Mercury_Challenger

I have had one complaint since living here in the past 9 years. Same thing almost. I have 5 vehicles, boat, jet ski, and a custom trailer with two quads on it. All are currently registered, licensed, and insured. None of them are projects, all road worthy and look good. The projects stay at the farm shop until they are complete, then I will bring them home. I got a warning citation that I need all projects either moved or put in a garage with a garage door so that it could not be visible to the public. Next day I called the guy at his office, come to find out the next door neighbor had complained. He saw nothing really wrong but was just trying to satisfy her. This year I doubled my driveway, added the exact same size pad to it that was already there. It is 24 foot wide and 56 foot long. Quads at the very back with the jet ski beside them, the shelby in front of the boat. All of them are covered with nice quality covers, its just the fact that some folks do not like to see others get ahead. They get jealous quick and do what they can to bring you down. After about 6 months of her seeing me not move my toys I started to see the animal control dude ride thru the neighborhood. One night I caught him parked out in front of my house at about 10:30PM, so I asked him what he was doing..........yep you guessed it..........had a complaint that my labs were keeping her up at night barking really loud. Sad thing it was the neighbor on the other side of her with his labs, not ours. Now this lady has no friends in the entire neighborhood. She is single, no help from anyone..........and the sad thing is the fact that I use to send my son over to cut her grass when he did mine here at home, the yard wasn't that big and with a rider could be knocked out in about 20 minutes, that'll never happen anymore though. Some folks just don't know when to shut up. I could understand it if my chit was some junk that was sat out there to go bad, but its all nearly new stuff and well maintained, even down to the lawn and flowers/bushes.

pullmytrigger

Tim - totally understand being pizzed but its tough to put up a fight when you have such an easily damagable piece of property (boat) in your driveway.......its better off in the backyard anyway.

All three of my boats sat in the driveway at my old house at one time or another........nothing ever happened but I always had a bit of an uneasy feeling about it......my biggest fear was some kids walking by and keying it just because they had nothing better to do.

patiently house shopped for a full year , looked at 18 different houses to find a place to fit my needs from location to budget, bought this place and built this, no looking back

pullmytrigger

You are so right!......your lucky you found out who it was......in our town they wont tell you who complained........I would make sure everybody in the nieghbourhood knows exactly who she is and when you see her outside I would tell her you told everyone in the nieghbourhood about her BS and ask her how it feels to be so lonely as shes the most hated person on the block!

jafo

First let me say I have NEVER agreed with the establishment of HOA's. I see it as nothing more than people sticking their noses into business that isn't theirs. It could only be justified if it is a health or safety hazard to those around you.
Second, since your zoning/code is written law, my suggestion is to comply by stationing your boat in the backyard. I'd also suggest the #2 option by taking a short walk with the code enforcement individual. I seriously doubt you are looking to marry any one of your neighbor's daughters, so who cares if they get whacked for their non-compliance a little as well?
Finally, do something for your future well-being and state-of-mind. Start a search in your area for some rural property that won't burden your pocket book or commute to work too much. That area of Ohio/Kentucky is dotted with beautiful areas/farms/land etc.
When younger, I lived in suburban neighborhoods (and hated it) but had the advantage of grandparents and aunts/uncles that had farms (in Ohio- I'm a Buckeye by birth), plus the family has had a very large property in Canada for over 50 years. At least on vacations, I had LOTS of room to roam. My wife grew up on a farm here in IL, so she has always been used to wide open spaces. Neither of us could EVER live within 300+ yards of another house, and prefer more space than that! We now own rural zoned ag property, and can (and have) put up outbuildings as necessary to fit our needs. We park things where we want, when we want.
Your freedoms are your own, and living with some space will make you a lot happier now and in the future. Even if you have to take a little bit of a 'hit' to sell this house, I think you'll find it quite worthwhile once you have some breathing room you can call all your own, without listening to others ideas of how you should live!
Jim

