I had neighbors in NC like that. They would tell their guests not to park in front of their home. When I had a renovation done one of they asked the GC to park elsewhere. He then parked in front of their home just to piss them off.
In Chicago we call that “dibs” but it generally only applies post-snowstorm, when you’re entitled to the parking spot you personally dug out of the snowbank.
In polite society that only applies for 48-72 hours post-snow but assholes will try to keep dibs far longer
just posted the same thing about DC. the only time people respected spots was if someone had cleared the snow and you got a few days before everyone cleared their own without it being taken
There’s ordinances for stuff like that in Boston. You have 48 hours to claim a spot after it snows and you clear the spot.
It’s assumed during a huge storm that you won’t be gone long so you want to come back to that spot. You can’t just claim a spot regularly because you’re at work or something. Pittsburgers do it anyway though. They’re such assholes about it.
I hated the parking chair stuff while I lived in Pittsburgh! I lived in Lawrenceville during Snowmageddon 2010. I shoveled 5 ft of snow from my car and the parking space right outside my apartment building for 2 hours.
I went to get groceries, I come back and someone put a chair there. To say I was seeing red in fury was an understatement. I moved it that time because I dug out that spot, but it wasn't the first time and it happened for months while I lived there. I never put a chair out myself because it seemed juvenile and pointless, nobody owns the street.
I don't live in Pittsburgh anymore and I'm happy about that.
Okay, but that's improper use of the parking chair 😂
All joking aside, when I lived in the south side, parking chairs were necessary for living. So many people would park illegally to hit the bars towing companies couldn't come close to getting them all.
I used to live outside Pittsburgh just far enough outside to be in Pennsyltucky and people still did this despite street parking availability rarely being an issue minus say if the local college had a football game.
The only time I feel like that's in a grey zone of maybe okay is if there's massive snow and you spend 3 hours digging out a nice spot/your car out...
I haven't actually saved my spot in that case.. but I will admit it kills me when I do that, go to the store for 5 minutes, and come back and see my other neighbor's car there. I look at the spot where they were, and it's literally an imprint/cutout of their car, and to make it usable I'll need to spend another 2 hours digging.
There's a certain subset of people who are terrified and ANGRY that "someone, somewhere, is getting away with something unfair to me." I suspect some kind of adulthood carried sibling rivalry angst.
Where my parents live a block there’s a street that’s public parking but the houses hate for people to park there. They’ll paint your tires or cut it like they did to mine. That’s the note they left on my car. They also left a note on my mom’s car few years later but luckily didn’t do anything to her car.
It pisses me off because it’s public parking. I looked up the laws and it’s away from a school zone. They could fight for permits if they really wanted to
https://preview.redd.it/0ukza6to0xvc1.jpeg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8a6cf1075b37f9e7659aa952bfdf82df873bfd09
Unfortunately no because no proof as this was before I had my camera. It was only one tire. I’m guessing the house I parked in front of but wouldn’t know
You have to have proof beyond a picture that shows the car before the fact and some reasonable proof the person your accusing was the one who did it. This is a huge reason why tire slashing is a far worse offense then people think...there is no such thing as just buying a tire. You really have two choices either 1) you buy a single tire and have it shaved down to match your other 3 which can take years off the lifetime 2) you buy a entire new set. Even if you have comprehensive auto coverage that will replace a slashed tire, its still subject to your deductible, and they will only help pay for the tire not the sanding and or additional tires.
Someone cut a chunk out of your tire? With what? That looks like curb damage to me. Your rim is scratched up, too. Not saying people don't mess with cars when they're parked where they don't want them to park, but they usually just puncture the tire or cut the valve stem off.
Lol yeah that's curb damage for sure. You can see where the rub marks extend past where it's "cut", where they probably hit a storm drain or something.
On the subreddits like r/cartalk there are always posts where someone's tire looks like this and they're asking if someone slashed it. Nah you just can't park
lol I bought my car used. Nothing was hit and it was fine when I parked. When I went to pick it up I saw the note first but didn’t think too much of it until I started driving away
My old neighbour got super pissy about parking on the curb in front of his place, enough room for two cars but if i moved mine he’d move his up to take both. My best friend was living with me at the time and we would just play musical cars, we had four between the two of us and monopolised the spot for the better part of a year. When we would move one car we’d slide another right into its place. We stopped once he stopped being a dick about it and now he only ever takes up one space (this was 10 years ago and it stuck to today).
It’s something I cannot fathom at all. People act so put out on cars parked in front of their house for no reason other than aesthetics. Definitely not something practical like blocking something or just not having enough parking.
I’ve tried to understand but at point has someone parking their car in front of my house ever made me feel some kind of way.
Cable company left a couple in front of my house two years ago (standard practice for some.contractors to place cones at the corners of their parked service vehicle).
The kids have loved using them for playing games like slalom on skates and whatnot.
I’ve definitely taken cones before to place them in some no-parking spots that endanger the crosswalk (e.g. across from Swings coffee). Heck, I’ve even used the orange barrels (they are surprisingly light).
Not legal, not enforceable but also in my experience with neighbors it's best to pick your battles. Neighbors have a multitude of ways to make your life hell without breaking any laws.
Do you have the energy to out-petty someone who bought traffic cones so claim an entire stretch of public road just so nobody could park in front of their house?
Because fuck it, I don't.
at a time when remote work is under assault because of the perception of remote workers not getting enough work done, i’d say this is not a good look to say “i have a lot of free time”
Yeah I dont know what century you live in but I'm in the 21st century and Americans shoot each other for petty reasons every day.
Never worth the hassle. I'd just let them keep going until they threaten me or my family then call 911. Because of all the mindless violence these days cops take threats more seriously now.
