Not Enough Parking Spaces Infront of My House

LFlat broke on 09/11/2020 - 12:37
Last edited 09/11/2020 - 13:44

Hey bargainers, i live on a corner property and im running out of parking spaces. we have 5 cars in the house and i want to park on the front lawn but don't want to get fined.
anyone knows how i can make that possible? how would i convince the council or is there another way of doing it?

Edit: i meant nature strip not lawn.

5 cars is a lot but there are five adults in the house and everyone's got a different career at a different spot around Melbourne

Also im ok with parking on down the road but looking to see if a more convenient solution is possible.

Home & Garden

Comments

  • Fredfloresjr on 09/11/2020 - 12:38
    +116

    Yep. sell the other 4 cars.

    • What is rrp on 09/11/2020 - 12:40
      +17

      Sell 4 cars and go from Flat broke to Flat woke.

    • Flat broke on 09/11/2020 - 12:50
      +5

      I can't. Every one's got a different job in a different part of town. I just wanted to get front nature strip parking but i don't know how to make a convincing case for the council. The nature strip is big enough that i can park my car parallel to the road and still have space

        • Flying Ace on 09/11/2020 - 13:34
          +35

          Person 1 works in suburb 1 and works 8am-5pm.
          Person 2 works in suburb 2 and works 6am-3pm.
          Person 3 works in suburb 3 and works 12pm-9pm.
          Person 4 works in suburb 4 and works 3pm-8pm.
          Person 5 works in suburb 5 and works 10am-7pm.

          • bobbified on 09/11/2020 - 14:07
            +16

            @Flying Ace: I know you've just made up the what you've written as an example, but surely at least one of the five suburbs that OP's household works at is serviced by PT. Not everyone that has a job has to drive to work.

            • khomeini on 10/11/2020 - 11:56
              +33

              @bobbified: I don't understand how others can't empathise or understand OPs situation.

              I have parents & my sister who lives with us. We have 5 cars, for each adult, and everyone has jobs in different locations (except parents who work/ed in the same place). None of those are feasible to take public transport to… especially when you take convenience and safety for those working shift work. We also have two "spare" cars sitting around as well. (Waits for the shrieking/outrage).

              I understand there's a "maybe use this" but try to answer like you or your family are in that situation. You'd keep the cars.

              Anyway, my suggestion is to park further down the road and have a little walk. I wouldn't suggest the council strip as you may get fined (depends on the council). Luckily for us we have enough garages & parking area in our property.

              • bobbified on 10/11/2020 - 12:54
                +20

                @khomeini:

                I don't understand how others can't empathise or understand OPs situation.

                Don't get me wrong - I do empathise wtih some people. My family has a lot of cars too, But we generally park them on our property - that means front yard or backyard. And if we want street parking and there isn't, we park further down, just like you have suggested. It's a bit of a trade-off because we often can't have everything.

                But if someone in that situation is talking about trying to convince the council to allow them to park on the nature strip because it is too inconvenient walk 40m to their car, then I kind of shake my head and wonder what they're really expecting.

              • ely on 11/11/2020 - 22:18

                @khomeini: Jesus. We have one car (first ever, ~4 years old and I'm ~40) and it's one car too many.

              • Zonty on 12/11/2020 - 09:31

                @khomeini: Sale house ,buy big house or rent with big parking as you mentioned 5 adult working different suburbs.
                People upgrade home as per requirement otherwise simply use public transport or Uber for near by suburbs. Car cost it self $3000 per year include rego insurance and fuel.

            • juki on 13/11/2020 - 00:21

              @bobbified: PT manages to get the first train in the morning late from the terminus… its ok for the weekend but not for work

          • tomsco on 09/11/2020 - 14:51

            @Flying Ace: How long till the trains crash?

      • SF3 on 09/11/2020 - 13:27
        +32

        Sell the cars and buy motorbikes.

        • tomsco on 09/11/2020 - 14:52
          +1

          Winning idea

        • Kangal on 09/11/2020 - 19:21
          +6

          b…b…bikies?

        • Nickels n Dimes on 10/11/2020 - 14:24
          +4

          or if your comutes are not too far, get e-Bikes, which are ~$1000, and you can get in some exercise when you aren't in a rush.

