boat in my driveway???

[geprge]

Can someone please provide advice. I recently purchased a 24 foot boat, after making sure of the legalities of towing such a boat on the roads. I park it in my driveway, and tow it as I use it. One day someone from the building dept knocked on my door , and stated that a neighbor complained that I have a boat in my driveway. They issued a summons, and stated that it is illegal to have a boat on your own property. He used a code vr 22-00 , which refers to commercial use of private property for storing automobiles. It does not refer to boats. I have contacted the police, fire dept, motor vehicles, all of which state there is no law against such. I called the building dept who told us to come there and the summons will be dismissed. Upon visiting the building dept they stated that there is no law dealing with this issue but it is still not legal to have a boat on the driveway. They could not produce any documents regarding this issue. I have to appear in court. Please advise.

 

[dingbat]

Re: boat in my driveway???

Around here it?s pretty common for communities or homeowners associations to have covenants against storing a boat on your property. There are no local laws against it but the agreement not to store a boat is written into your deed.

Check with your homeowners association for such covenants and if they don?t exist I?d fight it in court.

 

[thunder219]

Re: boat in my driveway???

Alot of people in the sub division I live in is having the same problem because its against the rules to have it in your driveway. I only keep mine at the house on the weekends overnight. I just leave it hooked up to my truck in the street and they havent said anything about it. I may be wrong but the last town I lived in as long as it moved every 48 hours there was not anything they could say. I am sure by the end of summer they will have something to say but the policeman I asked said it was a city street and not the home owners association. See how it works out.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: boat in my driveway???

There are two situations (and possibly more) that govern what you can park in your yard. 1) Municipal ordinances and 2) neighborhood associations. In the case of municipal ordinances, they usually fall under the nuisance ordinance category and apply to all sorts of vehicles, utility trailers, campers, boats, unlicensed cars and trucks, motor homes, etc. If the city cannot provide you with the ordinance that you violtated they have no grounds to stop you from parking the boat on your property. On the other hand, neighborhood associations can be far more restrictive than municipal rules. They can be so strict that they may prevent you from leaving a bicycle in the yard overnight. If that's what you are up against, I urge you take a stroll around the neighborhood and note anything and everything that you have no interest in. At the next association meeting tell the neighbor that dislikes your boat that you don't like the color of his car or truck as it clashes with the rest of the neighborhood. In other words, fight fire with fire. Then be prepared to fight your way onto the association board and start a movement to retract some of the more restrictive rules. Unfortunately, getting too lax results in someone parking a school bus turned into a camper in the neighborhood. Most communities that aren't affected by an association, are affected by municipal ordinanaces that prevent commercial vehicles (those with signage) on private property. There may be vehicle length restrictions (regardless what the vehicle is). I've seen 25 feet in many communities. Many say a boat must be garaged, parked on a side lot and not extending past the front of the home, etc. Anyway -- know the law and fight your fight.

 

[Bondo]

Re: boat in my driveway???

Ayuh,..........

I'm Sure Glad I Don't live where you guys live,..................

I'd be doing 25 Years to Life, for all the Boats,+ other Junk laying around My spread............

 

[Wide Open]

Re: boat in my driveway???

Where do you live? So much for the Land of the Free. Get an attorney and sue the building department for harrassing you concerning a law that isn't even a law.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: boat in my driveway???

most places municipal codes say that boats, motor homes, camping trailer, may not extend past the front of the house, and all must have valid registrations, and be runnable, or under repair. that's how i get away with it.

 

[jenoble01]

Re: boat in my driveway???

Precisely why I do not live in a subdivision. When they start paying my mortgage then they can tell me what to do with my house. I'm not saying it's ok to have 48 junk cars sitting on blocks in the front yard, but good grief what does a boat sitting in your drive hurt anyone. Reckon I'll stick to living in the country. Good luck to you.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: boat in my driveway???

This topic will get beat to death but it basically amounts to someone without a life bitching about every activity they would "like" to partake in but can't afford it, don't understand it, or that they simply dislike anything they aren't interested in and therefore nobody else should do it either. The opposite end of the spectrum is one person can really screw up a neighborhood by having a yard full of eyesores that were collected with good intentions but will likely never get used. There just doesn't seem to be a reasonable common ground anymore and unfortunately the squeaky wheel gets the grease. With lot sizes getting smaller and homes closer together I can see where parking toys can be an issue since there is hardly enough space to park cars.

 

[BrianS.]

Re: boat in my driveway???

Park the boat on the street in front of the complaining neighbor's house instead.

