Question on faux welding

[Big Bri]

if they are parking on your property just call a tow company and have the car towed. I tow any car or truck parked on my land and i don't have any sign stating no parking. the tow company will tow the car for free and charge the owner of the car for the tow when they pick it up. I talked to the sheriffs office before i did this the first time and they told me i can have anything towed off my land.

also if the sheriff is to lazy to come out for a "parked car" start calling them and tell them that some one abondoned a car there and you think it might be stolen. do this everytime you see a car parked, they will have to come out and write a report. they will get tired of it and may be start ticketing the offenders.
Good luck
Brian

 

[Richard]

My apologies for being vague. They are not parking on private property (although they have in years past prior to me clamping down on this issue) This was one if the issues where the county put the no parking signs in the wrong areas....one of the areas, actually TWO of them are naturally condusive to being parked on and both are indeed, private property.

I live at the end of a dead end road. The road stops at a location where our dock resides. This area is VERY small in fact, it used to be a 90 degree turn going down a hill prior to the lake being created. This larger area of land is owned by TVA which is why they were involved. The county has a 25 or 50 foot (depending on who you talk to) right of way for the road.

At the very dead end, is a right turn, gravel driveway that is my easement/driveway to my house.

One thing that sucks is, I traditionally call the Sheriff dept for parking/road issues. I've had times when the officer comes out and says "they are off the pavement" (though still on the 25/50 foot right of way) so there is nothing I can do....this is a TVA issue. Of course, when TVA comes out, (which is rare, but has happened) they usually say "this is a county issue"

Once, I even called them BOTH in hopes that they'd start this "it's not our jurisdiction, it's theirs" issue with each other so I could suggest they BOTH write a ticket and as the Sheriff himself said, "let the courts decide". Interestingly, no one showed up that time. (in their defense, I ALWAYS let the dispatcher know this is for a parking situation and to only send someone "when they have an opportunity", that it is not an emergency by any means)

I did once have some 4-wheelers not only park on private land BUT... he actually backed his truck/trailer right next to the no parking sign!!!

The wife & I were in the car heading out and I saw this. It just fumed me that someone would simply spit in the face of a sign like this...clearly it's there for a reason, not to mention just 1/4 mile down the road is a parkign lot specifically put there for their use!!!

Anyways... I got out of car. I deliberated on what to do. I was considering taking my backhoe and ...how to describe this... curl the backhoe around the neck of his trailer such that he would not be able to leave.

Hopeing he'd be angry as a snake when I returned home, I could easily point out that he's not only next to a no parking sign BUT also parking on our property...

As I mulled this over, I heard 4 engines "vrooming" through the woods (which as per TVA have had blockages put on the trail to prevent 4-wheelers from going in there, but that didn't stop this father and 3 kids)

Anyways... he saw me and drove down to us. I told him that he was on private property "oh...no, I didn't know that". Fine. You are also parked in a no parking area. "I am? what sign? I didn't see any sign!!"

So, I simply pointed to the sign that was literally about 4 feet to the side of his truck and he would have HAD to have seen as he backed up to park his truck where it was (backed into small flat area). There was NO way you could not see this sign.

He suddenly shut up as it was 100% clear to him that I wasn't buying his bag of lies.

As a side note, lest I sound like I'm some wild tyrant out here... when ever I'm able to 'catch' someone parking down at the docks, I'll introduce myself to them, ask em "what's up" kind of stuff... then I'll mention in a nice voice , did they know this was a no parking area?

Answer is always no, in spite of having passed 4 signs to get here.

I'll tell them that it is, point to the sign. I'll then continue to mention that the Sheriff DOES at times, pass through here and does give out tickets. Also, the reason for it is we've had treaspassers, theft, dogs shot and besides, they built a parking lot just for people who wanted to park out this way (so you should use it stupid!!).