      • bobbified on 09/11/2020 - 13:30
        +9

        Good luck with that. We all know what it's like to dealing with councils. There's specific rules about [not] parking on the nature strip and I highly doubt they'd be making exceptions for anyone.

        If anything, they might send parking rangers out to your place just to make sure you're not parking there anyway! LOL

      • LFO on 10/11/2020 - 12:37
        +4

        to make a convincing case for the council. The nature strip is big enough that i can park my car parallel to the road and still have space

        Imagine if everybody else will also want/wish to park on Council land?
        Certainly there will be NOT enough space.

        Also "nature strip" has a legal/urban purpose of offering open spaces to balance roads and dwellings.
        Otherwise Council will sell such space and get nice juicy rates for that land that, currently, only brings costs (lawn, maintenance, cleaning, booking parked cars, littering, etc etc.)

        There is an expensive solution: you can have car underground or dugout car spaces within your property. We did that in Sydney. One car space.
        Or you can install a lift to have 4 cars needing the space of 2.
        Nothing cheap.

      • SeVeN11 on 13/11/2020 - 02:49

        Why isn't anybody working from home?
        I know so many people who've been to their office less than a week over the last 9 months!

  • rompastompa on 09/11/2020 - 12:41
    +24
    • Have less cars, carpool / use public transport
    • Park extra cars in a public carpark
    • Sell a car or two and buy a minivan or bus
    • Buy smaller cars and squeeze them in
    • Hidden Elevator Garage
    • Move house
    • Build a second storey and convert a room to a garage
    • Demolish and build a smaller house
    • djones145 on 09/11/2020 - 13:09
      +8

      buy neighbours house, extra spot
      park down the road and walk a little
      buy motorbike
      park in middle of road, hazard lights on
      park middle of road, wear fines
      steal neighbours cars and dump them away

      • buckster on 11/11/2020 - 08:02
        +6

        You forgot demolishing the neighbours house to build a carpark

        • Baghern on 12/11/2020 - 13:27
          +2

          hah saw my mates ex GF parents did something 20yearsa ago, they were doctors but also hoarders.
          They bought the neighbor's house and used it to store their stuff

  • Yummy on 09/11/2020 - 12:44
    +16

    Build a multi storey car park?

    Or get a crane with giant magnet.

    • Loopholio on 10/11/2020 - 08:52
      +2

      No doubt there would be council fines for using public airspace.

      • conza on 12/11/2020 - 17:21

        Yeah but, would they be bothered reaching up that high?

  • bobbified on 09/11/2020 - 12:48
    +15

    …we have 5 cars in the house …

    You have what? I'm just a little lost for words… lol!!

    …and i want to park on the front lawn but don't want to get fined.

    There is nothing stopping you from parking on your own front lawn. Just don't park on the nature strip.

    • pegaxs on 09/11/2020 - 13:02
      +7

      Came here to say the same thing… front yard, ok. Nature strip, no go zone.

      • LFO on 10/11/2020 - 12:38

        front yard, ok

        Not always.
        Some Councils have restrictions on what you can have and be seen from the street.

        • bobbified on 10/11/2020 - 15:57
          +1

          Some Councils have restrictions on what you can have and be seen from the street.

          I believe that is for permanent fixtures, not motor vehicles.

          • ely on 11/11/2020 - 22:20

            @bobbified: Some cars seem to be permanent fixtures (thinking up on crates without wheels attached).

  • holdenmg on 09/11/2020 - 12:50
    +4

    Use https://www.drivemycar.com.au so that your cars aren't parked there and make some money.

    • realaaa on 10/11/2020 - 14:17

      nice one thanks! didn't know about this service

      • Austaurean on 13/11/2020 - 08:04

        be dammed if i would let some unknown person drive my car… let alone insurance…

  • Drakesy on 09/11/2020 - 12:50
    +69

    Firstly, username checks out (also classic burner account creation) i'll bite though.

    When i was a transport engineer people like the OP were the bain of my existence.
    These were people who'd own 5 cars, fill their garage with crap then park on the road because there's no space left.
    They'd then complain to the council that there's no room on the road to park their car outside their house and that their street is congested
    This results in the council putting up timed parking everywhere
    All residents now need to get permits.

    Basically councils are approaching this all wrong, they're allowing people to build giant houses with small, if not tiny carports for 1 car. The home's builder wins because they:
    1. Get a bigger house
    2. Get to effectively store their car for free on council's land.

