Locked in a Street Parking Morality Battle

Help needing some Bondi-spec OzBargain morality guidance.

I'm currently locked in a battle with a gentleman that parks both of his cars on the street out the front of his house in an untimed spot (no permit required) and when he leaves his house he repositions one of the cars so as to block and reserve the space for when he returns home. This side of the street is one of the few untimed unpaid areas where I live and it's used mostly by students and workers who come and go each day. In a 500 meter radius I would say that only 10% of the parking is un timed and unpaid making this a premium spot for a day worker. He's blocking both spots for cars when he repositions his second car but motorbikes can fit…

I've observed him doing this a number of times and one day I called him out on it as I happen to be walking the dog past. He responded "it's my house. I can park here" and I countered with "of course you can, but by repositioning your other car it's clear you're just reserving it so you can park back in the untimed spot. I see you've got parking permits on both your cars. You're preventing people who need to park there for work/school because you want to have you're own private parking ". He carried on moving his vehicle and drove off in a huff.

I saw an opportunity and took it. I've been parking my scooter in that spot ever since which means he no longer has the double parking spot. I happen to own two scooters and so do my neighbors and we regularly rotate the scooters in and out of that same parking spot. It's now become a regular scooter parking spot and I see scooters that I don't even recognize park there now.

Today he confronted me as I park my scooter there and and hassled me telling me he wanted to park his other car out the front of his house and my scooter was stopping him from doing that. I asked if he owned this parking spot because it appeared to be a street…. he said "no but I pay to park here" pointing to his permits on his windscreen, this carried on for several minutes in a very circular fashion with me pointing out it's an unpaid area on a public street….. I ultimately responded."Not my problem you can't afford a driveway you peasant."

Did I go too far? Am I making this man's life a misery because he can't park his BMW X9 out front of his house next to his AudiRS3? Or am I doing what no one else is willing to do by making a point with my $500 moped?

Neither car has a disabled permit and while the man is a little older than me he would not be more than 60 and he was very sharp and of sound mind when he confronted me and appeared to be very physically mobile the spaces are not disabled spaces.

This battle has been raging for at least 3 months, tensions are beginning to simmer. Do I give in?

Poll Options expired

  • 13
    Apologize for calling him a peasant who can't afford a driveway remove my scooter
  • 17
    Install Motorcycle Parking signs during the dead of night
  • 60
    Refer myself to a psychologist
  • 875
    Continue parking my scooter and encourage others to do the same

Comments

      • +10

        get @ginormousgiraffe to steal the space each day, he's a proven expert

      • +2

        Actually it is illegal under most councils parking rules (assuming spaces are marked). No idea for bondi.

        • +1

          yep, if he does it snap send solve

      • not illegal to purposely put your car in the middle

        if it is two painted parking spots i'd say it likely is.

        if the spots are unpainted then scooters is the best solution.

    • +7

      you could also ask council if they can linemark the spots so that it would be illegal for him to park over both.

  • +6

    Is there a nature strip there? If so, start mowing it every day until he gets the message

  • Option 1: keep up the fight, I do like that you’ve turned it into a unofficial scooter and bike spot

    Option 2: Give in, then take a drill and put 8 holes into the sidewalls of his tyres. He won’t be able to move those cars so in theory you did let him have the spot

    • +2

      Option 2: Give in, then take a drill and put 8 holes into the sidewalls of his tyres. He won’t be able to move those cars so in theory you did let him have the spot

      Ah yes, escalating to property damage resulting in a potential criminal record, fantastic suggestion you muppet.

      • +1

        So tongue-in-cheek comments are a strength?

  • +2

    Seems like you are pretty lucky that spot is untimed and free. If you cause too much of a hassle and the neighbour already has permits, he may ask the council to make it permit parking. Which they may do… Not answering your question, but worth considering.

  • +3

    Ms paint

  • +1

    Absolute classic. Keep up the good work!

  • +12

    Street = public
    Just because it's in front of a particular property means jack s**t. Anyone can park there. It doesn't belong to the property, neither does the nature strip or footpath.
    If he has parking permits, he can park in a permit zone and free up the area with no permit required.

    Keep doing what you're doing, you have as much of a right as anyone else.

    • +2

      Completely agree. The obsession with private property ("liberalism") is ruining the world. It turns people into sociopaths you have no respect for their fellow human beings or their environment.

      • Yep sociopathy has increased (exploded) along the same trajectory as social media expansion and human overpopulation and migration for the sake of it.

  • -8

    Next thread…
    I got bashed for being a flog by the neighbour… what are my options from ICU

    • +6

      Rich people in Bondi will only stare at you and won't actually do anything.

      Besides, if he's smart, he'll realise that he has more to lose with his fancy cars vs a cheap motorbike.