I'll finally point out that their single vehicle itself isn't REALLY a problem BUT, what happens is someone else sees this person parked there so THEY park there....then someone else sees them and all the sudden, we have a dozen vehicles parked there again and we can't get through our driveway. So, it's not really about "them" being a problem as much as others seeing them (and the others being the problem)

I always try to be as nice & friendly as I can, hoping they think I'm doing them a favor by 'informing' them rather than trying to be the local prick telling them what they can/can't do.

That approach seems to work with most people. Of course, then there was that lady once who literally, parked her vehicle in the middle of the pavement. I had the chat...said she didn't care as she & her girls were going to go down the trail.

I told her that the cops DO give tickets... said she didn't care. It was obvious to me that this lady was the center of the world and EVERYONE capitulated to her desires.... so I simply pulled my cell phone out and dialed the dispatcher.

Interestingly... as she heard me phoning into the Sheriff dept the situation, her daughters stopped and gave her a very strange look. She stopped and gave me a look of "how dare you tell ME what to do". They then got back into their vehicle which again, was parked in the MIDDLE of the freaking road, and left. What a b**** lol. I feel for her husband.

 

[dcyrilc]

I just got one...LOVE it!!!

I say get a 110v MIG welder and weld the sign to the cars that park there...right on the drivers side door should work!!

Deano

I don't know how much trouble you would get in for this, but I got a really good laugh out of the thought of it! Ideally you would want to use a spare sign though.

 

[dcyrilc]

you could try it with battery- but I am worried about safety. I agree with some of comments- getting a 110v wire feed welder would work. No need to learn. Its same as the battery idea but more of a useful tool and better welds for novice. but it's clear the op doesnt want to learn to weld or get one- no problem. I was going to suggest take hint from the newer public bathrooms- the torx with pin in center or one way bolts. ball peen and making a rivet out of the bolt threads after threading on nut works great too. I used that method with sucess with grade 5 bolts.

As for the comments of getting revenge- drain oil, weld sign on door, dirt.... come on guys ! (family forum remember ?) I know it's in all name of fun, but why let your blood boil when seeing the cars on your property? approach them - or leave notes in windsheild, word does get around, no matter what. sooner or later it will eventually catch on.

Reallity is that if you leave a polite note on the windshield explaining that parking near the driveway makes it difficult to see to get out of your driveway, most people will respect it. A polite reference to the proper place to park wouldn't hurt either. This will probably only work with the ones right near the driveway though. With todays laws, we cannot intentionally damage someones vehicle, but it is still fun to joke about.

 

[CBW1999]

I have had first hand experience with the pass the buck strategy, it is quite a pain in the butt...

You mentioned one key point that may be the best approach. Focusing in on the emergency vehicle access issue would certainly raise concern. With a little effort, you should be able to get this resolved a bit sooner.

Documentation is key- on all of the steps you have already taken. Photos of the area in concern, dates and times of your attempts made already are the start.

I would then suggest contacting the chief officers on the Fire Department and Emergency Medical Services and have them come out with their trucks. Take pictures of their inability to gain access to the area (park your own vehicle in the area of concern). A letter of concern from them may also work wonders..

Once you have this done, write a very polite letter to the heads of all of the agencies you have already dealt with. Include elected officials and other political figures that have a vested interest (the media may like this as well).

The content really only has to highlight your attempts to resolve this issue previously, and now asking for the county/town information on which one's insurance will cover any loss based on their negligence to address a public safety concern.

someone, somewhere will freak out and look into why this hasn't been taken care of. Ruffle the feathers approach indeed- but, effective none the less, especially if the media takes interest.

Even if in the end they say it is your problem/private property issue- get it in writing, then start-a-towing.

 

[ayjay]

Ball peen the end of the bolt and the threads then smear the post and bolts with great gobs of grease. They wont even try to remove them. Been there, done that. Cheers

 

[ctgoldwing]

Dump a load of dirt in front of and behind the offending vehicle??

I own a small commercial building in an adjacent town and used to do my own plowing. One of the neighbors parked in my lot there regularly - I'm sure just to keep his car off the street. I left him several messages on his windscreen telling him I didn't mind BUT if it snowed he had to have the car out by 3 AM so I could plow. After several failed attempts to 'communicate' this message to him I plowed him it - I mean I really plowed him in. The snow around that car was 6 feet high. Never had a problem again.