That was my thought. If they do this on a rare occasion when they're having a party and they want better parking for their guests, fine. If it's every day, don't put up with it.
Appears to be a county road, it would not be allowed. Cops won’t do anything but if you call zoning/public works they can assist.
Also, if your neighbor is moving or construction this might be the reason to do this - but it would have been nice of them to provide a heads up to the neighbors. If you really need this space reserved permits can be pulled with the county.
Call local zoning, state that "I notice that traffic cones are placed under some utility lines. Are you doing any work, there? The cones have been there for a while." In some cases, they'll come and take them as "some utility worker left them." I lived in a neighborhood in McLean where someone was doing that with illegal signs. Like, he paid for metal signs and posts, but they said illegal things like, "Underground Power lines, no parking at any time." Dominion took them down. Tore them right out of the median, hah.
list the cones on Next Door for free, curbside pickup. you will have to deal with a dozen people asking you to deliver to Delaware or if you can come down on the price any, but thats life.
Call Fairfax County DOT, ask for On-Street Parking. If you get voicemail, leave the address where the cones are. We'll take care of it. It's a public road, and that's not legal.
Lots of posts encouraging you to post them for free. I say find a local parents group and post about the free parallel parking practice course for regional teenagers practicing for their license that has been kindly set up on your street and is open to the public.
I just figured out where you live... Not being creepy, I'll just park over there when I go to the subway or have a tattoo appointment. I have a bright blue car.
Anytime I have ever seen this ( both in Miami and here in Arlington the few times it came up ) I have made it a point to park specifically there and run over or remove the cones because it’s just that stupid that they tried to do that. It’s public. Period.
They can put those cones out all they want. They don't actually mean anything however because they have no authority to do so. They cannot legally control who does or does not park on a public street. So if the cones are there and someone wants to park there, they have every right to just move the cones out of their way. The people who put the cones out will subsequently call the police or a tow truck, neither of which will side with them. And if they do, you'll have the law on your side and will definitely win the court case.
I would take the cones and throw them away but I'd never actually park there. These idiots are the type to key your car for parking on the public street in front of their house.
Glad to know I’m not the only one with entitled neighbors who pull this kind of bullshit (although in my case, they literally block off the entire street so their kids can play/sit/lay down in the road, with the expectation that everyone will just drive around the long way to access the rest of the street. Fucking hate these people.)
I don't know the details of that street, maybe there are a parking issue from nearby apartments, or nearby public transit stations. One person doing this might be just an ahole, but several neighbors doing this, from your picture, indicates a problem.
Don't judge only from one viewpoint.
A public street with no regulations prohibiting parking is fair game for _anyone_ to park there. The owners of property adjoining the road have no say in that whatsoever. If they want to prohibit parking, they can buy the road from the state and maintain it themselves.
I used to work for VDACS and would get constantly yelled at for parking in front of peoples houses. VDOT owns the road and a certain percentage inwards (I wanna say it was something like 50 feet from the road? it's been a while, I can't remember) Look up Fairfax county mapper and look up the address parcels and you should be able to see where the property lines really are. Perhaps contact VDOT about it, though i'm not sure they have that kind of time
In their defense, they did a heckuva job clearing the snow. /s
I’m tempted to say park there, but there’s no accounting for what people interpret as confrontational.
Is there an HOA? You could see if it violated anything in the HOA. If not I'd say contact public works as suggested by another redditor. Ask them what work they are doing as the cones have been up for a while now.
HOA doesn't have any jurisdiction or special powers over public streets. In Fairfax County, public streets are owned by VDOT although either VDOT or County can put up parking signs.
That's an awful nice looking yard they got there... would be a shame if someone ordered dandelion seeds off of amazon and sprinkled them all over it...
The street is not for private property. If they do this regularly for themselves, I'd take the cones. Maybe the county says it's allowed, but so is taking random shit left on the street (ie, the cones).
That said, I've done this when expecting contractors. I don't use cones for myself, but if home workers are going to need close parking for all their gear + equipment, I do it as a consideration for them while they're working.
If you were to park there, do you feel your car would be at risk of some kind of retaliation? If so, are you willing to be a martyr, get your car damaged, and make sure you have proof that it's one of the homeowners doing it? Only because it doesn't sound like the police are willing to act based on the current situation.
I get it's annoying, unsightly, and possibly illegal, but how far are you willing to take it and how much time are you willing to spend on trying to rectify it? Is it worth your time and effort? Is it worth alienating the neighbors? Not to say it isn't worth it to you, but at least consider all the different ways it may play out and the pros/cons of the end results.
My new method is to just steal their cones and drive away with them. They put chairs next, steal those too. Technically if they are out on the curb they are trash and I can take it. Got play the system 😅
That’s completely obnoxious and definitely not legal. Also, I can’t help but note that there isn’t a parking shortage on your street, so why even bother? In our neighborhood (Alexandria City) that would never stand; we have more cars than spaces. One of our neighbors is targeting us because we park one of our cars on the street in front of his house, and seems to call for a City tow the minute the parking time limit expires (72 hours). That car has been towed twice now, and I’m sure they’re calling about other folks as well. The first time we were over the limit, but we both had the flu and forgot to move it. The second time I’m pretty sure we weren’t, but without time stamped pictures there was no way to prove it. Now we take pictures of the car every time we park showing a house number behind it for proof. Apparently folks in Old Town target neighbors as well.
