brotenc
Olympia, WA
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From your post I believe the letter did not come from a Homeowners Association but your local government.
Check with those that have boats and trailers in their driveways to see if they received letters as well. If not, find out exactly what the restriction says to see if somehow boats and trailers don't fit into the restriction.
If the restriction is the same for them and they haven't received letters then you are being discriminated against and should hire a lawyer. What might happen then is that the local government might just send letters to everyone else. All of this may have been percipitated by one of your neighbors and the local government is responding to one complaint. Getting a lawyer to write a letter won't cost you an arm and a leg and might get the results you want.
If the restriction is from a homewoners association and they are not enforcing the rule equally, then you certainly have a case against the association. Associations cannot apply a restriction against one homeonwer and ignore the same restriction with others. Again, hire a lawyer and get a letter to the HOA right away.
As for the fine. An HOA can set fine structures and it is usually done by the board of directors separately from the CC&Rs. This assumes that the CC&Rs give the board the latitude to set fines, and most do.
Finding a place to park your RV can be expensive. Some parks are as low as 30 bucks a month and others much more. When you calculate the legal fees you might encounter (and still lose) the cost of parking might not be such a bad idea.
If the restrictions are from your HOA, do what I did and get elected to the board and try to get the CC&Rs changed. That would take time and may not work. In my case it did and I now park my DP in my driveway. We also fixed a lot of******in the CC&Rs put in by the developer/builder (now long gone).
Good luck and let us know how your situation was resolved.
By the way, it seems like your notice to remove the RV was really short fused. It seems to be unreasonable since it might take time to find someplace to park your RV. See if you can get a delay while you try to work things out.
I know it grates on people when outsiders are telling you what you can and can't do with your property. But, when we buy a house in a community with rules or an HOA regulated community we can't blame anyone but ourselves. HOAs are good and bad depending on how well they are administered and what the CC&Rs contain. I didn't like what was in our CC&Rs and was able to get unanomous agreement when we revamped the CC&Rs. It is a lot, and I mean A LOT, of work but the results can be worth the effort.
Again, good luck.
Chuck
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Pangaea Ron
Anacortes, WA, USA
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Er... didn't this happen before November?
Most of these restrictions on private property use occur through homeowner's associations, but many public jurisdictions are beginning to propose restrictions that mainly influence parking on the public streets. Regulations that restrict parking in your driveway are more rare, but not unheard of, and this sounds like what you are up against.
Good luck with you battle.
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Rollincool
Always Rollin
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driveby wrote:instead of getting all your neighbors up in arms, call the guy who wrote the ticket and ask who the person who complained. Bet it was somebody close. Then find out from them why they complained.
Absolutely correct here. I doubt very much they will tell you though. It's always that "neighbor" that blows the whistle. Usually they are jealous of what you own.  I had someone like that next to me. Had. Thank the Lord I don't live in one of those communities, but even still, I now believe in Jesus. 
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Daboo
Texas Panhandle USA
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I ;\like busy bodies that like to try to rule others lives...the RV probably is worth more than most of the houses in the area...good luck..I am one who thinks that nosy neighbors should not have the authority to tell me what to do..thats the reason I live in the country.
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MI Director
Michigan
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Good Sam Club also has a booklet on Parking rights. Might be able to down load off there web site.
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wny_pat
Western NYS
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John,
Calm down and cool off!! Going off half-c**ked is not going to solve anything. Is this a new law that the borough has passed? Find out if the law offers any solutions like parking behind or beside your house. Did everyone receive the letter, or just you? I would take my digital camera and start going around the neighborhood and take pictures of all the other violators. When someone ask what you are doing (and they will), it give you the perfect chance to starting organizating a movement against the law! Maybe one of those people in violation is a lawyer (or someone politically active) who can help you amd everyone else out. Oh, do you even know who your borough representative is? Contact him to find out what is going on. Oh, are you registered to vote? They seem to pay more attention to people who vote for some unknown reason. Doesn't seem to matter what political party you belong to, just that you vote.
Remember, keep cool - You catch flys with honey, not vinegar.
* This post was
edited 08/28/08 11:17am by wny_pat *
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wayne_tw
South Dakota/Georgia
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fuzzbutt wrote:Well, it finally happened. I received my letter from my Borough that I am violating a local ordinance by parking my Winnebago in my driveway.
I am going to pursue fighting it. Has anyone done this sucessfully?
It seems like it is being selectively enforced. There are campers and boats all over my neighborhood. Hopefully I can find a place nearby to store it. If not, I'm screwed. I have a real problem with being told what to do with my property on my property. Don't we have any constitutional rights against this kind of harassment? I have til Sept 2nd to comply, or face fines of $500.00 per day.
Is this a sign of things to come after November?
Most of the posters missed the point. The letter came from the local government.