    We really need to either start charging proper amounts for parking permits $1-$2k per year or enforce that people adequately utilised land on their property to store cars otherwise we end up in situations like the OP's in.

    As for advice for the OP, sell the cars you can't store on a property. Get a bike or catch public transport.

    • nfr on 09/11/2020 - 12:59
      +4

      These were people who'd own 5 cars, fill their garage with crap then park on the road because there's no space left.

      Not even 5 cars. My neighbour had 2 cars but used his garage as another bedroom, so he parked his cars on driveway. The driveway for 2nd car is on council land. At first I thought that was weird. But he moved and the new neighbour has been doing exactly the same thing. So I guess it's normal now.

    • mini2 on 09/11/2020 - 13:14
      +3

      I reckon it's gonna get worse when more terraces/manor home etc gets built under Low Rise Housing Diversity Code. IIRC they only needed 1 parking spot per complying property for a bloody 3 bedder.

    • SF3 on 09/11/2020 - 13:30
      +5

      These were people who'd own 5 cars, fill their garage with crap then park on the road because there's no space left.

      selfish

      • Drakesy on 09/11/2020 - 19:08
        +9

        Yes your rego goes towards maintenance and construction of new roads, however established roads are under the control of the council and is their jurisdiction and therefore council land - this is why parking tickets are handed out by councils. The only exception would be a state run road, but these are mainly highways and major roadways.

        So yes, you're using the council's land to store your vehicle and effectively using the land for free. This is why we pay for parking in certain high demand areas.

        • whooah1979 on 09/11/2020 - 20:43
          -5

          however established roads are under the control of the council and is their jurisdiction and therefore council land

          Land in Australia that isn't freehold title is owned by the Crown which is regulated by the State government. The State government delegate powers to the councils as LGA. Councils don't own anything and can be merged with other councils by the order of the State government. They can also be sacked at any moment by the relevant State minister.

          • Bren20 on 10/11/2020 - 16:56
            +2

            @whooah1979: Drakesy never said council had ownership of the land…

            It is council operated/regulated/maintained land. Also known as 'council land'.

            • whooah1979 on 10/11/2020 - 17:14
              -3

              @Bren20: Drakesy’s main comment stated council’s land implies ownership.

              https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/579579#comment-9582880

              Get to effectively store their car for free on council's land.

              Having a valid the rego gives the registered operator the right to park for free as long as it is in accordance to the road rules.

              • Bren20 on 10/11/2020 - 19:13
                +2

                @whooah1979: you're the only one who said land implies ownership

                Not only are you being pedantic, you're also wrong. Just let it go. You've gone off on an irrelevant tangent about land ownership when the issue is operation and maintenance.

              • ripesashimi on 10/11/2020 - 20:44
                +1

                @whooah1979: No it doesn't. Road rule number 197 prohibits parking on footpaths and nature strips.

                • whooah1979 on 10/11/2020 - 21:22
                  -2

                  @ripesashimi: I forgot to include this.

                  Having a valid the rego gives the registered operator the right to park for free as long as it is in accordance with the road rules.

    • camr00 on 10/11/2020 - 12:43
      +9

      I live in an older suburb, and this is happening constantly:

      Knock down house on 800m2 with double car garage, two driveways and 3 bedrooms.
      Build 6 townhouses on same block with single car garage each, and 6 new driveways (so 4 less street parking spots minimum).
      Bring in 12 new cars (minimum), dont park in garage, let people park in their driveway, and find street parking for other 6 cars.
      Reminder that there are 4 less street parks, so net result is minus 10 street spaces to park cars for existing residents.

      Give it 10 years (would have been less before COVID) and Uber may innovate sufficiently to let people ditch 1 car, but otherwise wait for next generation who dont know/want to drive and problem will be resolved.

      Oh, and dont forget bin day when there is even less space to street park…

      • BobLim on 10/11/2020 - 21:41
        +2

        Do your traffic survey at 2pm on a weekday and say there looks like plenty of street parking to accommodate the development, and that those extra 12 cars won't make any difference to traffic volumes in the area.

        You should be forced to apply a mindset of "what if everyone else also did what I'm proposing to do" so this bullshit couldn't fly

    • BobLim on 10/11/2020 - 21:38

      How about you can only register as a 'garaged address' the number of undercover parking spaces you have (maybe plus one)?