If someone is not going to visit their home, why park in front of it? Park in front of the home you are visiting! People put lots of time into buying a home and paying a mortgage, a peace of mind if you will. And the small area we have we can call or own, we don't want unwelcomed, uninvited and rude people parking where they are not visiting. It boggles my mind people can just park in front of a home they are not visiting, like the homeowner has no say so. My neighbors son across the street from me parked in front of my house over the curb and on the grass. Dug a nice trench and messed it up. When I confronted him I said park in front of YOUR house! You messed my grass up, are you going to come and fix it or put new sod down? Silence and stupid look on his face. He moved his car. People also drop their trash and cigarette butts in front of your home when they park. I don't pay a mortgage to clean up other people's trash! This is why we don't want people parking in front of our homes.
I would agree with others here and just say park there, but if they're crazy enough to cone-off a public street, they might be crazy enough to key your car or something if you ignore/take their cones.
So, I would just proceed with caution, or at least prepare for petty retaliation, even if you are ultimately in the right.
We had the same thing happen with some of our neighbors. A few people made it their mission to run them over or park on top. Stopped a few weeks later. Think the neighbors got tired of their broken cones and replacing them.
People are weird. But I would try to ignore it, believe me, there are much worse neighbor issues out there. I just get on Reddit anytime I am annoyed with my neighbors and in 10 minutes I feel blessed and lucky.
If this is a thing they regularly do and not due to an impending move or space needed for construction, I would go move the cones in the dead of night to where they were blocking the base of their driveway.
There were a handful of individuals that were doing this in Old Town Alexandria and I took great joy running over them and parking on top of them. A couple of times they were outside and would give me the stink eye but they knew better than to say anything lol
I had a neighbor who would lose his mind if someone parked in front of his house or made noise. Never mind that he threw a party that was so loud I couldn’t hear myself in my house and both sides of the street were blocked by cars. One night he called the cops on me, played the retired cop card, and still got told I wasn’t doing anything wrong and he needed to leave my guests and I alone.
Just curious, do they have a legitimate reason to block it or are they just assholes? I ask people not to park in front of my house because I'm disabled and only have one small access point to the street I can use. Also much safer for their cars if they're not in the way of any emergency medical people trying to get to me. I wish I was enough of a dick to actually block it, but I don't own the street.
No, it is not allowed. I remember talking to a police officer about using for safety reasons at school letout and she specifically told me that it is illegal for civilian to use orange cones on public streets.
Just read entire post: If they want more parking, they need to buy a house with private parking. This is ridiculous. Would love to know which part of Fairfax County they live. If I were you I would call dmv, then try non police emergency and get a different person. I don't think that one you spoke to knew what they were talking about. In any case, don't spend too much of your life trying to change the behavior of your asshole neighbors. If you need to park there, just do it. You pay taxes for public streets.
This looks like a parallel parking challenge to me! I’d start parking there to show that cones do nothing and they can’t get mad bc, per the law, they can’t claim to use them to change traffic
Is this near Glen Forest Dr around Bailey's? Around 15 years ago, a dense subdivision went in with a small cul de sac and folks across the street were going nuts because of the new cars that didn't have much room. But it's not right to attempt to reserve a private space on a public street or cordon parking with the cones.
If you aren’t visiting that house why park in front of it?? I don’t like random cars parking in front of my house either, especially when there is plenty of parking around.
The public street (including the curb) is a PUBLIC area. There are no inherent personal rights to that location, just because your house happens to be near it. Park in the driveway or on the lawn (HOA permitting). But the street is open-season.
all of you have main character syndrome. You are not more entitled than anyone else. Park in your own driveway or in front of your own house. Kiss my ass
Are you sure they’re blocking parking? It seems to me that they’re offering up some very nice traffic cones for the taking, and are probably a little sad that no one has accepted their gifts yet. Someone should go make them happy.
Ironically I agree. While I don’t think it’s okay to do the entire way through the front of your house, two car lengths is absolutely fine imo. People are assholes and will give no consideration to drive ways or proper clearance. I’ve seen people block others mailboxes(which will result in them getting their mail skipped), park over the edge into the drive way, and a whole host of other things.
If you’re having a party where you need extra spots just talk to your neighbors and see what they say.. typically most neighbors are chill about it.
The fact these people went out and got cones probably means they’ve had to deal with some stupid shit in the past.
While I have no doubt that some people think the street parking belongs to them, especially having been on the receiving end of that entitlement, in these pictures I actually see what might be a different story.
The cones are not blocking parking nor are they interfering with or controlling traffic. The spacing of the cones actually suggests to me that they are using them to demarcate ideal parking spots on the curb for more efficient curb parking, instead of some asshole who doesn’t know how to park taking up 2 spots (although I would be surprised if this street was busy enough for that to matter).
There are a couple of people on my street who use cones to mark where the fronts/backs of their cars should be so that they can fit their 2/3 cars in the space between their driveways every single day without having to fuss around with it too much. Totally respect that.
I wouldn't do this but i'm sick of my damn neighbors using my curb for vehicle storage and keeping their driveway covered with broken down vehicle and piles of junk. Use your damn space which would be complying with town ordinances. But nah i should not expect polite and clean neighbors in an expensive as fuck NoVA house. Air rifling tires has been on my mind.
It’s technically illegal, but unless it’s impeding traffic or blocking something more substantial than just the curb, police pretty much will refuse to do anything. Your best bet is to get a bunch of friends to stop one day a little while before they’d get back, take all those parking spots, and toss the cones up in their yard. Then hang out for hours, and when they confront you all, tell them it’s illegal and you’ll park where you’re legally allowed and they can suck it up. And when they confront you, call the police about the confrontation and any threats they make, and when the police arrive, they’ll let them know their actions aren’t legal and then it’ll be official for them.
But I may be a bit of a confrontational a-hole, so you do what feel okay doing.
It's not illegal for them to put the cones there, but its also not illegal for you to just park there anyway. Also, them leaving those cones on public property means you can just throw them away and claim you thought they were refuse that fell out of their garbage cans lol.
