17 replies to this topic

[tony]

To the person who owns the white Yukon and unidentified hotrod motorcycle, both of which were parked, side by side, completely blocking the sidewalk in front of your house on Monday evening, I'm glad to see you got the message (delivered by the FPD).

For everyone else, a friendly reminder that it is illegal and terribly rude to park your vehicle on the sidewalk. And if you think you are protecting your vehicle from being hit, consider that the odds of your vehicle getting dinged up by a passing kid on a bicycle on the sidewalk your vehicle is blocking are far greater than the chance of it getting hit by a car driving by (particularly on a street like the one in question that has a bike lane next to the on-street parking).

[nomad]

To the person who owns the white Yukon and unidentified hotrod motorcycle, both of which were parked, side by side, completely blocking the sidewalk in front of your house on Monday evening, I'm glad to see you got the message (delivered by the FPD).

For everyone else, a friendly reminder that it is illegal and terribly rude to park your vehicle on the sidewalk. And if you think you are protecting your vehicle from being hit, consider that the odds of your vehicle getting dinged up by a passing kid on a bicycle on the sidewalk your vehicle is blocking are far greater than the chance of it getting hit by a car driving by (particularly on a street like the one in question that has a bike lane next to the on-street parking).

That's why I always park on my lawn!

[dimeracer]

Stay classy Folsom.

[Sandman]

They are probably from the bay area. Everyone there parks half way up the sidewalks due to the narrow streets.

[supermom]

To the person who owns the white Yukon and unidentified hotrod motorcycle, both of which were parked, side by side, completely blocking the sidewalk in front of your house on Monday evening, I'm glad to see you got the message (delivered by the FPD).

For everyone else, a friendly reminder that it is illegal and terribly rude to park your vehicle on the sidewalk. And if you think you are protecting your vehicle from being hit, consider that the odds of your vehicle getting dinged up by a passing kid on a bicycle on the sidewalk your vehicle is blocking are far greater than the chance of it getting hit by a car driving by (particularly on a street like the one in question that has a bike lane next to the on-street parking).

Did you actually call the cops on them for the way they parked in front of their own home?

[tony]

Yes he did, because they were blocking public access to the sidewalk (which they don't own).

Are you trying to say that was wrong to do?

As the dude said...if the car had two wheels on the edge of sidewalk, I would be annoyed and move on, but when you complete;y block the sidewalk, that is a clear indication that you need to be reminded that, as the dude pointed out, the sidewalk is part of the public transportation system, not your front lawn. And, BTW, especially because it was their own house, because if it's their own house, they are going to do it every day until someone educates them that it happens to be illegal, not to mention extremely rude. Besides, if the city did not enforce this, we (the city) could be held responsible in an ADA suit for not maintaining the sidewalks in a useable state.

[andy]

One of the more frustrating elements of this is the impact it has on elderly or disabled residents who rely on an unobstructed sidewalk to get around on foot. The fact that it's in front of your own house is irrelevant.

[supermom]

So, before you called the police to have them ticket a guy right before the bills of christmas come in; tell me you tried communicating your vexation to this person through an anonymous letter or a visit to the owner or something? Just seems kind of smug and impersonal to notice a car parked on the sidewalk and call the pd to ticket. Does this person do this everyday? have they been warned or asked or reminded of the law?

How uncomfortable to have a set of neighbors so contentious with each other.

[folsom500]

I would imagine that the FPD would issue a warning first before actually ticketing the owner of the vehicles...
If I had the same situation- I would leave a note 'educating' the owner and if that did not work would then call FPD or Code... I hate it when people park their cars so far up on the sidewalk you can barely walk between it and the hedge or other things...

[tony]

So, before you called the police to have them ticket a guy right before the bills of christmas come in; tell me you tried communicating your vexation to this person through an anonymous letter or a visit to the owner or something? Just seems kind of smug and impersonal to notice a car parked on the sidewalk and call the pd to ticket. Does this person do this everyday? have they been warned or asked or reminded of the law?

How uncomfortable to have a set of neighbors so contentious with each other.

Frankly, I don't know if they got a ticket. They may have received a warning. All I know for sure is that they got the message. Smug??

It was 1am, a couple of blocks from my house. I had a cell phone, not a pen and paper. I don't know the people. If I did, I would have waited and written a note (I've done that before with a neighbor in another neighborhood and it was not very well received). I thought about knocking on the door, but I'm pretty sure at 1am I would not get a friendly reception. The police have the discretion to ticket or warn. This being a pretty obnoxious example of blocking a sidewalk (not one, but two vehicles side-by-side on the sidewalk), I suspect they gave a ticket.

As a frequent bicyclist and pedestrian, I deal with obnoxious behavior almost daily. As a homeowner in the HD, I pick up trash off my lawn several days a week. I usually brush off the behavior and move on. When it is really blatant, and I have the ability to, I do something about it. Don't make me out to be the bad guy here, or some kind of Grinch. All I did was notify the FPD about a situation that I know they typically don't pay much attention to; given the time of night, I figured they might not be too busy to address this case. I'm not the one who was rudely and obnoxiously ignoring the law. Lack of civility starts with the little things. If you can't be bothered to keep your vehicle off the sidewalk, or more likely, intentionally park it there because you think it will protect your car, then I'm not going to have any qualms about asking the FPD to do something about it. And now that this person got the message, they no doubt will share it with their friends and neighbors and the net benefit will be multiplied, whereas if I left a note, they may have just ignored it and continued on.

[Harold]

As Steve Martin says "Death Penalty for Parking Violations".

[supermom]

So, before you called the police to have them ticket a guy right before the bills of christmas come in; tell me you tried communicating your vexation to this person through an anonymous letter or a visit to the owner or something? Just seems kind of smug and impersonal to notice a car parked on the sidewalk and call the pd to ticket. Does this person do this everyday? have they been warned or asked or reminded of the law?

How uncomfortable to have a set of neighbors so contentious with each other.

Really Rsliger? A negative for daring to suggest communicating with your neighbors before petty calls to the pd?

Ha ha ha ha!!! That was a finger slippage, right?

LOL I gotta remember that the next time someone asks about how to handle their neighbors. You guys are cracking me up. He just admitted he didnt talk to the neighbor first.
Just called and insisted on the neighbor being ticketed.

Lemme do that the next time I see a cyclist on a sidewalk. (joking)

Seriously, aren't most of you who are making comments or positive posting this guys the same ones' who always criticize other people for not trying to be better neighbors about noise and dogs and kids? Yet the sidewalk becomes an instant reason to call a copper?
interesting set of priorities. Only be nice if it can be identified as a complaint you made vs. a random traffic officer in the residential area?

Wow.

[andy]

Seriously, aren't most of you who are making comments or positive posting this guys the same ones' who always criticize other people for not trying to be better neighbors about noise and dogs and kids? Yet the sidewalk becomes an instant reason to call a copper?
interesting set of priorities. Only be nice if it can be identified as a complaint you made vs. a random traffic officer in the residential area?

Wow.

I only saw two people agree the police call was appropriate, so +1 on the wow indeed.