      Forces reality to match developer attestations of "oh the new residents will mainly use PT so we don't need to build parking"

      • tryagain on 13/11/2020 - 08:07

        Not a bad idea, reality is though that many use their garage for storage, then still need somewhere to park.

    • GourmetFoodie on 11/11/2020 - 17:18

      Mate, it’s not the builders fault - builders would love to build bigger garages as buyers want them but here in Vic, most councils don’t allow double garages on townhouses because they call it “visual bulk”. Plus combine that with the strict land coverage ratios (e.g only 50% of land allowed to be house) then you see the result. The problem is our planning laws are not allowing enough for the higher density living we require with our population increases.

      • Drakesy on 11/11/2020 - 18:27

        By home builder i meant the home owner who would demolish a double garage and put in a study/granny flat and single garage, or fill the entire space with a home gym or something similar.

        It's a two way street where double garages would increase the number of car trips from that building, increasing local congestion on the roads, however would technically decrease the number of cars parked on the street.
        The idea is if you live in an area of high density (this would be due to relative location of public transport/amenities etc.) then you'd need less cars per household and therefore less garage space (this is where the maximum carbay limits come in that councils can impose on dwellings/apartment complexes.)

        The only way this falls down though is the seemingly endless supply of car permits, that, for $150 a year you can use the council's/crown land to effectively store your car for 50c a day which undoes the traffic engineer's modelling and work to ensure the city would be congestion free into the future.

    • conza on 12/11/2020 - 17:25
      +1

      This man. This man speaks gods work. If you ran for office, I would move to vote for you sir, you get it, FINALLY someone, bloody, gets it.

      Additionally applicable with apartments. Basically for every bedroom you should have 1 car space, that's pretty much how it works, everyone owns a car. And don't tell me your kids don't have one, they'll grow up one day and won't move out, and when they do, they and others will visit. For crying out loud it's criminal the restrictions we have on car parks in this day and age.

    • Philthy on 12/11/2020 - 19:30
      +1

      you forgot the boat/trailer / caravan parked on the street

  • pjetson on 09/11/2020 - 13:02
    +13

    If you're on a corner block, doesn't that already give you twice as much frontage (and therefore street parking) as a "normal" block?

    • Drakesy on 09/11/2020 - 13:05
      +1

      Can't park within 10m of an intersection unfortunately.
      Although i do agree the OP would have double the verge space.

    • Flat broke on 09/11/2020 - 13:39
      +3

      Not much space cause of the 10m rule and neighbours don't park in their garages as well.
      So basically, the street is filled up with people owning too many cars (including the house im at) and people not wanting to park in their driveways or garages.

      The house only had a one car garage which is quite stupid for the number of rooms in it. However, it is utilised for parking for whoever gets to the house first.

      • RSmith on 10/11/2020 - 09:36
        +13

        So basically, the street is filled up with people owning too many cars (including the house im at) and people not wanting to park in their driveways or garages.

        Perfect. Everyone loses.

      • Whisper Quiet on 10/11/2020 - 11:47
        +1

        So is it family or a sharehouse? 5 people is a bit much for a sharing a place right. If you're all working full time then don't see why you would want to share with so many people in the house. Solution = Move Out

  • djones145 on 09/11/2020 - 13:07
    +5

    park down the street…….

      • pharkurnell on 09/11/2020 - 14:02
        +5

        We do that but wanted to see if we can utilise a space or two of the nature strip for convenience.

        Not a chance

      • Hithere on 09/11/2020 - 14:25
        +8

        annoying to walk 40+m in the rain to get to a car.

        Get an umbrella from the $2 shop.

      • Quantumcat on 09/11/2020 - 22:10
        +2

        Well that's kind of your problem for having so many cars.

        Either deal with walking, kick out some of your housemates and get ones that can share cars or get public transport, or move out to a house without these problems

      • 811b11e8 on 10/11/2020 - 09:37

        you (profanity).

        5 cars is too many for one house.. park down the street and walk a couple of houses.

      • 91rs on 10/11/2020 - 10:19
        +4

        Get one of the other vehicle owners to drive you down to your car?

      • SF3 on 11/11/2020 - 00:37
        +1

        Live with it, or spend $$ to change your cars to a Tesla and use Smart Summon have it come up your drive way.