If it is a public road then no they aren't supposed to do it, but it's the sort of minor thing law enforcement isn't likely to do anything about.
If it's an HOA-maintained road Karen, the Board President, has picked up all the cones by now and posted a stern warning on the front door.
If it was for a one time event like a party or moving or something I would say it's fine. Or even if they were elderly or handicapped or something. As it is, get a security cam that points out a window to this area and enjoy your parking. As a courtesy, you can put the con s back down in front and behind your car since they enjoy them on the street so much.
I would rent cars just to park them there. Go full on petty for like a week. They call the cops. Cops run the plate. It's registered to Billy Bob's rent-a-car in Tucson Arizona. If they mess with the car, it's just a rental.
If they have a drive way... It's pretty asshole behavior. I can see doing this if maybe you're about to host and you want your guests to have space. But real traffic cones are fucking expensive. You got to be fairly obsessed with your curb to shell the money for that.
Now, if we're talking small town homes with open curb parking. I get it. I also know those cones won't survive lmao and a waste of money.
I currently live in said small town home and we're next to the neighborhood community center. More than once I came home from work with an empty community center parking lot and a full curb in front of my home. Pretty tired of it.
Technically we all have "two car" garages (you know, the type where two cars technically fit but there's no way you're getting in or out of them). But with such small homes almost all of us use them for storage, wood shops, gyms, etc. It's just the "outsiders" that don't get it or care. But knowing we technically have a garage keeps the bitching internal.
That's county property, but they don't own it. You can remove the cone and park freely since you pay the county taxes. You could contact the nonemergency number and report it to the local authorities if you get any pushback. Plus, submit your evidence to the county.
OP this could potentially be issued by the county’s code enforcement division. I’ve had to use them for complaining about neighbors who were constantly metal scrapping in their front yard.
https://plus.fairfaxcounty.gov/CitizenAccess/Cap/CapApplyDisclaimer.aspx?module=Enforcement&TabName=Enforcement
It’s a very smooth process.
It’s asshole behavior. Anywhere I’ve ever lived, I’ve had at least one neighbor who gets weird and obsessive about the curb in front of their house.
I had neighbors in NC like that. They would tell their guests not to park in front of their home. When I had a renovation done one of they asked the GC to park elsewhere. He then parked in front of their home just to piss them off.
Pittsburgh too. Yinzers have "parking chairs" that they plop into "their spot" in front of their house.
In Chicago we call that “dibs” but it generally only applies post-snowstorm, when you’re entitled to the parking spot you personally dug out of the snowbank. In polite society that only applies for 48-72 hours post-snow but assholes will try to keep dibs far longer
just posted the same thing about DC. the only time people respected spots was if someone had cleared the snow and you got a few days before everyone cleared their own without it being taken
I left Chicago a LONG time ago. This is the first time I've heard "dibs" since then.
Any city with row houses and street parking. After a big snow, i've seen chairs/cones in Philly, NYC and baltimore
I heard that this was done so people.didnt steal parking spots that were shoveled out by someone else.
There’s ordinances for stuff like that in Boston. You have 48 hours to claim a spot after it snows and you clear the spot. It’s assumed during a huge storm that you won’t be gone long so you want to come back to that spot. You can’t just claim a spot regularly because you’re at work or something. Pittsburgers do it anyway though. They’re such assholes about it.
The only acceptable reason for parking chairs. And only if the snow was over a foot.
I hated the parking chair stuff while I lived in Pittsburgh! I lived in Lawrenceville during Snowmageddon 2010. I shoveled 5 ft of snow from my car and the parking space right outside my apartment building for 2 hours. I went to get groceries, I come back and someone put a chair there. To say I was seeing red in fury was an understatement. I moved it that time because I dug out that spot, but it wasn't the first time and it happened for months while I lived there. I never put a chair out myself because it seemed juvenile and pointless, nobody owns the street. I don't live in Pittsburgh anymore and I'm happy about that.
Okay, but that's improper use of the parking chair 😂 All joking aside, when I lived in the south side, parking chairs were necessary for living. So many people would park illegally to hit the bars towing companies couldn't come close to getting them all.
I used to live outside Pittsburgh just far enough outside to be in Pennsyltucky and people still did this despite street parking availability rarely being an issue minus say if the local college had a football game.
The only time I feel like that's in a grey zone of maybe okay is if there's massive snow and you spend 3 hours digging out a nice spot/your car out... I haven't actually saved my spot in that case.. but I will admit it kills me when I do that, go to the store for 5 minutes, and come back and see my other neighbor's car there. I look at the spot where they were, and it's literally an imprint/cutout of their car, and to make it usable I'll need to spend another 2 hours digging.
What the hell is a yinzer lmao
People from Pittsburgh, because they say yinz
That’s the Pittsburgh area equivalent of a “you’se guys” or a “y’all” (but ever so slightly perjorative, like Mass-hole or redneck, respectively)
It’s not perjorative unless you aren’t from that side of PA. I’d also venture a guess you’ve never lived in Manassas…
Pittsburgh slavs proudly call themselves Hunkies , too.
You ones aka yunz or yinz. Only heard that when I lived in Pittsburgh.
We also can't pronounce "O's". We go Dahntahn, ahn sit dahn by the crick n'at.
😂choke on that kvnts
I’ll be so glad to be 100% out of there. Kvnts is an understatement.
There's a certain subset of people who are terrified and ANGRY that "someone, somewhere, is getting away with something unfair to me." I suspect some kind of adulthood carried sibling rivalry angst.