  • +1

    Am I making this man's life a misery because he can't park his BMW X9 out front of his house next to his AudiRS3?

    You seem to have a chip on your shoulder. Did this bias you in any way?

    My neighbour diagonally opposite has a Porsche, but he parks it in the double garage, forcing his wife to park her Land Rover on the street in front of their house.

    • +2

      If your neighbour has a double garage, why don't they park both cars in there?

      • +1

        Cause they purposely park 1 car diagonal Infront of the 2 spots.

        What a miserable couple.

      • Make his wife exercise obvs..

    • DAIM! The Range Rover might be more costly than the Porsche!

      • +1

        its on the street because its easier to tow back to the dealer under warranty

        source: neighbour had theirs towed several times during lock down and eventually traded it

        • 40% chance of major repair in the first year. Huge status symbol though. 220k starting price. You can spec up to 500k. If you want bullet proof like for Prince William, then it might be close to 800k.

      • forcing his wife to park the Land Rover

        Is a RR your secret wish?

  • +1

    How exactly is he blocking the spot? Parking illegally?

    If so, report him to the council.

    • Sounds like he is parking legally

      • +7

        But is he parking, ethically?

        • +1

          Do we enforce ethics in society or laws ?

          No says "ethical loophole",
          ie' no one hires an 'ethicist' to get out of "ethics trouble",
          but hires a 'lawyer' to get out of "legal trouble".

          I always found it strange,
          that in university they had to teach 'ethics'
          as a separate lecture, …it's a separate chapter altogether,
          and usually at the end of the semester.

          It's just behaviour like that, doesn't promote goodwill
          or is in the 'spirit' of the community.

        • +3

          Ethics is just a county in east England.

        • sounds like he is a great bloke, making spots for a scooter either side of whichever car he leaves home.

    • +7

      If I'm reading it right, there's enough room between two driveways for two cars to park on the street. This guy is positioning one car in the middle of it so there's not enough room either side of it for another vehicle, but enough for a motorbike.

      • +4

        Ah right, so no marked lines, just enough space for two cars. He just rolls one forward when he leaves. What a tool.

        • +2

          Yeah seems like a tool, but then again two assholes don't make a right.

          • +4

            @coffeeinmyveins: Nothing assholeish about OP's behaviour though. Just utilising the space and more effectively imo. Seems like one person has two cars versus 3 or 4 scooters/motorbikes.

  • -4

    I ultimately responded."Not my problem you can't afford a driveway you peasant."

    I'm guessing you don't like the self-serve registers at supermarkets either, right ?!?

    • +4

      HAHA literally reading this standing at Aldi selfserve.

      • -5

        lol - kool story !

  • +1

    I love this so much 🤣

  • -5

    . I ultimately responded."Not my problem you can't afford a driveway you peasant."

    can't park his BMW X9 out front of his house next to his AudiRS3?

    There is no X9. And if he does have an RS3 and a BMW X(something) then he can most certainly "afford a driveway" and is not a peasant.

    Seems like you're both assholes to be honest.

  • +7

    This is so damn petty…..I (profanity) love it and would do the same.

  • +3

    It's a douchebag move to move the car so no other cars can fit but I understand why he does it.

    Is it douchebag move? Yes
    Is it illegal? No

    Just one of those things where ethics come into play, what he's doing sucks but he will have no legal percussions doing it.

    If he can, he should install a driveway but just keep parking your scooter there, if there's damage or its knocked over, at least you most likely know it's him.

    But it's a scooter, you shouldn't have trouble finding a space?

  • +2

    I know people say "you can't judge a book by it's cover", but this guy seems like a sad jerk, and I really couldn't care less about some boomer with a taste for expensive cars.

    So nah dude, you rule, keep at it!

  • I bet it only takes one man to carry a $500 scooter.

  • +3

    I ultimately responded."Not my problem you can't afford a driveway you peasant."
    Did I go too far? Am I making this man's life a misery because he can't park his BMW X9 out front of his house next to his AudiRS3?

    Thanks, OP. This might be my favourite post of the year.

    Are you in Manly? That makes this better than Bondi somehow!

  • +7

    Rent a couple of wheel jack/dollies/positioners and push the car about 100m down the street and into a paid parking spot. :D

    Also, who street parks an X9 and a RS3??

    • Someone please enlighten me what a BMW X9 is, I know XM, but X9? Did he probably time travel from the future in his SUV?

    • m3 comp
      sq7
      cayenne turbo
      all over 150k new. I couldnt even list how many are 100-150k

      all parked on the street, amazes me every time

  • +1

    BMW X9 out front of his house next to his AudiRS3

    Would you do the same if it was Corolla and Mazda?

    • +1

      fine and tow away whoever parks motorbike on a car slot.

      this isn't actually a thing is it?

      i assumed bikes could park in car spots no worries. am i wrong?

      i know they can also park on a lot of footpath type areas also. but figures they would have carte blanche on everything but disabled and mother and pram etc spots.

