Ethics on clearing neighbor's drive ways and private lane

[TomSeller]

I live on a 1500' driveway shared by 3 other houses. I am the last one on the driveway and I have easement over the other 3 parcels. No one has easement over my parcel since I am at the end. So I clear the common portion in return for "driving on" their property. The driveway is paved and well defined. The neighbor closest just had a stroke so I clear his driveway. Another one is seventy something but holding his own, Someday I may need to do his and gladly would. No issues so far.

 

[chim]

Our church has two parking lots and some neighbors have begun to think one of the lots was built to provide them with off-street parking. At first it was only 1 or 2 cars, but the numbers are growing and at some point the lot may have signs restricting it to use for church functions only. I've been clearing snow as a volunteer there for the last few years.

The lot where the neighbors park is situated between a lawn area that is also owned by the church, and a sidewalk on the street side that is flush with the parking lot blacktop. There is a drop of maybe 10" or so from the sidewalk at the curb. We stack snow in the lawn, pushing from the sidewalk side of the lot. The neighbors park in the row of spaces that position the cars nose toward (and frequently hanging over) the sidewalk. I have asked the neighbors to kindly park in spaces on the side of the lot bordered by the lawn to make snow removal easier. They don't, and we end up spending extra effort hand shoveling the sidewalk that is between the cars and the road.

Along came Jonas. When the sun came out Sunday morning, we arrived to clear snow. We did the main parking lot, all along the street / curb parking spaces, sidewalks, steps and other areas. With the only remaining snow in the second parking lot (occupied by the neighbors who parked AGAIN where I asked them not to) I decided I might be too tired to continue plowing.

With the weather and schedules the way they were this week it was Wednesday evening till I got back there with the Kubota. It was obvious someone did a lot of snow removal by hand. When I saw the guy who had his truck parked there I explained that having cars in the lot when we want to plow is like having the neighbor kid's toys on his lawn when he wants to mow.

 

[Jim in ICT]

We share a 200 ft. gravel driveway with our neighbors. Both of our houses sit on either side, at the end of the drive. On the second snow after our neighbors moved in, he came out and told me "he would take care of his side from now on". Guess he didn't want my rear blade scraping on his new concrete. I told him "OK" and haven't cleaned his three car pad since then. He's shoveled some decent snowfalls since, one about 15 inches deep.

I clean the pad to my attached and detached garages, the turnaround, and all the gravel. I work from home and set my own schedule, so I can clean things immediately if need be. Often, I will wait until everyone's left for work and then start my work. That way, there's no cars to maneuver around and he can see what he's missing when he gets home.

 

[airbiscuit]

We share a 200 ft. gravel driveway with our neighbors. Both of our houses sit on either side, at the end of the drive. On the second snow after our neighbors moved in, he came out and told me "he would take care of his side from now on". Guess he didn't want my rear blade scraping on his new concrete. I told him "OK" and haven't cleaned his three car pad since then. He's shoveled some decent snowfalls since, one about 15 inches deep.

I clean the pad to my attached and detached garages, the turnaround, and all the gravel. I work from home and set my own schedule, so I can clean things immediately if need be. Often, I will wait until everyone's left for work and then start my work. That way, there's no cars to maneuver around and he can see what he's missing when he gets home.

That defies logic.

 

[TomSeller]

That defies logic.

Two lane driveway ?

 

[bcp]

I think of this place I sometimes drive by whenever anyone writes about shared driveway problems.



Bruce

 

[TomSeller]

I think of this place I sometimes drive by whenever anyone writes about shared driveway problems.

Bruce

If the guy in the middle with the paved driveway plows his, I bet the other two sneak over there when it snows.

 

[paulfun9]

A neighbor of mine is a plumber he has had some heart issues , his boss told him to take the mini ex with a blade home for the storm so he didnt have to shovel and if he wanted make a couple extra bucks . He did his house and a old couple across the street . By the end of the day he had neighbors calling for him to do their driveways , he was happy to make some cash , so he was telling neighbors $ 75 to do a 4 car drive . The neighbors got upset he wanted so "much" . Well later on Sunday when these same yuppie neighbors couldnt handle 30 inches of snow shoveling they called him back to get their driveways done . He told sorry , he is too busy now , his wife sent an email to a friend in the next community , he has 20 driveways lined up then he is taking his kids sled riding , but there is a guy with a snowblower coming around doing driveways for $ 125 plus 25 for a walkway to the house .

I had a similar incident years ago. A new neighbor came out and asked me to clear his driveway and I responded with sure it will cost you this much (sorry I cant remember the exact amount) He quickly responded with "That's too much!". My next statement was very direct and to the point " Well then why don't you go and buy a tractor just like this, pay the bank a monthly payment for it, buy fuel, pay for oil changes and normal maintenance and pay to fix it when it needs repair then add how much you want for your time then come back and tell me how much is too much!

He ended up paying one of my friends more than double what I originally asked for.

 

[skyhook]

So my question to all of you is what you feel right about helping out others in your neighborhood?

Let me provide the use case. I live in a small neighborhood of 5 to 10 acre lots the road we live on has 12 home sites and is not state maintained; maybe 1/8 to 1/4 mile long.

I don't understand whats happening with people today. I feel your pain. I am in the SAME situation, almost to the letter except we do have a get together every year for this very reason. I charge $100.00 per house for road snow clearing only. The rest ( driveways etc ) are at my discretion. If you don't have these yearly meetings, here's what I'd do...plow from your house out, and leave the rest, they'll get the hint fast,,sometimes "tough" love is the best way to deal with issues. Also, if while I'm plowing the road I see some poor soul shoveling and they give me a wave (to say hi) I respond with a get out of the way and I'll plow that for you. ( I don't mention any price at this time). Commercial plowers charge $250.00 per household here, to the the unmaintained road only, no driveways. You know, it always makes me sad when I hear these types of stories, but you have to teach these "bad apples" a lesson some how.

 

[check]

Sometimes the neighbors don't even know that you have plowed the road. The folks on a road near my cottage have a contract with the local contractor to plow it. But sometimes he's late day or so, and if I am on my ATV with the plow attached, I will simply zoom down the road and do it. Goes real fast, and it's lots of fun, so I don't even talk to anybody about it, and the cottagers probably assume it was the contractor. I've often wondered what the contractor thinks on those occasions, when he arrives to do his job, and finds that the road is already plowed!

On second thought, I think the contractor knows that I'm the one doing it every once in a while. I've known him for quite a while, and he knows I have a nice big ATV with s 60 inch plow on the front. (One pass in each direction is all it takes.) Makes his work easier, too, since he also has a contract to do a number of driveways that run off of that same road, and if the main road is already plowed he can get to the various driveways sooner.

Anyway, it's fun doing it, especially if the snow is eight or 10 inches or so. Then I have to use full throttle in low gear, and it's quite a wild ride! Also, there's the thrill of not knowing whether you're going to get stuck, and the great sense of satisfaction when your machine makes it through yet again.

Pretty much everybody on that road is friends with my wife and I, and We used to cottage on that road before I moved around the corner. So, we all party together, and almost all of them came to my big 60 birthday party and brought presents. This friendship group atmosphere makes life up there a lot more fun, and we all do stuff for each other without even thinking. No one would ever dream of asking for any kind of compensation.