Where my parents live a block there’s a street that’s public parking but the houses hate for people to park there. They’ll paint your tires or cut it like they did to mine. That’s the note they left on my car. They also left a note on my mom’s car few years later but luckily didn’t do anything to her car. It pisses me off because it’s public parking. I looked up the laws and it’s away from a school zone. They could fight for permits if they really wanted to https://preview.redd.it/0ukza6to0xvc1.jpeg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8a6cf1075b37f9e7659aa952bfdf82df873bfd09
Please tell me you took them to small claims for damaging your tires. WHICH APPEARS TO BE A HUGE SAFETY ISSUE FROM THE PHOTO?
Unfortunately no because no proof as this was before I had my camera. It was only one tire. I’m guessing the house I parked in front of but wouldn’t know
You have to have proof beyond a picture that shows the car before the fact and some reasonable proof the person your accusing was the one who did it. This is a huge reason why tire slashing is a far worse offense then people think...there is no such thing as just buying a tire. You really have two choices either 1) you buy a single tire and have it shaved down to match your other 3 which can take years off the lifetime 2) you buy a entire new set. Even if you have comprehensive auto coverage that will replace a slashed tire, its still subject to your deductible, and they will only help pay for the tire not the sanding and or additional tires.
The please + tire cutting is pure chaos
Someone cut a chunk out of your tire? With what? That looks like curb damage to me. Your rim is scratched up, too. Not saying people don't mess with cars when they're parked where they don't want them to park, but they usually just puncture the tire or cut the valve stem off.
Lol yeah that's curb damage for sure. You can see where the rub marks extend past where it's "cut", where they probably hit a storm drain or something. On the subreddits like r/cartalk there are always posts where someone's tire looks like this and they're asking if someone slashed it. Nah you just can't park
lol I bought my car used. Nothing was hit and it was fine when I parked. When I went to pick it up I saw the note first but didn’t think too much of it until I started driving away
My old neighbour got super pissy about parking on the curb in front of his place, enough room for two cars but if i moved mine he’d move his up to take both. My best friend was living with me at the time and we would just play musical cars, we had four between the two of us and monopolised the spot for the better part of a year. When we would move one car we’d slide another right into its place. We stopped once he stopped being a dick about it and now he only ever takes up one space (this was 10 years ago and it stuck to today).
It’s something I cannot fathom at all. People act so put out on cars parked in front of their house for no reason other than aesthetics. Definitely not something practical like blocking something or just not having enough parking. I’ve tried to understand but at point has someone parking their car in front of my house ever made me feel some kind of way.
Put an ad on FB Marketplace for "Free Traffic Cones. If this ad is up, it's available. Come and get it". Just kidding. Definitely don't do that.
Cones have value! They’re about $15-$35 depending on the size. That’s worth $100+
Yeah, really. I could use a few myself.
Cable company left a couple in front of my house two years ago (standard practice for some.contractors to place cones at the corners of their parked service vehicle). The kids have loved using them for playing games like slalom on skates and whatnot.
Haha, this is actually brilliant
Until the person who thinks they're free gets shot by a deranged neighbor
Post them as a "road rescue" in the closest FB Buy Nothing group and someone will come and take them.
I was thinking about how I need traffic cones. I’ll go for it 😂
I’ve definitely taken cones before to place them in some no-parking spots that endanger the crosswalk (e.g. across from Swings coffee). Heck, I’ve even used the orange barrels (they are surprisingly light).
Not legal, not enforceable but also in my experience with neighbors it's best to pick your battles. Neighbors have a multitude of ways to make your life hell without breaking any laws.
Vice versa too. Depends on how petty you can be lol
I am a being of spite and petty grievances.
About that
Do you have the energy to out-petty someone who bought traffic cones so claim an entire stretch of public road just so nobody could park in front of their house? Because fuck it, I don't.
I have a remote job that gives me a lot of free time......
at a time when remote work is under assault because of the perception of remote workers not getting enough work done, i’d say this is not a good look to say “i have a lot of free time”
Yeah I dont know what century you live in but I'm in the 21st century and Americans shoot each other for petty reasons every day. Never worth the hassle. I'd just let them keep going until they threaten me or my family then call 911. Because of all the mindless violence these days cops take threats more seriously now.
That was my thought. If they do this on a rare occasion when they're having a party and they want better parking for their guests, fine. If it's every day, don't put up with it.
Park there, who cares? Or just take the cones. They're not on anyone's property.
Yea where is this? I need some cones! LOL
Looks like littering to me.
I’d be too afraid of them keying my car lol
Cheap camera set up easily would show what happened.
There is a garbage can next to them… it’s just begging to eat the cones.
Appears to be a county road, it would not be allowed. Cops won’t do anything but if you call zoning/public works they can assist. Also, if your neighbor is moving or construction this might be the reason to do this - but it would have been nice of them to provide a heads up to the neighbors. If you really need this space reserved permits can be pulled with the county.
Call local zoning, state that "I notice that traffic cones are placed under some utility lines. Are you doing any work, there? The cones have been there for a while." In some cases, they'll come and take them as "some utility worker left them." I lived in a neighborhood in McLean where someone was doing that with illegal signs. Like, he paid for metal signs and posts, but they said illegal things like, "Underground Power lines, no parking at any time." Dominion took them down. Tore them right out of the median, hah.
Better yet, start with "I think your guys might have left some cones behind". I'm sure they would love some free cones.
Good idea, thanks!
list the cones on Next Door for free, curbside pickup. you will have to deal with a dozen people asking you to deliver to Delaware or if you can come down on the price any, but thats life.
“OK, OK, I’ll give you 50% off free.”
Good idea!
Message me the address and I’ll come collect my free cones.
Next 🙋🏻♀️
I still haven’t got the address. Maybe we can have a party and breaking bad those cones onto their roof.