magstang1

I got a notice one time that I was in violation so I called the township. They told me that there is only one inspector, and if he makes it around to all the houses once a year that is lucky. The first offense is a warning only. The second one is a 75 dollar civil infraction. It was the same situation, you look around and there are violations everywhere, why me? It is entirely possible that you just happen to have the inspector drive by and notice it. It may go away by itself. I had my boat in the same spot for 5 years and never heard another word about it. I figured it was cheeper to chance a 75 dollar ticket than buy patio stones, take out sod, put a gate in the fence...... My gamble paid off. I suggest you don't draw attention to yourself, and educate yourself about the consequences. You may decide you don't give a damn either.

bouyhunter

WOW - you wrapped it up pretty well.
As stated earlier, the wife is up for a good promotion, and maybe it's time to go ahead and build on some land that suits ALL our needs.
The thing that's hard to grasp is that only a few short years ago we were struggling to get into a new house, and then buy a new Hummer, and then buy a boat at all. I guess we've come a long way, but we're still working hard to keep it all going.
It kinda screws with the psyche of what I can actually do next.
If that makes any sense...

jafo

It makes all the sense in the world to me- we have been there before..... But..... I have found over the years that penny for penny, dollar for dollar, stress-free home living takes care of all the 'pysche screwing' that can come from the other things in life i.e. bad bosses, co-workers, financial stresses etc. The ability to come home to a lot of space to stretch out, have your own shop and storage buildings just seems to take care of a lot of the other BS in life for me.
AND....... you know there is ABSOLUTELY no chance that the Pantera will be your last (or largest) boat- you're going to need more room anyway! Rural property is consistently cheaper in both purchase price and taxes- you just have to get over the fact you might have to drive a little farther for convenience items and work.
I hope this all works out for you- don't let the 'all mailboxes have to be painted the same' police get you down!!
Jim

Iggy

I had similar trouble. When I first bought my Formula F-206 I used to keep it on the grass, parallel to the street in front of the house. A neighbor complained to the county and one day the code enforcer was waiting for me when I got home. He told me about the complaint and he also knew the exact date I brought it home. In this case I was wrong for parking it on what turned out to be county property. So I asked him what I should do. He said put it in the drive, can't complain about it there. So I did, been there since.
I tried to ask who complained and he replied "Can't tell you. But I will tell you this, he drives a Grey Ford Thunderbird". Right then I knew exactly who it was. He's the only guy with a T-bird on our street. The code enforcer was cool guy he never once threatened legal action. He just asked me to move it.
There was a time when HOA rules said any boat or trailer had to be parked in the back yard where it can't be seen from the street. Our HOA has since disbanded and now nobody cares about what we do with our homes.

Call your code enforce and ask to meet with him. Also ask to see the rules about having boats or trailers in your drive. Don't just take his word for it. If won't provide you a copy go to the county office and look it up.

t500hps

set up a video camera pointed at the hot tub in the front yard....if they want to use it, they'll move it before being taped in it (and if they do you'll have good Youtube material!!!)

Chris Sunkin

Here's another one for you-

I had a kid who was hot-rodding around the neighborhood. I went down to where they lived and spoke to Mom. Mom is a late-40's single mother and if you looked up haggered bar-whore in the dictionary, there would be a photo of her. Anyway, she proceeds to tell me her son can do as he pleases. I file a report and the sheriff visits them. The kid slows down but now, every time he passes the house, he pushes in the clutch and gives it a big rev. It's a Mustang with no exhaust so it's pretty loud. Sheriff says not much they can do. I'm getting a little pissed about just nodding off at night and having this kid wake me up.

I bought one of those 4-horn airhorn sets on Ebay. Put it on one of the shop trucks. Now, every AM at about ten to six, I'm on my way to the shop. I take a little detour past their house. Roll up to the stop and dump the contents of the air tank. He stopped about 2 days later.