  • +4

    Surprised, someone as entitled as him doesn't set up the traffic cones outside his house. That's a common tactic with bellends.

    • +2

      I'm dead set going to hunt out a couple of stray witches hats for him, leave them either side of the second car, but alas, they'll never work against the all-mighty asymmetric muscle of the $500 moped. Escalation of petty.

  • +3

    Do not go gentle into that good space.
    Rage, rage against the defying gaze.

    ~°.°~
    P. S. If there is an OzBargain sitcom, this would be the "Not my problem you can't afford a driveway you peasant" episode.

  • +1

    While he may be in the wrong morally for taking 2 spots every day and that would be frustrating for everyone else during the day looking for parking. Do people also want to use the spots at night when he is back from work? Like if they are only using it for the day, then surely when he comes home after work he can park his car in the empty spot? Or is the problem other neighbours also want to take the spots in front of his house.

    Now while it is true he doesnt own the spot, i can also see a part of where he is coming from in the terms that since its outside his house / his neighbourhood. He pays council fees as well as mows the lawn and keeps that area clean / tidy. So in a way he puts more effort and money into that part of the street than some random who doesnt live there, plus also randoms are more troublesome / less caring as i have seen people park outside my house to eat some takeaway maccas or kfc then chuck the rubbish out onto the kerb that i keep clean. So I dont think we can say both parties have the same vested interest or effort put into those spots but taking that out of the picture yes he is wrong for doing what he is doing.

  • +5

    No one owns street parking. His permit entitles him to park ON THE STREET, not ownership of that particular spot. Public parking, first in best dressed.
    He's being disrespectful and you're following suit, simples.

    It costs you nothing to park your scooter there… and if others are doing it then clearly everyone is benefiting. Continue teaching him life lessons.

  • +3

    Legend for the scooter move, love it.

    I used to live on a street which was majority unit blocks and had large gum trees on the road which meant even less street parking. Our neighbour (in a townhouse) had a garage and room for two cars on his property yet parked one of his cars on the street and if he happened to move this one he would park his garaged car in that spot to reserve it. Yes it's legal but it's an absolute dog act and selfish as hell.

  • Sweet sweet Jesus…

    All of these insane maneuvers just to park your vehicle on a public street.

    • +2

      Welcome to 2023 in Australia, doc. We're too soft-headed to ensure even basic infrastructure.

  • +1

    Well.. I'm confused. It sounds like you're going out of your way to park your scooter there to annoy him?

    Do you not have somewhere on your property to park your scooters?

    Personally I wouldn't go to the effort to start a fight with a stranger when it doesn't affect your life.

  • +5

    Reminds me of the dad from Superwog in that parking episode 🤣🤣

  • +2

    I had the same situation with the guy living across the street. Once I had friends over and their car parked in his spot he knocked on my door to see if we know the owner of the car. I said yes and told him to f*** off. He wasn’t happy but was taken back from my response and just walked away.

  • +1

    struggling to picture it.

    Can you please give us a mspaint drawing? :)

    • +1

      Better yet… a dashcam video!

  • +3

    “Beef” - Season 2!

  • +2

    "Not my problem you can't afford a driveway you peasant."

    This is amazing! Didn't see it coming :D
    If you're enjoying it / it isn't stressing you, I say keep doing it.

    A coworker kept getting told off by his neighbor for mowing the lawn at 10am on Saturdays because the neighbor wanted to sleep in.
    He arranged a thing with the other neighbors to stagger their mowing, 10am Saturday, Sunday, Monday (I guess one didn't have to work) lol.

  • +1

    Are there lines on the street designating each parking space? If so, just let council sort it out.

  • +1

    Am I making this man's life a misery because he can't park his BMW X9 out front of his house next to his AudiRS3

    If he can afford these nice cars, then I am sure he can afford to own/move to a property with sufficient off-street parking for those cars. As per another comment, who would want to street park these cars?


    This post reminds me of seeing this guy as Monash Clayton Hospital who continued to park in spots he wasn't supposed to and just got away with it.

  • +1

    I totally understand. Got into an argument once with a man who parked across two valuable parking spots instead of using his driveway during a festival when parking was difficult to find for people. He said he didn't want people parking in front of his home!!! There are many idiots out there with no regards or empathy for anyone. These are the type of people that throw their garbage on a remote beach because noone will ever see it there or drop it on a heavily littered beach as one more item won't make any difference, because they selfishly justify just what they want.

  • Slightly off topic. Someone parks in front of my bins overnight on a bin day and my garbage doesn't get collected. What should I do in this case?

    Council is already cutting down on the number of days the garbage gets collected so its quite a nuisance.

    • put bins further out?
      .

