WWYD concerning commercial vehicle parked next door

[nkereina]

DH's work gives some employees company vehicles that they are allowed to drive home and use also as personal vehicles. Assuming your neighbor has a similar situation, leaving it at work means he would no longer have access to it as a personal vehicle, which is probably not feasible for them. It would mean he'd have to get a second vehicle he could leave at home for personal use.

That said, if your HOA and/or town don't allow the type of vehicle he's parking there, that certainly is his problem. We live in an HOA where a commercial vehicle as you're describing would not be permitted. We live here knowing this, so if DH's work ever gave him the option of a company vehicle, he would know that means he'd also have to maintain a second vehicle for personal use since the company vehicle couldn't be parked at home.

Is it the engine idling or the engine just starting up that's bothersome? Or both? I'd say you could ask the neighbor to limit the time it idles, but if you mention the truck at all and then decide to pursue measures with the HOA or town, your neighbor will know the source is you.

 

[TheIncredibles!]

They put a development in next to our farm

They don't like it if we move a fence or disturb their view of OUR fields...but boy do they like us when it snows and they see we have a loader!
Of course, they also complain when my son backs the low boy down our driveway with the loader on it.
And they hate the fact that we have a dumpster at the end of our drive and every Thursday morning at about 4:45 AM the trash truck comes to pick it up and dump it creating a hell of a racket!
No one seems to realize they bought a house near or next to a working farm that was established before they put the development in.

We have an entire "high end" community that was built right next to a quarry... want to take a stab at what happened next?

Anxieties Over Quarry Dust Split a Small New Jersey Town - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

 

[TheIncredibles!]

Who would buy a house that close and think they're not going to have some issues? Sorry for hijaking OP. LOL

 

[aggiedog]

To the OP, I'd ask the county in a "a friend was asking" sort of way, before technically reporting it. Then yes, weight the repercussions of rocking the boat between your households.

My dad drove a giant, old diesel suburban when I was young. He worked in an OR and left the house at 5:30 every morning. I always knew when he was leaving.

 

[fla4fun]

I use a white noise machine for this very reason. I have good neighbors in general, but there is one behind me who puts the dogs out at sunrise and they bark, and the one next door has a motorcycle they ride to work, etc. If I don’t use the white noise, I would be awakened very early. With the white noise, I sleep like a baby. Since the white noise is a mobile app, I also have the option of adding additional devices for holidays like July 4th when the neighbors shoot off fireworks. The app also offers a lot of sounds to choose from (ironically, one of them is an idling truck) and you can custom mix up to four different ones to find what works best to mask a particular sound. I can’t use ear plugs, and I don’t think my situation calls for any complaints on my part since my neighbors are just living their lives. This was the best compromise I have found.

OP, I hope you are able to find a way to work things out. A good night’s sleep is very important.

 

[Stratman50th]

I live in a Class A motorcoach community (Their name for it, not mine). Just about everyone in here has a diesel pusher or other type of RV. People going in and out all the time. I'm guessing that the OP wouldn't like it here at all. Everybody just gets used to it. Although, when everyone bought in they knew what they were getting into.

 

[mrodgers]

They put a development in next to our farm

They don't like it if we move a fence or disturb their view of OUR fields...but boy do they like us when it snows and they see we have a loader!
Of course, they also complain when my son backs the low boy down our driveway with the loader on it.
And they hate the fact that we have a dumpster at the end of our drive and every Thursday morning at about 4:45 AM the trash truck comes to pick it up and dump it creating a hell of a racket!
No one seems to realize they bought a house near or next to a working farm that was established before they put the development in.

I love when that happens. Laughing is the best medicine so they say. I don't know why city people want to move out to the country then turn the country into the city.

DH's work gives some employees company vehicles that they are allowed to drive home and use also as personal vehicles. Assuming your neighbor has a similar situation, leaving it at work means he would no longer have access to it as a personal vehicle, which is probably not feasible for them. It would mean he'd have to get a second vehicle he could leave at home for personal use.

A lot of the reason is it eliminates a lot of travel to go get the work vehicle and having to take the vehicle back cutting into work time. I think it is very rare it is because someone doesn't want to buy a personal vehicle. I am on a Garage/shop style site like this is for Disney and that's pretty much the reason there why people bring their work trucks home. Because the travel to pick it up cuts into the work time.

 

[nkereina]

A lot of the reason is it eliminates a lot of travel to go get the work vehicle and having to take the vehicle back cutting into work time. I think it is very rare it is because someone doesn't want to buy a personal vehicle. I am on a Garage/shop style site like this is for Disney and that's pretty much the reason there why people bring their work trucks home. Because the travel to pick it up cuts into the work time.

Of course, that's part of it. But if someone has to leave their work vehicle at work and doesn't have access to it on nights and weekends, that means they don't have a vehicle for personal use (for that person) which creates logistical challenges for families as well.

 

[cabanafrau]

Whose priority should it be to select a place to live where HOA rules and/or municipal ordinances allow residential parking of work vehicles if it's your priority to park your work vehicle at your home?

 

[Christine]

Whose priority should it be to select a place to live where HOA rules and/or municipal ordinances allow residential parking of work vehicles if it's your priority to park your work vehicle at your home?

Hmmmm....the homeowner?

 

[easyas123]

Whose priority should it be to select a place to live where HOA rules and/or municipal ordinances allow residential parking of work vehicles if it's your priority to park your work vehicle at your home?

No arguments there. I do think however, that the OP has a very valid concern as it is against either town ordinance or HOA covenants.

 

[cabanafrau]

No arguments there. I do think however, that the OP has a very valid concern as it is against either town ordinance or HOA covenants.