 

[EddieWalker]

I have a friend who was having problems with enforcement of a private road that he has an easement through. The Park actually owned the road, and they were required to maintain it. They let it fall into disrepair and allowed access to it for anybody who would brave it. Several times, my friend had to deal with tresspassers on the road. The police wouldn't do anything because it was a Park road.

He got the idea to bring the Fire Chief out there and show him the problem. The Fre Chief took it personally that the road wasn't maintained to where he could get his trucks in there, and that the Sheriff's officers were not enforcing the laws about tresspassers. After years of fighting with the Park to do what they were supposed to do, and not getting the Sheriff to do anything, the Fire Chief had a little talk with the powers that be. Within a week of his visit, things started getting done. Heavy equipment showed up to fix the road, tree trimmers showed up to open up the road and new signs were posted about tresspassing. I can't say if the signs worked, or if they ticketed anybody, but there was never a problem with tresspassers again that we know of.

Sometimes the only thing that matters is finding the right person to talk to.

Eddie

 

[charlz]

So is all of this space where people are parking area that vehicles need to drive on? What I am wondering is if boulders/logs/etc can be placed to 'line out' the road and get rid of the cul-de-sac? or greatly reduce its size?

 

[Richard]

Actually Charlz, there is never really a 'problem' (strict definition) with any single vehicle.

What tends to happen though is people start to see other people parking here and think it's a parking lot (in spite of the no parking signs and in spite of the actual parking lot with arrows/signs just 1/4 mile down the road)

I have moved some boulders to narrow up the issue areas. That's one nice thing about having an industrial sized loader/backhoe as well as various places around here where there are rocks....even a commercial quarry just 20 minutes away. (20 minutes by backhoe, about 3/5 minutes by car)

Amazing how cheap a single rock is by the ton when you are carrying it yourself!!

Really though.... what I'm finding is, I need to be a jerk... well, I shouldn't say jerk. I need to 'inform' everyone I can that I see who's parking agasint the signage or else it will simply become a bigger issue at times. If we never had the issue of having about 12 vehicles parked at our dock one time, nearly blocking us in, this wouldn't really be a problem.

Interestingly, (and I've refrained from saying this) the biggest time we have a problem is on the first day of open hunting season. yep... the odds are, given the main days of the problems, that it's hunters who are not being thoughtful to their surroundings.

I had one guy from wildlife resources, get into my face during the TVA/Sheriff/Wildlife conversation, telling me that I'm anti hunting and hunters serve a purpose... without them, the deer would over populate, starve...Bambi this & Bambi that... all those things.

I assured him this was NOT about "hunters" per se, they just happened to be the people who congregated out here in a similar time frame that ended up causing parking issues. I also told him "they" (hunters or anyone for that matter) could come out and kill every deer within 10 miles of me and I could care less. Stupid road hazzards!!! Virtually everyone out here has hit at least one with their car.

He symbolically spit in my face, although he did take a pause when I said I didn't care if they killed every Bambi in my neighborhood. He really didn't believe a word I said and he left the meeting.

Too bad too... about 5 minutes later, literally, 5 minutes later while we were all still standing there... "Big John" drove up the county road and down our driveway.

Had this wildlife guy with the attitude still been there, I would have introduced him to "Big John" who happened to be dressed in his camo's, guns in car....ready to bag himself a deer ON OUR LAND!!!

I find it hard to think I'm 'anti hunting' if I have people hunting on our land. Unfortunately the wildlife dude left, taking his attitude with him and never did meet John.

So, it's not about hunting. It's just that the hunters helped create the issue. Now that I've "the informer" for 2-3 years, telling each one of them (in a nice way when I can) about the new rules...they have indeed, started to use the parking lot as provided to them.

Now, it's the hikers who congregate .

How ironic that people come out here to hike and instead of parking at the beginning or end of the hiking path with provided parking areas, they choose to cheat and park in the middle where there is no parking lol. I personally find some humerous irony there.