To the OP:
Your best recourse is for you to research the ordinance you have allegedly violated and be certain you either are or not in violation. If you are in violation, your wanting a waiver and be allowed to violate because others are violating will not work. Kinda like telling the police officer others are speeding that's why you were speeding. Doesn't work.
You could work to have the ordinance changed so that you can park the Rv on your property. But if the law says you can't, then you can't.
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Daveinet
il
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Here is your starting point:
Euclid v. Fitzthum, et al., 48 Ohio App. 2d 297,357 N.E. 2d 402 (1976), cert. denied 429 U.S. 1094, 51 L. Ed. 2d 540 (1977)
Excerpts:
The state appellate court said that in Ohio, zoning restrictions for purely aesthetic reasons are unconstitutional, and that the ordinance, to be constitutional, must be a valid exercise of police power, the power to regulate for the public health, safety, morals, and welfare.
The vice of the present ordinance is that the record will support neither an application of the ordinance which bears a substantial, and therefore reasonable, relationship to public health, safety, morals or welfare nor the imposition of a taxonomic scheme based on any state of facts that may reasonably justify it. Part of the lack of reasonableness is exposed by evidence of an uneven regulatory application.
Reviewing the facts illustrated the "constitutional inadequacies of the ordinance." The city had produced testimony to show that a trailer parked in a driveway would interfere with access for fire-fighting equipment, would serve as a conduit for fire, was more difficult to move than a car, lowered property values, and under certain circumstances, could create a safety hazard by obstructing the view of street traffic.
The RV owners had produced evidence to show that automobiles (which were not prohibited from driveway or street parking) could be conduits for fire and/or cause fire hazards and may be unsightly when stored outside. But the state appellate court properly disregarded this evidence, following a generally recognized rule of law that it is for the trier of the fact (here the trial court) to resolve conflicts in evidence. The court then posed and answered the constitutional question:
Where, then, are the Due Process and Equal Protection vices of the ordinance? They lie in the indisputable fact that enclosing vehicles classified as trailers does not change the fire hazard propensities and it does not enlarge health safeguards. Indeed it is clear beyond peradventure that enclosure may diminish health and safety factors by trapping sewage spillage from portable sanitary facilities and collecting highly flammable escaping propane gas which would otherwise be dissipated in the air. These are factors too obvious to be resolved on mere credibility determinations. They point up the arbitrariness and unreasonableness of the attempt to regulate. Uncontrovertable evidence also supports the Equal Protection violation in requiring vehicles in the trailer classification to be enclosed.
Although this was a decision by the OH Supreme court, it lays down the principle argument that is universal to any state. The issue of aesthetics really shoots down most HOA regulations.
Dave
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MaineSurveyor
Lagrange, Maine
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Quote:Although this was a decision by the OH Supreme court, it lays down the principle argument that is universal to any state. The issue of aesthetics really shoots down most HOA regulations.
Be careful about applying court decisions on public zoning ordinances to Homeowners Association "rules" which are private and probably part of the 'contract' that you most likely agreed to in your deed when you purchased the property.
Camping again....
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fuzzbutt
Pittsburgh
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I probably didn't make the original post clear enough.
1. We moved into the neighborhood before buying the motorhome.
2. It is a relatively upscale neighborhood but there are no homeowners agreements or covenants. I wouldn't move into an area that had that.
3. I "assumed" we didn't have any restrictions when I was buying the MH due to all of the other campers and boats around.
4. The letter is from the local "ordinance" enforcer. I am going to get a copy of the ordianance to see how it is worded. This is the same guy I have to get my building permit from to put on my addition next year so I have to tread lightly.
My town is a small municipality just outside of Pittsburgh. We have our own police force, Mayor, and municipal board. The problem with these ordinances is that these municipal boards can decide that you can no longer park an extended cap pickup truck in your driveway and if it passes a majority vote, it becomes an enforcable law.
The old guy across the cul-de-sac has his house up for sale. He's well connected in the borough. I'd bet $1,000.00 that instead of asking me to move my eyesore, he called the borough to have it moved. He's asking $400,000.00 for the house. About $100,000.00 too much. That, and the $8000.00 a year school tax bill that comes with the house is why it's not selling. If you move a couple miles out the road to the next county, the taxes are 1/2 as much.
I have an industrial park not too far away I can rent a spot in. Vandalism has been a big problem in there. It's $50.00 per month. Are they liable for any damages or deductables if it gets trashed? They are fenced in with no cameras or watchmen. The kids break in them looking for flat screen tv's and a place to party. Our friends had their old camper vandalized there. They trashed the inside and took a dump on the floor. I would literally strangle someone if I caught them in the act of something like that!
* This post was
edited 08/28/08 12:03pm by fuzzbutt *
John, Sherry & Sabrina
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Now.....bring me that horizon.
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