My comment doesn't argue with OP having a valid concern, far from it. There's been a lot of comments in the thread speaking to the valid reasons why the person who drives a commercial vehicle as part of their job would want or need to park it at their home. I'm merely pointing out that if needing to park your commercial vehicle is a priority, perhaps selecting a community where that's allowed should be a priority.

 

[VandVsmama]

Get a white noise machine and/or install an app for it on a mobile device and sleep with it on every night. Problem solved, you won't wake up to the sound of the loud car/truck next door.

 

[easyas123]

My comment doesn't argue with OP having a valid concern, far from it. There's been a lot of comments in the thread speaking to the valid reasons why the person who drives a commercial vehicle as part of their job would want or need to park it at their home. I'm merely pointing out that if needing to park your commercial vehicle is a priority, perhaps selecting a community where that's allowed should be a priority.

And I'm agreeing with you -

 

[Christine]

Off topic--white noise machine. I'm a very light sleeper. I've tried these on multiple occasions and they keep me up all night.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Off topic--white noise machine. I'm a very light sleeper. I've tried these on multiple occasions and they keep me up all night.

I can listen to falling rain on an app but that at times can keep me up like you. On occasion I'll take a nap to a crackling fireplace hour long thing on Netflix but I have to make sure I'm tired enough otherwise it may not allow me to get to sleep.

A real standing fan for whatever reason is hands down the best thing for me I've found with the majority of the time it's not faced towards me it just acts like a noise thing. A white noise machine, while I have given that as an advice before, is something that won't work for all. I don't know that I am necessarily a light sleeper but rather that a noise if my mind deems it so I'll fixate on it and be unable to lull myself to sleep.

 

[monsterkitty]

In my state, the HOA rules cannot overrule the city laws.

In the OP they state that "Per township ordinance you are not allowed to park a commercial vehicle in a residential district." If this is the case, then the township would have to be the ones to take action if it was reported.

In my state, if the HOA said no commercial vehicles are allowed to park on a street that rule would have to be in accordance with the city laws. In my city they do not have the no commercial vehicles parked on streets law so the HOAs cannot enforce a rule regarding that.

The only way an HOA can enforce the no commercial vehicles parked on the street is if the HOA paid for and maintains the street. There are only two HOA subdivisions in the entire metro area that actually had the streets put in, pave them, plow them, etc. These are the only two HOAs that can enforce that rule.

My former neighborhood's HOA found this out the hard way. They started giving warnings to commercial vehicles parked on the streets, saying they were in violation of the HOA rules. If the owner of the vehicle continued to park they would have the vehicle towed. After they were sued for having vehicles towed, they learned HOA rules couldn't supersede the city laws. This was fun to follow on the community page.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

In my state, the HOA rules cannot overrule the city laws.

In the OP they state that "Per township ordinance you are not allowed to park a commercial vehicle in a residential district." If this is the case, then the township would have to be the ones to take action if it was reported.

In my state, if the HOA said no commercial vehicles are allowed to park on a street that rule would have to be in accordance with the city laws. In my city they do not have the no commercial vehicles parked on streets law so the HOAs cannot enforce a rule regarding that.

The only way an HOA can enforce the no commercial vehicles parked on the street is if the HOA paid for and maintains the street. There are only two HOA subdivisions in the entire metro area that actually had the streets put in, pave them, plow them, etc. These are the only two HOAs that can enforce that rule.

My former neighborhood's HOA found this out the hard way. They started giving warnings to commercial vehicles parked on the streets, saying they were in violation of the HOA rules. If the owner of the vehicle continued to park they would have the vehicle towed. After they were sued for having vehicles towed, they learned HOA rules couldn't supersede the city laws. This was fun to follow on the community page.

That's similar to my area although I don't know that it's a state law. However, in my area it doesn't mean the HOA has no recourse. Basically they can fine the owner all they want, they can put a lien on the homeowner.

We have several rules that differ from the city like grass height, length of parking on the street without moving, etc. If say your car is parked more than 24 hours on the street the HOA can fine you, can they make you move it? No they cannot. The city can have it towed according to their rules though.

So city ordinances here do supersede but they don't mean the HOA just can't do anything. The HOA covenants have to be filed with the city anyways in my area. It's one of the reasons too they don't like to amend often because it's costly to get the lawyers to look at it, and to ensure insurance is adequately covered, costly to file it with the city, etc. Can your HOA fine the people at all? I totally understand not being able to legally tow someone.

 

[tinkerdorabelle]

Who would buy a house that close and think they're not going to have some issues? Sorry for hijaking OP. LOL

View attachment 559982

That's unfair. We live fairly close in our neighborhood being just outside a major city and people used to always respect one another. Seems like that is a thing of the past

 

[monsterkitty]

That's similar to my area although I don't know that it's a state law. However, in my area it doesn't mean the HOA has no recourse. Basically they can fine the owner all they want, they can put a lien on the homeowner.

We have several rules that differ from the city like grass height, length of parking on the street without moving, etc. If say your car is parked more than 24 hours on the street the HOA can fine you, can they make you move it? No they cannot. The city can have it towed according to their rules though.

So city ordinances here do supersede but they don't mean the HOA just can't do anything. The HOA covenants have to be filed with the city anyways in my area. It's one of the reasons too they don't like to amend often because it's costly to get the lawyers to look at it, and to ensure insurance is adequately covered, costly to file it with the city, etc. Can your HOA fine the people at all? I totally understand not being able to legally tow someone.

Nope, they can't even fine or have any other recourse. If the HOA had a rule that said commercial vehicles can't be parked in driveways then the HOA could have recourse. However, on public streets they have no say.