REVscene - Vancouver Automotive Forum

TheSalesman · 09-26-2010, 07:39 PM

So there is construction in front of my house and there is no parking in front.
I see a bunch of cars parked in the alley and I also parked in the alley. I parked on the opposite site of the alley from my house which is the only spot that has room without blocking the lane. I then got a note saying they have no parking front of their house and do not park there. They put this note on my car awhile I was outside working on my other car and they never say anything to me when I just park my car there.
Should I just keep parking there? It also pisses me off when they park their car there because the person that parks is about 2 feet away from the fence they have and are blocking the lane a bit making it very hard to back into my driveway in the back. We have 6 cars and my driveway can only park 4 cars.

Soundy · 09-26-2010, 08:28 PM

Are there any signs regarding parking at the ends of the alley? What do the Vancouver bylaws say? I suspect parking in the alley isn't allowed at all.

Vancouver has their new '311' info line, you could call and ask there. There are two likely possibilities: 1, NOBODY is allowed to park in the alley, in which case you could report them and get ALL the bitchy neighbors tickets; 2, residents ARE allowed to park there and the bitchy neighbors can't do a thing about it.

gars · 09-26-2010, 09:26 PM

Quote:

19.1 No person shall stop a vehicle on a lane:
(a) within 2 metres of that portion of an intersecting street or lane
that is useable for travel;
(b) within 2 metres of the nearest edge of the closest sidewalk on an
intersecting street;
(c) within 5 metres of the nearest edge of the pavement on an
intersecting street where no sidewalk exists;
(d) in such a manner or under such conditions as to leave available less
than 3 metres of the usable travelled portion of such lane for the
free movement of vehicles;
- 17 -
(e) opposite to or in close proximity to another vehicle already stopped
in the lane in such manner as to obstruct the free movement of
other vehicles;
(f) within an area extending 0.5 metres from either side of and 3
metres directly in front of an identified fire door situated in a
building abutting such lane;
(g) within an area extending 1.5 metres from either side of and 5.5
metres directly in front of a driveway or private road adjoining such
lane or the vehicular access of a garage abutting such lane;
(h) except as provided in clause (j) on either side of a lane which abuts
commercially used property, except that the prohibition does not
apply to lanes located in the area bounded by Burrard Street,
English Bay, Stanley Park and Coal Harbour if the vehicle is
otherwise lawfully parked;
(i) within the area generally shown within the heavy black outline on
the diagram below, but specifically described as that area bounded
on the north by Burrard Inlet, on the east by Gore Avenue, on the
south by Prior Street, False Creek and Smithe Street, and on the
west by Burrard Street;
(j) within those areas described as "West End" and "Robson North" in
Schedule D to this By-law, unless the vehicle is permitted to be
parked there pursuant to section 23.1.

Vancouver City By-Law

You're not allowed to park to close next to the entrance of a driveway, nor are you allowed to park across from a driveway or garage, but if you're not parking on HIS/HER actual property, and you're actually parking on city property, and you're not restricting traffic, you're ok.

Soundy · 09-26-2010, 10:00 PM

^Thanks, gars... I was looking for that link, couldn't find it.

In short, OP... as long as you're parking within the bylaws, your neighbors can't do a thing about it, other than bitch and whine.

On the other hand, sounds like the one neighbor at least MAY be breaking the bylaw by parking too far out into the lane. Might be worth a call to the city to have Bylaw Enforcement come check it out.

TheSalesman · 09-26-2010, 11:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Soundy

Are there any signs regarding parking at the ends of the alley? What do the Vancouver bylaws say? I suspect parking in the alley isn't allowed at all.

Vancouver has their new '311' info line, you could call and ask there. There are two likely possibilities: 1, NOBODY is allowed to park in the alley, in which case you could report them and get ALL the bitchy neighbors tickets; 2, residents ARE allowed to park there and the bitchy neighbors can't do a thing about it.

There are no signs.
My car is actually parked right across from my driveway but on their side of the alley. There is a garage there that I partially block because I try to leave enough room for the whiney neighbores to park but they still left a note on my car. The garage is never used...its more of an abandoned looking shack which is why I'm partially in front of it. Even if I back up, it won't leave 1.5M from this garage and they have a door where they come out which I also leave unblocked so they can come out.

TheSalesman · 09-27-2010, 12:03 AM

Alright,
I just went out and measured, his car is less then the 5.5M in front of my driveway.
I'm not sure where to measure from, if its the very furthest part of my driveway but I measured right up to where my car is parked to his car.
Now, being that this is my driveway, am I allowed to park in front of my own driveway and leaving at least 3M of the usable lane?
Seems legal to me!

gars · 09-27-2010, 12:20 AM

if he wanted to complain, you parking on his side blocking his unused garage is not allowed. In terms of him parking and blocking access into your driveway, it is probably measure from where your property line is - that would be where your driveway is.

I believe you should be able to block your own driveway, if you would like, but it might be worth making a call to the city just to double check.

TheSalesman · 09-27-2010, 12:31 AM

It's not the owner of the garage I'm blocking that is complaining. It's the person next to that house. So the Person parking in front of my driveway directly behind me is complaining but I try to be courteous to leave some leave but I block the next door neighbores garage slightly. They do not complain. I never complained when they park so far out making it very difficult for me to park in my own driveway.
I will give a call tomorrow morning to check. Their car is usually not parked there in the day though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by gars

if he wanted to complain, you parking on his side blocking his unused garage is not allowed. In terms of him parking and blocking access into your driveway, it is probably measure from where your property line is - that would be where your driveway is.

I believe you should be able to block your own driveway, if you would like, but it might be worth making a call to the city just to double check.