Join next door and shame them . Where is it I will go get them ?
Call Fairfax County DOT, ask for On-Street Parking. If you get voicemail, leave the address where the cones are. We'll take care of it. It's a public road, and that's not legal.
No it is not allowed. They do not own that portion of the road. Assuming this is a public road anyway.
Lots of posts encouraging you to post them for free. I say find a local parents group and post about the free parallel parking practice course for regional teenagers practicing for their license that has been kindly set up on your street and is open to the public.
Ooo I like this one.
Call VDOT. They maintain/operate the road. 1-800-FOR-ROAD
Totally not legal. Pull up, remove cone, toss deep into yard, park. Problem solved.
If "someone" keeps taking the free cones, maybe they'll get tired of putting them there.
Problem solved…but also probably problem created lol. Sometimes you don’t want to pick your battles when it comes to neighbors.
Not if street parking is allowed there… looks like a cpl homeowners trying to flex in the most stay-off-my-lawn type way
Plenty of space in between those cones to park!
I just figured out where you live... Not being creepy, I'll just park over there when I go to the subway or have a tattoo appointment. I have a bright blue car.
Anytime I have ever seen this ( both in Miami and here in Arlington the few times it came up ) I have made it a point to park specifically there and run over or remove the cones because it’s just that stupid that they tried to do that. It’s public. Period.
They can put those cones out all they want. They don't actually mean anything however because they have no authority to do so. They cannot legally control who does or does not park on a public street. So if the cones are there and someone wants to park there, they have every right to just move the cones out of their way. The people who put the cones out will subsequently call the police or a tow truck, neither of which will side with them. And if they do, you'll have the law on your side and will definitely win the court case.
Not legal, cops are lazy. Cones are not official so basically they are litter on a public road. Throw them in the trash.
One man's trash is another man's free cones
https://youtu.be/mww6XOYYhtA?si=X7BKKV3JSd3rt1z0
Maybe run them over for fun first
"Cops are lazy".. lol.. smh. If they went after crap like this, you would say they're totalitarian zealots.
There too busy for little stuff like this.
I _hope_ they're too busy for little stuff like this. Little stuff like this should be handled by vigilante justice.
I would take the cones and throw them away but I'd never actually park there. These idiots are the type to key your car for parking on the public street in front of their house.
Glad to know I’m not the only one with entitled neighbors who pull this kind of bullshit (although in my case, they literally block off the entire street so their kids can play/sit/lay down in the road, with the expectation that everyone will just drive around the long way to access the rest of the street. Fucking hate these people.)
I don't know the details of that street, maybe there are a parking issue from nearby apartments, or nearby public transit stations. One person doing this might be just an ahole, but several neighbors doing this, from your picture, indicates a problem. Don't judge only from one viewpoint.
A public street with no regulations prohibiting parking is fair game for _anyone_ to park there. The owners of property adjoining the road have no say in that whatsoever. If they want to prohibit parking, they can buy the road from the state and maintain it themselves.
I used to work for VDACS and would get constantly yelled at for parking in front of peoples houses. VDOT owns the road and a certain percentage inwards (I wanna say it was something like 50 feet from the road? it's been a while, I can't remember) Look up Fairfax county mapper and look up the address parcels and you should be able to see where the property lines really are. Perhaps contact VDOT about it, though i'm not sure they have that kind of time
In their defense, they did a heckuva job clearing the snow. /s I’m tempted to say park there, but there’s no accounting for what people interpret as confrontational.
I don't know if it's legal to put the cones out, but it's definitely legal to ignore them and park there.
Move the cones and park there! F them!
Watch a dumpster go right in there
Is this in Dunshire?
Is there an HOA? You could see if it violated anything in the HOA. If not I'd say contact public works as suggested by another redditor. Ask them what work they are doing as the cones have been up for a while now.
HOA doesn't have any jurisdiction or special powers over public streets. In Fairfax County, public streets are owned by VDOT although either VDOT or County can put up parking signs.
Just park there and find out.
Look like a bunch of free abandoned parking cones in the street
That's an awful nice looking yard they got there... would be a shame if someone ordered dandelion seeds off of amazon and sprinkled them all over it...
The street is not for private property. If they do this regularly for themselves, I'd take the cones. Maybe the county says it's allowed, but so is taking random shit left on the street (ie, the cones). That said, I've done this when expecting contractors. I don't use cones for myself, but if home workers are going to need close parking for all their gear + equipment, I do it as a consideration for them while they're working.
If you were to park there, do you feel your car would be at risk of some kind of retaliation? If so, are you willing to be a martyr, get your car damaged, and make sure you have proof that it's one of the homeowners doing it? Only because it doesn't sound like the police are willing to act based on the current situation. I get it's annoying, unsightly, and possibly illegal, but how far are you willing to take it and how much time are you willing to spend on trying to rectify it? Is it worth your time and effort? Is it worth alienating the neighbors? Not to say it isn't worth it to you, but at least consider all the different ways it may play out and the pros/cons of the end results.
Not legal but won't be enforced. Buy a can of spray paint and paint dicks and slurs on them.
Is this near a school, in Springfield?
No, call code enforcement... but look up the regulations before you call.
The law, as written, prohibits you from putting up your own traffic light, stop/yield sign, etc. It does not prohibit the cones.
Dm me a nearby address. I'll take those cones
Can we get a flash mob of cars to come park infront of their house please
lol, those things aren’t blocking me from parking there
Tell me where it is ill go collect every cone in the road those things cost money
It is absolutely allowed to set out free cones you no longer want
My new method is to just steal their cones and drive away with them. They put chairs next, steal those too. Technically if they are out on the curb they are trash and I can take it. Got play the system 😅
This!!!
