One of our fellow condo residents owns a huge Everest trailer — a recreational vehicle the size of a small house. During NASCAR season, the trailer is his “home on the road,” or “trailer on the track,” or whatever.
During the off-season, he likes to park it right outside my back door.
Not outside his back door, mind you; the fellow lives clear on the other side of the complex. Instead, he parks it outside my back door. From my kitchen window, instead of the trees and crepe myrtle bushes, all I can see is his trailer. To park in my assigned parking space, I have to swerve sharply to the left to miss his trailer.
Our covenants are clear: each condo gets one assigned parking space per bedroom. Guest parking spaces — like the ones dominated by the trailer — are explicitly not to be “used by residents to park additional vehicles on a permanent basis.” That doesn’t deter this fellow, though; he parks his trailer, the truck that tows it, and his boat in visitor spaces.
The board — made up of well-intentioned, but timid folk — agrees the trailer is against the covenants, but won’t take any action to force the guy into compliance.
Meanwhile, the man shrugs off complaints and requests to move the behemoth. If confronted, he turns red-faced, clenches his jaw, and says, “I’m not moving it.”
Last summer, we were passive aggressive about it. We waited until he took the trailer on a weekend trip, then parked a car in its place. When he came back, he just about blew a gasket … and was forced to park his trailer behind his own home.
Since then, our neighbor has helped out by parking a company car there every evening. This summer, though, the wife of Trailer Guy waited until our neighbor was gone … and then blocked the space with her car until she and hubby could bring in the trailer.
I’ve overlooked the trailer for a long time. Tomorrow, though, I turn 42, and I’m getting old enough to become obsessed and crotchety. I don’t want to be ugly. I don’t want to be a bad neighbor. But I want something done about it, darn it … and I want it done now.
If this were your situation … what would you do? I’m open to suggestions, and look forward to your comments and emails.
Sic Jeri on him. 😉
Since it’s technically parked illegally, can you have it towed – at his expense, of course.
It’s a little extreme, but he’d get the point after a few trips to have his baby liberated.
So here’s what you can do:1. Flanking move: Submit a proposal to the board to create more parkland or greenspace in your neighborhood. Make the greenspace the visitor parking spot out your back door! Jack hammer the pavement and plant some shrubs.
Or
2. More passive aggressive: Get the fire dept involved. It appears his trailer is taking up TWO spaces. Usually, a parking lot is designed in a way to accommodate safety? Or get your board to enforce the rule with bright orange very difficult to remove warning stickers. Plant stinging nettles around the parking spot or hard pointy bushes that will damage his paint job when trying to park the beast.
Or deal with it up front:
3. Run the process of enforcement through the board. They are not in a position to choose which laws to enforce. You are very good at keeping you cool and presenting the facts, simple go about the business of enforcing the rules and he will relent in due course: kinda reminds me of a bully and most bully’s relent when actually punched in the nose. I bet he gives up if people actually begin to press him, other than the random person asking him nicely.