Legalities of multiple renters

[urbanrealtor]

Some CC&Rs are enforceable without an HOA.
For example, the owner down the hill from my client in La Jolla has palm trees that are starting to block the view of the ocean.
He can enforce the view provisions but will need an attorney.
An HOA would provide an alternative resolution (putting a buffer between you and the other owner).
My favorites are the CC&R’s from the 20’s and 30’s prohibiting occupancy to “Jews and non-caucasians”.

I have sold houses to a few Piggs that included those.

My granddad once explained to me (his dad started the family business) that CC&R’s originated in the 1880s to keep Italians and Irish out of respectable neighborhoods.

[spdrun]

Buy in some older established towns, people might beat you up or somehow drive you out of the neighborhood. How about some old hoods in jersey where you need to hunt for street parking because they is no driveway?

I’ve never had people get territorial about street parking either in Jersey City, or down the shore where driveways are rare. We often had to park down the street when my family had a beach house.

Having to walk a bit extra just wasn’t considered a big deal.

[CA renter]

[quote=FlyerInHi][quote=spdrun]So wait — people in SD get all upset about others using the street to LEGALLY park? It’s a public street. No one owns the parking spots there. The worst that may happen is that you will have to walk an extra few [/quote]

It’s a territorial thing. Not that bad in San Diego. Buy in some older established towns, people might beat you up or somehow drive you out of the neighborhood. How about some old hoods in jersey where you need to hunt for street parking because they is no driveway?

Although most people park on their driveways, they just like the front of the house clear.[/quote]

Yep. It’s a matter of not blocking the view from the front of someone’s house (like when someone parks a big van or truck in front), and it’s also about being able to park in front of your own house. What if you’re bringing back a large load of groceries or other items? What if you have visitors who are handicapped and can’t walk down the street easily?

It’s just a matter of common courtesy to not park in front of other people’s houses whenever it can be avoided, especially if it’s for more than an hour or two.

[spdrun]

Those things are the price you pay for living in a more urban neighborhood without driveways. If I need to let out a guest or drop off heavy items, I’ll just double-park till I finish.

[joec]

[quote=CA renter]
Yep. It’s a matter of not blocking the view from the front of someone’s house (like when someone parks a big van or truck in front), and it’s also about being able to park in front of your own house. What if you’re bringing back a large load of groceries or other items? What if you have visitors who are handicapped and can’t walk down the street easily?

It’s just a matter of common courtesy to not park in front of other people’s houses whenever it can be avoided, especially if it’s for more than an hour or two.[/quote]

This is probably the main point…I don’t park in the street or the driveway (we actually use the garage), but if you have say a few large SUVs parked right in front of your house, it’s very hard to see when you are pulling out and in. It also is an eyesore and IMO, makes the place look more ghetto as it looks like the area is a rental area…

Yes, it’s a public street (if I could pay and make it private, I honestly would as well to prevent people I don’t know/like to park there)…also, if I could put spike stripes in front of my house so people will stop using my driveway to make a 3 point turn, I’d go there too, but alas, people seem to not think it’s a big deal (unfortunately, I live near a school)…so… unless it happens to you daily where your driveway is marked up like mad from car tires, no one cares really.

oh well, such is life. don’t expect you, spdrun to understand or care really…just bitching as usual (I am).

[spdrun]

Seriously, what’s the % of traffic from U-turns vs your own cars? I’d think that the occasional U-turn was a minor issue in the scheme of things.

If it bothers you, can you put a chain across the driveway?

[FlyerInHi]

spd, you’re too much of a city boy.

people are territorial. Most people in the suburbs and beyond have 2-car garages. That equates to 2 cars in the garage + 2 cars on the driveway = 4 cars, or more if a long driveway. Yet still they don’t like people parking in front of their houses. It’s not for lack of parking.

On the East Coast, in the old hoods where people have lived for generations, homeowners won’t stand for new comers coming to park in front of their houses. Their teenage kids might bash your car. It’s changing, but that wasn’t all too uncommon.

In the country of San Diego County, like in Alpine, Jamul, or fallbroook, people might brandish their guns and threaten to shoot you.

[joec]

[quote=spdrun]Seriously, what’s the % of traffic from U-turns vs your own cars? I’d think that the occasional U-turn was a minor issue in the scheme of things.