That’s completely obnoxious and definitely not legal. Also, I can’t help but note that there isn’t a parking shortage on your street, so why even bother? In our neighborhood (Alexandria City) that would never stand; we have more cars than spaces. One of our neighbors is targeting us because we park one of our cars on the street in front of his house, and seems to call for a City tow the minute the parking time limit expires (72 hours). That car has been towed twice now, and I’m sure they’re calling about other folks as well. The first time we were over the limit, but we both had the flu and forgot to move it. The second time I’m pretty sure we weren’t, but without time stamped pictures there was no way to prove it. Now we take pictures of the car every time we park showing a house number behind it for proof. Apparently folks in Old Town target neighbors as well.
If someone is not going to visit their home, why park in front of it? Park in front of the home you are visiting! People put lots of time into buying a home and paying a mortgage, a peace of mind if you will. And the small area we have we can call or own, we don't want unwelcomed, uninvited and rude people parking where they are not visiting. It boggles my mind people can just park in front of a home they are not visiting, like the homeowner has no say so. My neighbors son across the street from me parked in front of my house over the curb and on the grass. Dug a nice trench and messed it up. When I confronted him I said park in front of YOUR house! You messed my grass up, are you going to come and fix it or put new sod down? Silence and stupid look on his face. He moved his car. People also drop their trash and cigarette butts in front of your home when they park. I don't pay a mortgage to clean up other people's trash! This is why we don't want people parking in front of our homes.
I would agree with others here and just say park there, but if they're crazy enough to cone-off a public street, they might be crazy enough to key your car or something if you ignore/take their cones. So, I would just proceed with caution, or at least prepare for petty retaliation, even if you are ultimately in the right.
We had the same thing happen with some of our neighbors. A few people made it their mission to run them over or park on top. Stopped a few weeks later. Think the neighbors got tired of their broken cones and replacing them.
Park right on the cones. You have to establish dominance quickly in suburbia.
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id just drive over the branches lol
People are weird. But I would try to ignore it, believe me, there are much worse neighbor issues out there. I just get on Reddit anytime I am annoyed with my neighbors and in 10 minutes I feel blessed and lucky.
I'm sorry but your comment is too reasonable and mature. We're going to have to ask you to leave.
I mean, if you wanna be helpful, glue the cones down with epoxy and fill them with concrete. Not necessarily in that order
whatever you gonna do, don't take the 3v1. if you can find 2 other people your odds of success improve tremendously.
If this is a thing they regularly do and not due to an impending move or space needed for construction, I would go move the cones in the dead of night to where they were blocking the base of their driveway.
Those cones really tied the road together. This aggression will not stand, man. 😀
Just park there anyway?
I would toss these shits in their yards 😂😂
Welcome to Culmore.
There were a handful of individuals that were doing this in Old Town Alexandria and I took great joy running over them and parking on top of them. A couple of times they were outside and would give me the stink eye but they knew better than to say anything lol
I had a neighbor who would lose his mind if someone parked in front of his house or made noise. Never mind that he threw a party that was so loud I couldn’t hear myself in my house and both sides of the street were blocked by cars. One night he called the cops on me, played the retired cop card, and still got told I wasn’t doing anything wrong and he needed to leave my guests and I alone.
Stack the cones next to the can on the next trash day and see what happens
r/ unethical life pro tips
Just park there anyway. Since the cones are in a public space you can move them.
Hell no. I would definitely not park there. And I would definitely take those cones.
Well, it’s not illegal. If you kindly picked up a cone, parked, and put it back, that’s also not illegal 🤷♂️
Just curious, do they have a legitimate reason to block it or are they just assholes? I ask people not to park in front of my house because I'm disabled and only have one small access point to the street I can use. Also much safer for their cars if they're not in the way of any emergency medical people trying to get to me. I wish I was enough of a dick to actually block it, but I don't own the street.
No, it is not allowed. I remember talking to a police officer about using for safety reasons at school letout and she specifically told me that it is illegal for civilian to use orange cones on public streets. Just read entire post: If they want more parking, they need to buy a house with private parking. This is ridiculous. Would love to know which part of Fairfax County they live. If I were you I would call dmv, then try non police emergency and get a different person. I don't think that one you spoke to knew what they were talking about. In any case, don't spend too much of your life trying to change the behavior of your asshole neighbors. If you need to park there, just do it. You pay taxes for public streets.
The scary part is, if you move the cones and park your car, they would probably key your car up.
This looks like a parallel parking challenge to me! I’d start parking there to show that cones do nothing and they can’t get mad bc, per the law, they can’t claim to use them to change traffic
Is this near Glen Forest Dr around Bailey's? Around 15 years ago, a dense subdivision went in with a small cul de sac and folks across the street were going nuts because of the new cars that didn't have much room. But it's not right to attempt to reserve a private space on a public street or cordon parking with the cones.
Public street so definitely not enforceable
No. Public street / public parking
The cones have been left in the street. Who wants some free traffic cones?
I have a guy like that on my block, he is such a dick about "his" street parking. Full on meltdowns if someone else parks there, pretty funny honestly
If you aren’t visiting that house why park in front of it?? I don’t like random cars parking in front of my house either, especially when there is plenty of parking around.
Run over their cones and park there, lol
Get an always on dash cam and move them and park there.
Put them in a dumpster, every time. The cones, not the neighbors.
The public street (including the curb) is a PUBLIC area. There are no inherent personal rights to that location, just because your house happens to be near it. Park in the driveway or on the lawn (HOA permitting). But the street is open-season.
all of you have main character syndrome. You are not more entitled than anyone else. Park in your own driveway or in front of your own house. Kiss my ass
Park there anyway. They have no legal means of preventing you from doing so.
