossible to get off)

and his truck towed he finally got the message!!!!!

good luck--I know its a pain in the butt!!!!

 

[lecach]

golfgal: I dont have to worry about him parking in front of our house - since we're the middle house there isnt enough width between the 2 driveways to park a truck.

Last night when I got home the truck was gone but his personal SUV was in the same spot. This morning they are both gone.

I got an email back from the head supervisor at the trucking company. He said that there was not a regulation on our street so the trucker was doing nothing wrong (they must have checked the ordinances). And that he had spoken to the driver and told him to park elsewhere whenever possible. And that he would not be coming on anyones property again but that if he did to contact him immediately. I bet if we contacted the trucking company everyday something more would happen. Maybe we can take turns with the neighbors calling.

It should be an interesting weekend since the other two houses will be occupied and I bet the trucker will be home too.