If it bothers you, can you put a chain across the driveway?[/quote]

I doubt the HOA will allow a chain, but I’d guess the additional cars doing u-turns in my driveway to be around 6 more each weekday…(3x morning/3x afternoon)…yes, it’s my fault for being more or less close to a school, woe is me…doesn’t mean I have to like it though.

Another annoying thing is sometimes, some large SUVs practically BLOCK 1/4 – 1/2 your driveway so you can’t get out. I yelled at a “soccer mom” once for blocking half my driveway…not to mention they crash in your trashcans, drive over your yard, bleh…if I had my way, we wouldn’t have bought here, but the wife is queen and like most other men, I relented to just “buy a place to not get nagged continuously anymore”.

[spdrun]

Another annoying thing is sometimes, some large SUVs practically BLOCK 1/4 – 1/2 your driveway so you can’t get out.

Police won’t ticket people for parking less than x feet from a driveway in SD?

[spdrun]

On the East Coast, in the old hoods where people have lived for generations, homeowners won’t stand for new comers coming to park in front of their houses. Their teenage kids might bash your car. It’s changing, but that wasn’t all too uncommon.

I’ve never had that experience. Not in NYC where parking is a free-for-all. Not at the beach, where driveways are rare in many towns. Not in Hoboken or Jersey City where people park where they can. Not in DC. Not even in the small town where I went to college where street parking was common in the downtown where I lived.

I did get my windshield cracked once by sk8r-punks bouncing off cars, but that was about the worst that happened. (Short of having a car stolen outside of DC, but that’s another story.)

Only times that parking spots get “reserved” is after a snowstorm in Boston, where people put chairs and things in the spots to hold them, and woe betide the one who disrespects that. And handicapped spots in front of houses that need them in some towns e.g. Hoboken.

I could see that kind of vandalism happening in some far-flung areas of Brooklyn or Queens, especially if the driver is of the wrong ethnic persuasion, but I can’t say it’s too common either.

[urbanrealtor]

[quote=spdrun]

Another annoying thing is sometimes, some large SUVs practically BLOCK 1/4 – 1/2 your driveway so you can’t get out.

Police won’t ticket people for parking less than x feet from a driveway in SD?[/quote]

Its funny.
I currently live on 32nd and people sometimes park in front of my driveway.
Police will generally not ticket people for that and every time I called for a tow (which has to be authorized by the cops), the responding officer went door to door to try and see if he could avoid towing them.
This was to my chagrin because I was running late to drop off the boy at kindergarten.

[spdrun]

On some level, I think that’s cool that the cop tried to resolve things without resorting to punishment. Maybe the ideal thing would be to allow a given car a certain # of warnings per year, followed by immediate tow or ticketing.

A good cop should be more of a peacemaker and less of an enforcer. Too many cops see themselves in the latter role without remembering the former.

[FlyerInHi]

[quote=spdrun]
Only times that parking spots get “reserved” is after a snowstorm in Boston, where people put chairs and things in the spots to hold them, and woe betide the one who disrespects that. [/quote]

it’s public parking. first come first served. So what happens if you violate that? You would be right to park anyway, but violence will ensue.

In San Diego, people won’t do anything but be upset with you, hold a grudge and make you feel unwelcomed. The neighbors will gang up on you on small things. your kids won’t get to play with their superior kids.

Why don’t you move to La Jolla or Carmel Valley and park your 30 year old Mercedes Diesel in front of your neighbors’ houses just for a test? Even better if it leaks oil, haha..

[njtosd]

FWIW – Zoning laws are one of the biggest issues that pertain to your question. You can go here:
http://apps3.sandiego.gov/siteinfoweb/begin.do
and enter the address of the home to determine the zone or zones in which it lies. Here are the rules relating to residential base zones, if you feel like looking through it: http://docs.sandiego.gov/municode/MuniCodeChapter13/Ch13Art01Division04.pdf

Basically, different rules apply to different zones; something that requires a special permit in one zone may not be a problem a block away.

I have to say I disagree with a lot of the people who have already replied. The value of your home is influenced by the zone in which it lies. When someone buys (or rents) a home, they are paying for and relying on the zoning laws that pertain to the area. I don’t know anything about this specific situation, but if the minidorm rules, zoning laws, CC&Rs or whatever prohibit multiple tenants – those are the rules and they should be followed IMHO.

[spdrun]

If breaking the rules harms nobody, why exactly “should” they be followed? We’re talking about people sharing a house, not a toxic waste dump.

Live. Let live.

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