Jerry didn’t think this is where he would be in life in his 50s.
He didn’t think he’d still be renting or that he would have to get “harassed” just so he can park his vehicle.
And so Jerry just tries to laugh at his predicament, but he’s not giving in to the “tyrannical parking nut” who puts pen to paper to threaten the area residents who park in front of the two homes he owns on the same street.
Yes, you heard that right, two homes on the same street.
One of the homes is rented out to several tenants, but there is only room on the property for one vehicle. And so the other tenants have to park on the street. The other home owned by the “parking nut” is his own.
“And don’t you dare ever park in front of his house,” says Jerry, who lives a few doors down from the two-house owner. “He’s designated himself as the parking cop in our area and hates renters because he doesn’t think they should have the same rights as homeowners. If you park in front of his house, even for an hour, you will get a threatening note that he’ll have you towed or that something ‘bad’ might happen to your vehicle. He does it in this childish scrawl with lots of exclamation marks. He’s also yelled at people for parking too close to his house. I’m just so tired of it. We have a right to park on the street. I don’t have any other options because my landlord doesn’t provide a parking spot on the property.”
There is another side of this, of course. One reader wrote in about their situation and defended writing notes and leaving them on someone’s windshield.
“There’s at least 6-8 adults and 4-6 cars per house but there’s only enough room for 2 cars in the driveways,” said Fed Up. “I can handle the neighbours parking once in a while in front of our house, but I’m sick and tired of them taking all the parking on the street and blocking driveways every single day. Especially when we’re the ones maintaining the lawns and sidewalks and them leaving garbage and cigarette butts all over the place.
“One day I left a note on one of the cars that always parked in front of our house to please not park there for a couple hours on a certain morning as I was bringing an elderly parent home from the hospital after having surgery … and it would be easier to bring her inside from the front as the front only has a few steps as opposed to an entire flight of stairs in the back. I watched him as he crumpled up the note and threw it out his window along with an empty Starbucks coffee cup right in front of my house. That’s it. I’ve had it. I’m tired of cleaning up their trash in front of my house. I went and bought some pylons to put out in front of the house for the one time. After that, I started leaving them notes that if they were to park in front past the allotted time allowed by the city, they would be ticketed. I don’t think I am entitled. I think I have the right to be angry with these homes filled with tenants that park in front of other people’s houses for days at a time and don’t respect other people’s property by leaving trash everywhere. I also think that if you’re in a house filled to the rim with tenants taking up all the street parking, then it’s pretty foreseeable that the neighbours are going to be upset.”
So, whose side are you on?
Are notes a good way to get your message across? Should you have a right to demand someone vacate a space on a public street?
I say no, but you might disagree.
Follow Chris Campbell on Twitter @shinebox44.