  • Hithere on 09/11/2020 - 13:09
    +28

    Member Since
    38 min ago

    is there another way of doing it?

    Get home before the other car owners and let them whinge about it on the Internet instead.

    • SF3 on 09/11/2020 - 13:26
      +1

      Put down witches hats to "claim" the spaces in advance.

  • SF3 on 09/11/2020 - 13:25
    +1

    Build your own underground carpark.

  • Euphemistic on 09/11/2020 - 13:31
    +18

    Park on your own lawn.

    If there is a garden, cut it down so you can park on it.

    If there is a Torana in parts covered in long grass sell it off, you are never going to rebuild it.

  • pharkurnell on 09/11/2020 - 14:05
    +2

    Move out to your own house?

  • life is suffering on 09/11/2020 - 14:40 
       N
    |

    w——0—-E
    |
    S

    • R-Man on 11/11/2020 - 19:16

      Username checks out

  • SlowCarSlow on 09/11/2020 - 15:03

    There's been 6 cars at our house for quite a few years, recently we are up to 8. My father's solution was to concrete the entire front yard. We have hedges and retaining walls with flowers and stuff, but it doesn't look all that good.

    • SF3 on 09/11/2020 - 15:04
      +4

      Cars are the new hedges.

      • nfr on 09/11/2020 - 17:36

        Hahaha that's true

    • chriskq on 10/11/2020 - 23:00

      many councils have min soft and hard ratio for front and rear of property…. suburb im in is 50% soft (grass) and 50% hard (paving/concrete)…. did your old man go down the DA route?

      • SlowCarSlow on 11/11/2020 - 00:28

        It was done through a concrete company that sorted all the legal stuff.

  • Caped Baldy on 09/11/2020 - 15:06
    +2

    Problem solved https://carstackers.com.au/
    You're welcome, OP.

    • modsec802 on 09/11/2020 - 23:41
      +1

      Last in first out

  • brad1-8tsi on 09/11/2020 - 15:16
    +5

    Why can't you park in the driveway / garage / front lawn?

    Can somebody use public transport? I haven't driven to work in 5 years. Best thing I ever did was bite the bullet and start using PT. So much extra free time.

    • SF3 on 09/11/2020 - 16:05

      Why can't you park in the driveway / garage / front lawn?

      First world problems.

      • zorrt on 12/11/2020 - 15:37

        Shits me when I see a house with a garage turned into some sort of living area and their stupid cars parked all over the street including over the footpath.

  • MS Paint on 09/11/2020 - 15:18

    Lol

    Source: shed big enough to hold 24 cars

  • Godric on 09/11/2020 - 15:20
    +3

    Invest in a mode of transport with 2 wheels

  • ode1online on 09/11/2020 - 15:47
    +4

    Run for council

  • nanonoise on 09/11/2020 - 16:08
    +1

    https://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/safety-and-road-rules/road-r…

    An excerpt from the VicRoads website:

    You are not allowed to park, stop or leave your vehicle:

    • on a footpath, nature strip or reservation (unless the vehicle is a motorcycle or bicycle)
    • across a footpath, bicycle path or passageway or footpath ramp, unless a sign allows it

    I don't think council are going to help you.

  • Butt Scratcher on 09/11/2020 - 18:18
    +4

    anyone knows how i can make that possible? how would i convince the council or is there another way of doing it?

    lol

  • modsec802 on 09/11/2020 - 23:43
    +19

    Reminds me of the castle -

    “Oh Steve, could you move the Camira? I need to get the Torana out so I can get to the Commodore.”
    “I’ll have to get the keys to the Cortina if I’m gonna move that Camira.”
    “Yeah. Watch the boat, mate.”

  • twww on 10/11/2020 - 05:35
    +3

    Next up:" I own a semi trailer, live in the city and there's no off street parking for me. Halp me convince council to let me park where I want."

    Your car. Your problem.

    Park the next st over if you have to…

    • Bob Svargis on 10/11/2020 - 07:06

      Good answer. How hard is it to park in the next street?

    • 91rs on 10/11/2020 - 10:44
      +1

      Next up boats, Northern beaches of Sydney had a thing on that last year or two as people would park trailered boats in residential streets and just leave them until a time the owner (who didn't live nearby often) would come past and take it out for the day then park it on front of someone else's house.

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