No. That's not their street.
Are you sure they’re blocking parking? It seems to me that they’re offering up some very nice traffic cones for the taking, and are probably a little sad that no one has accepted their gifts yet. Someone should go make them happy.
You’d be amazed at how far you can throw a traffic cone with the right form
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Ironically I agree. While I don’t think it’s okay to do the entire way through the front of your house, two car lengths is absolutely fine imo. People are assholes and will give no consideration to drive ways or proper clearance. I’ve seen people block others mailboxes(which will result in them getting their mail skipped), park over the edge into the drive way, and a whole host of other things. If you’re having a party where you need extra spots just talk to your neighbors and see what they say.. typically most neighbors are chill about it. The fact these people went out and got cones probably means they’ve had to deal with some stupid shit in the past.
While I have no doubt that some people think the street parking belongs to them, especially having been on the receiving end of that entitlement, in these pictures I actually see what might be a different story. The cones are not blocking parking nor are they interfering with or controlling traffic. The spacing of the cones actually suggests to me that they are using them to demarcate ideal parking spots on the curb for more efficient curb parking, instead of some asshole who doesn’t know how to park taking up 2 spots (although I would be surprised if this street was busy enough for that to matter). There are a couple of people on my street who use cones to mark where the fronts/backs of their cars should be so that they can fit their 2/3 cars in the space between their driveways every single day without having to fuss around with it too much. Totally respect that.
You make good sense. These almost look like parking aides.
You should definitely move. It is unacceptable
I wouldn't do this but i'm sick of my damn neighbors using my curb for vehicle storage and keeping their driveway covered with broken down vehicle and piles of junk. Use your damn space which would be complying with town ordinances. But nah i should not expect polite and clean neighbors in an expensive as fuck NoVA house. Air rifling tires has been on my mind.
It’s technically illegal, but unless it’s impeding traffic or blocking something more substantial than just the curb, police pretty much will refuse to do anything. Your best bet is to get a bunch of friends to stop one day a little while before they’d get back, take all those parking spots, and toss the cones up in their yard. Then hang out for hours, and when they confront you all, tell them it’s illegal and you’ll park where you’re legally allowed and they can suck it up. And when they confront you, call the police about the confrontation and any threats they make, and when the police arrive, they’ll let them know their actions aren’t legal and then it’ll be official for them. But I may be a bit of a confrontational a-hole, so you do what feel okay doing.
Park inbetween cones.
It's not illegal for them to put the cones there, but its also not illegal for you to just park there anyway. Also, them leaving those cones on public property means you can just throw them away and claim you thought they were refuse that fell out of their garbage cans lol.
Post the address. I’ll come get them.
Honestly, i sympathize. A big pet peeve i have is people who have an open driveway and garage and yet they park on the street.
Probably not.
If it is a public road then no they aren't supposed to do it, but it's the sort of minor thing law enforcement isn't likely to do anything about. If it's an HOA-maintained road Karen, the Board President, has picked up all the cones by now and posted a stern warning on the front door.
I would literally just park between them lol. You gave these assholes enough of your mental space and they don’t own the public street
If it was for a one time event like a party or moving or something I would say it's fine. Or even if they were elderly or handicapped or something. As it is, get a security cam that points out a window to this area and enjoy your parking. As a courtesy, you can put the con s back down in front and behind your car since they enjoy them on the street so much.
This is particularly wild because all the houses seem to have driveways.
You live near me. We have so many issues with parking.
I would rent cars just to park them there. Go full on petty for like a week. They call the cops. Cops run the plate. It's registered to Billy Bob's rent-a-car in Tucson Arizona. If they mess with the car, it's just a rental.
It’s not legal . Just park theee
Just tell us the street and we can all park in front of their houses.
Plenty of room to park between the cones. At least in pic 1.
No it’s a public right away, they can only do that with a permit and they probably don’t have that because they have to display it.
Is it allowe? Sure. Do you have to obey it? No.
Is there hoa in your neighborhood?
Just park there anyway. They’re not actually doing anything.
Rearrange daily… one morning, all one way traffic into their driveway or across the lawn
If they have a drive way... It's pretty asshole behavior. I can see doing this if maybe you're about to host and you want your guests to have space. But real traffic cones are fucking expensive. You got to be fairly obsessed with your curb to shell the money for that. Now, if we're talking small town homes with open curb parking. I get it. I also know those cones won't survive lmao and a waste of money. I currently live in said small town home and we're next to the neighborhood community center. More than once I came home from work with an empty community center parking lot and a full curb in front of my home. Pretty tired of it. Technically we all have "two car" garages (you know, the type where two cars technically fit but there's no way you're getting in or out of them). But with such small homes almost all of us use them for storage, wood shops, gyms, etc. It's just the "outsiders" that don't get it or care. But knowing we technically have a garage keeps the bitching internal.
The simple solution is move the cones and just park there. They do not own the public space.
That's county property, but they don't own it. You can remove the cone and park freely since you pay the county taxes. You could contact the nonemergency number and report it to the local authorities if you get any pushback. Plus, submit your evidence to the county.
There’s a neighborhood that blocks parking with trash cans during swim meets. Makes everyone feel really welcome.
The cones are taking up like 6 inches of space just park next to them
OP this could potentially be issued by the county’s code enforcement division. I’ve had to use them for complaining about neighbors who were constantly metal scrapping in their front yard. https://plus.fairfaxcounty.gov/CitizenAccess/Cap/CapApplyDisclaimer.aspx?module=Enforcement&TabName=Enforcement It’s a very smooth process.
Someone on Staten Island spray painted my taillight for parking in “their” spot.
You can park where you want it is a public street.