Parking problems - on my own property?

Stinicker

I bought a semi-d in a small estate back in 2004 and had it rented out up until this year. I had several complaints from the tenants about the parking situation and I had to cut the rent by €40 a week for the last lot as they were going to move as they were not happy and I'd rather have them there than have the house empty.

They recently left anyway after his mother was ill and they went back to home to Poland. The house is now empty and I have decided not to rent it anymore, I had dropped the rent to €70/week and as I don't have a mortgage and the house is worth more to myself than that.

The situation with the parking is that there is a funeral parlour down the street from the estate which has been there for years. Some times there might be no funerals for a month and then you could have four or five a week. There is very little street parking and the funeral home does not have its own parking, another estate on the otherside of the funeral home also gets clogged up with cars whenever there is a Funeral.

The problem usually occurs over the three days as in the evenings you'd have a "Rosary" and the following evening a "Removal" and to make matters worse the Graveyard is about 80 metres away so the same thing happens on the day of a burial. Thankfully the RC Church is about a kilometre away and that takes the most of the cars away after the removal and alot of people leaves their cars at the church and walks in the funeral courtage when there is a burial. A wet evening it is total chaos as it is a case of drive into our yard and abandon your car, blocking up the whole place!

Having recently started spending more time in the house myself I can see now how much of a pain it was for the tenants, each house has two parking spaces and people routinely park in these when the yard itself is full. I went around there yesterday evening ironically to attend a funeral and two cheeky f*ckers had both my spaces taken. The front yard is over 7,000 sq feet and tarmac'd, my tenants often complained about getting locked in on evening of funerals.

The estate is a private estate and has a private estate management committee of which I am a member, each house pays around €500 a year for public liabilty insurance for the yard, street lighting, accountancy fees and maintainance of the walls and timber fences. Two years ago after complaints from myself and another owner disclaimer signs were erected notifying people that Parking was for residents only and that it was private property.

Some of the owners have being trying to get the local council to take over the running of the communal areas. As they don't want to pay the cost of running the estate every year, I am against this as the council couldn't organise a pissup. However the Management is run on a house by house basis and each house takes their turn at running things each year, the biggest thing is this means however is in charge has to mow the communal grass although other do help too, keep tabs on things and ensure the insurance is paid, accounts done and everything is in order.

Next month it will be my turn for the first time since buying in there. I am planning on doing a long term deal with a private clamping company to deal with the parking problem for once and for all. Permits will be given to the owners and multiple permits for a house party or whatever, the plan is to generate revenue from the clamping to alleviate the cost running the estate, however more importantly it would stop people parking on private land.

I suggested this before but it was shot down by some of the neighbours who have this "Diddly eye" attitude to it and "shur its only a funeral", "you can't confront people an evening of a funeral" is the sort of prevailing attitude.

Should I bring in the clampers to sort it out? At the moment the problem doesn't really effect me as I am not living in the house; however since the tenents left I have taken to leaving my car there, going for a few pints and spending the night in my house afterwards, its saves on taxis or having to walk four miles home afterwards from the pub as I currently live further out the country.

The house is paid for and I bought it off the map back in the day with cash up front; if I was paying a mortgage and living there with this happening I'd go off my rocker and I am keen to nip this in the bud when others won't.

I know people hate clampers but people are so thick and will throw their cars anywhere and because they are going to see a dead person somehow makes that ok? Two of my previous tenants had a someone ejit reverse a towbar in through the front of his BMW although the guy paid out another polish girl had the front wing of her car damaged and they never caught the guy responsible; all this happened parked in their own spaces!

Also occasionally people park their cars and vans there during the day when they are carpooling or whatever, this however dosen't cause a traffic jam but it still has the insurance risk, I once even found an Artic lorry inside in the yard, the driver was asleep in the cab so I didn't confront him but it was about the only safe place he could park so left him there for the night.

Enough is Enough!

(sorry for the longwinded post!)

CrazySka

Sounds like clamping is about the only option left to be honest,

The first few funerals will be tough though, I would expect massive rows if multiple cars are clamped when people are paying their respects to someone who passed away, in that situation people are only thinking of THAT funeral not all the others that block the area.
The funeral home will put up notices after a few clamping incidents, you have to be tough on this one I think.

MajorMax

I hate clampers and clamping on private property is borderline illegal as there is no act or legislation covering it. But it sounds as if you have no choice. Make sure that the clamping company puts up as many signs as possible CYOA

loyatemu

I can't visualize this "yard" you're describing - could you put gates on the estate so only residents can get in and out?

mikemac

The first few times this happens there is going to be uproar especially that's for a funeral.