 

[studlymandingo]

Clouds in My Coffee

Clouds in My Coffee

We have a city ordinance here that states a boat cannot be parked in the front yard. Mine is in the driveway on the side of my house so all is good. But they will come out if the nose of any boat is sticking past the house.​

 

[bjcsc]

Re: boat in my driveway???

Reckon I'll stick to living in the country.

Yep, me,too...ridiculous.

 

[boatflounder]

Re: boat in my driveway???

Probably a homeowners association which I despise!We got a letter from ours about our boat in the driveway and i was HOT. Our boat is a 22' deep vee and too big to store in our driveway so must spend 100 a month for storage, well it was time for the 20 hour service so we brought it home on a sunday night, after 7, and I towed it to the shop around 2pm monday, well somewhere in that 19 hour span I guess somene complained. So we got a letter a couple weeks later, I sent a Nasty email in reply, pointing out our short time span and the other boats in driveways in the area and the number of cars parked in the street instead of in driveways and havent heard anything more.

By the way we had our boat, my f150 and my wifes expedition all in the driveway not interfering with anyone, and as we were going in for our 20 hour service it is obviously a new boat and not an eyesore.

sorry if i rambled on but wanted to vent to a sympathetic crowd as this has been eating at me for months, cant wait until we can move to a real neighborhood

 

[geprge]

Re: boat in my driveway???

First of all, I would ike to thank you all for your consideration and help. We live in Staten Island, NY . In response to the previous comment, we also have a neighbor with a boat, however no one complained about it, so he can keep his boat in his driveway !?! We don't know who complained, but we did hear a story from one neighbor that another called the fire dept when his barbeque blew smoke toward his house! Someone also mentioned putting the boat on the side of the house....acording to the building dept, it cant be anywhere on the property. Otherwise we do have a sizeable property and could easily put the boat on the side or in the back. As someone pointed out, we have to carefully read our deed. As of today, we have still not found any law regarding parking of boats in Staten Island. Confusing to me, is as I drive around there are many boats parked in driveways. We have a public ramp where people can launch their towable boats. So, where are all these boats coming from? Thank you for all the advice...please keep it coming. If any updates, I will post. Thank You again.

 

[jenoble01]

Re: boat in my driveway???

Can the boat be seen if it's in the backyard? If not then that's where I would put it after confirming this is actually a law. THen when they complain tell them you want to file trespassing charges on whoever is complaining because there is no way it can be seen from the road.

My wife and I looked at a house yesterday, we happened to be driving by and noticed the open house sign. Since we are looking we stopped. We made it into the living room to the back patio door. My wife made the comment that there would be plenty of room for me to build a detached garage behind the house. THe realtor said that they did not allow you to build a garage there due to homeowners association rules. I looked at my wife and she looked at me and we both said "well no way in heck we're living here" and walked out. THe realtor followed us out to the truck. I'm like I'm not living somewhere that someone else makes decisions on a house that I'M PAYING FOR. If you cant' do what you want to do then you may as well rent. She left us alone after that and we left.

 

[BrianS.]

Re: boat in my driveway???

Wow, that makes no sense why they are targetting you then.

First of all, I would ike to thank you all for your consideration and help. We live in Staten Island, NY . In response to the previous comment, we also have a neighbor with a boat, however no one complained about it, so he can keep his boat in his driveway !?! We don't know who complained, but we did hear a story from one neighbor that another called the fire dept when his barbeque blew smoke toward his house! Someone also mentioned putting the boat on the side of the house....acording to the building dept, it cant be anywhere on the property. Otherwise we do have a sizeable property and could easily put the boat on the side or in the back. As someone pointed out, we have to carefully read our deed. As of today, we have still not found any law regarding parking of boats in Staten Island. Confusing to me, is as I drive around there are many boats parked in driveways. We have a public ramp where people can launch their towable boats. So, where are all these boats coming from? Thank you for all the advice...please keep it coming. If any updates, I will post. Thank You again.

 

[ParallaxBill]

Re: boat in my driveway???

Glad I live in the country too.
But there will be a subdivision surrounding me in the next couple of years. Rumor is they will be million dollar homes.
I wonder if the new neighbors will gain the right to butt into my business. I hope not.

 

[Wide Open]

Re: boat in my driveway???

I would guess that you would still be able to do as you wish (within reason of course) since you predated the subdivision.

 

[tommays]

Re: boat in my driveway???

In Ny and i am sure a few other places there are allways the well connected who can make trouble with a phone call


even if you not doing anything wrong


Tommays

 

[rndn]

Re: boat in my driveway???

It's amazing that in the USA, you buy a house, pay taxes, and still can't do what you want. Thank God we have no rules like that where I live. I'd have to move.