It's going to hit the local paper and possibly the radio

Follow through and have the funeral home have notices too to give fair warning

3DataModem

Go and talk to the funeral parlour... tell them exactly what you've written above. Don't "complain", it is not their fault. But at least they can warn people in advance.

I expect private clampers are the way to go... but the first few funerals will be VERY bumpy.

up4it

Surely the Council can help you out with your problem.

looksee

loyatemu wrote: »

I can't visualize this "yard" you're describing - could you put gates on the estate so only residents can get in and out?

Or an automatic barrier.

While I can see that clamping would tend to be the obvious choice, unfortunately people are going to think 'its a funeral, they won't mind if I park here/they won't clamp me for a funeral' not thinking of all the other people that think the same.

You are not keeping out repeat offenders, pretty well all these people are 'one time parkers' so you would have an on-going row, and you wouldn't get much sympathy if it became an issue, regardless of how right you are. Even if the clampers clamped a couple of people every time, there would be no educational process because they would always be new parkers.

I do sympathise with your situation. Its the same as living beside a racecourse or a football stadium, but not as predictable.

I would think that keeping the area inaccessible with some kind of gates/barrier would be the solution.

Redshift

I live near a funeral parlour too and I know what you are going through. And it's always just as you come home from work, whole estate is blocked up with cars on the foothpaths, corners, blocking your driveway you name it.
It's extra special when there is a match or training on in the sports ground across the road.:eek:
It's a pain in the hole alright but I wouldn't feel right giving out to someone going to a funeral as their day is probably bad enough as it is.

Could you try cones or something like that first, at least in the areas where parking is causing a problem.

It is a tough one to solve but imagine you are at a loved ones funeral or removal and then come out to find your car clamped, I dont know about you but it might tip me over the edge.

Really try everything else before bringing in clamping.

the_syco

Hrm... get a nice sign in your yard:


:pac:

...and maybe a crushed car under it to show you mean business?

Or maybe just something like the below:

myflipflops

As someone else said, I'm struggling to picture your parking yard but I presume it is obviously private property for parking rather than on street? I also presume a gate is not an option as this is the most obvious and easiest solution.

Firstly, I would speak to the mangement of the funeral parlour. Be very polite and explain your issue and see if there is an alternative parking arrangment that they think about. I would give them a reasonabel time frame of a couple of weeks to look into the situation. Remember, they are running a business and should not be relying on your private car park to facilitate that. Maybe, if there are spare spaces in the lot, you can agree to give temporary permits to them to give to immediate family who need parking. This would solve any possible 'moral issue' of disturbing people in mourning.

I would attempt a solution as simple as purchasing a warning cone for each designated space. I have seen this done before. Get cones with 'Private Parking' written on them and residents can place/remove it in their space as they come and go. Also put up obvious 'Private Parking Only' signs at the entrance.

If people ignore signs/cones and continue to park, I would go with clamping. I don't agree with the argument that 'you cannot clamp for a funeral'. It's not like you are blocking in the hearse. It is perfectly reasonable to expect your private space to be free whenever you need it.

Dymo

why not just but one or two of these up? They will stop cars parking in your spots.

alb

Put up a clear sign saying "no parking, even short term for funerals, or you will be clamped"

Anyone who parks there even after seeing this deserves to be clamped. Let the funeral home know your problem and intentions up front. They may even help by fore-warning people having funerals with them to spread the word to their families that parking is an issue.

jmayo

looksee wrote: »

...

You are not keeping out repeat offenders, pretty well all these people are 'one time parkers' so you would have an on-going row, and you wouldn't get much sympathy if it became an issue, regardless of how right you are. Even if the clampers clamped a couple of people every time, there would be no educational process because they would always be new parkers.

Ehh this actually might not be the case, particularly if this is in a smaller town in the country.
You will get the same people turning up to numerous funerals and they will out of habit park in the same place as always, since they have been getting away with it.
I know someone that knows everyone which means they could be at a couple of funerals a week and they would more than likely be out of the one funeral home.
So it could be same offenders.

looksee wrote: »

...
I would think that keeping the area inaccessible with some kind of gates/barrier would be the solution.

Could be the best solution.

Somebody else mentioned about clamping not been nice to somebody paying respects at funeral and how upset they would be.

Again this is probably incorrect.
The immediate family would be one of the first to arrive and they would probably source parking near the funeral home.
The ones who arrive later, or the regulars funaerral goers, would probably then plonk for the OP's yard.
And these ones are probably not the ones overcome with grief, but just turning up to pay their respects as is the Irish way.

number10a

Like others, I can't really visualise the yard/estate, so I'm not sure if this would suit. But if a gate wouldn't suit because it might be an open area, what about those electric bollards that come up out of the ground. Maybe you can get those with a remote control for each house?? No idea how much they cost though!