      • No one on my street does that, everyone puts the bins on their nature strip.

        • be a trendsetter
          .

    • Call the council? or put the bins on top of their car

  • +1

    OP, whether or not you are right YOU ARE AWESOME !

  • +1

    If he's able to block two spots using one car. Its most likely the case that you probably couldn't park 2 cars there if the council had drawn up parking boxes, which use up way more space than needed.

    I would write a letter to the council asking them to draw parking bays in the street due to people "parking too close to driveways" making it difficult to go in and out and also that it's "unsafe for pedestrians" etc.

    We have this issue around schools, at pickup time people would squeeze close together but after the council drew lines, only one car could park between each house.

    It reduces the number of spots for everyone technically but it would royally piss old mate off if successful.

  • Not my problem you can't afford a driveway you peasant

    lol op is prob the type of person to bow to a woman and call her m'lady

    • pretty standard millennial insult tbh.

      No where near the point of being a neck beard with a fedora.

      • Are they still a thing, i havent seen one in a while

        Don draper is pretty much the only person to pull off a fedora hat, no one else should even bother.

  • +1

    It's not even a morality question.

    I have a neighbour who I'd love to p off, and i am thinking of renting a trailer box to park in front of their house that advertises adult-toys/services so everytime they open the front door - well you're welcome.

  • I probably wouldn't have gone so far to call him a peasant but it's council property, first in first served, first to whinge about it gets the full rights of being ridiculed

  • +2

    You are being petty - but in the process you are building this brittle, entitled gentleman’s resilience. It’s good for him.
    So keep on keeping on. 👍
    Every time he grizzle’s, find a way to grab both of those parks for a while…..

  • Good for you. Wish I had the guts to confront the total moron who bought a large boat and parks it in the street, and wants a specific spot so that the birds don't poop on it. So he gets his mother to idle her car behind the boat as he takes it out, then takes the spot. When he returns, he flushes it in the driveway - did I mention he lives in an old crappy block of flats? Blocks the driveway for all other tenants so he can flush and wash it for half an hour, does a 50 point turn to put the boat back in the exact street parking location that he came from and has his mother move the car out so he gets the spot again.

    So bloody annoying. Not illegal, but in such a busy street with very little parking and lots of flats in the street it's just annoying. Considering he spent what looks to be about $100K+ on a boat and lives in a tiny unit with his mother, wife and kids, not that it's my business, everyone in the street is rather annoyed but at the end of the day the only measures we can take are petty ones.

    I love what the OP has done!

  • +1

    If only you could share the address so OzBargainers can also park their scooters, trailers, vans, boats there too.

    • So edgy, considered it but will keep it up my sleeve for any escalation

  • +1

    You're doing gods work. Please don't stop and please keep us updated.

    If you ever see a time when both cars are gone, take up as much of the parking as you can with scooters. Make it an "unoffical scooter park zone". With scooters/ bikes coming and going, constantly blocking his favorite spot.

    He want's to play games, so don't feel guilty about playing games with him

  • +18

    ah the good ole parking spot battle.

    Get into a similar issue with 1 of my neighbours. Most houses in our street are pretty generous and are ok with each other parking infront of each others houses and we leave room for each other. But there is 1 specific house that can clearly fit 2 cars outfront of their house, but when he only has 1 car there he parks so that he is reserving a spot like yours, until the other person gets home ofwhich they move the car to get both cars in. The added hassle here is they have more than 2 cars and start parking infront of other peoples spots and not giving room. Where this gets frustrating is when they start parking infront of other peoples houses whilst they are still reserving the spot infront of their own, forcing others to park far down the road just so that they can give themselves an extra spot….The kicker, they also have a driveway, they just refuse to use it.

    My solution & how i handled it in order:
    1. I kindly knocked on their door, spoke to them, explained the situation. Their response: "i pay registration, i can park where i want". I explained back to them that i too pay registration and i can do the same thing to them. they said they will continue to park where they want, i said I'll do the same.
    2. After that encounter, things were good for a couple of weeks. Then they were back to their own way's and worse. Worse as in they started boxing peoples cars in so that there would be no room for to get the car out of a spot.
    3. I kindly spoke to them again of which they responded like last time.
    4. i bought a cheap trailer, put a bunch of locks on it, and parked it Infront of their house. on my doorbell camera i caught them go out to the trailer numerous times trying to figure out how to move it, 1 of my locks has an alarm on it, so when they tried to move it the alarm went off and they left it.
    5. They then confronted me about the trailer one time when i had to use it. my response "I pay registration, i can park where i want" Once again they responded with hostility. I said to them, "how do you want to play this game? do you want me to keep my trailer here? or do you want me to move it Infront of my house and you can stop parking like F-heads, it's your call".
    6. I moved the trailer to in front of my house, now although they still do the whole reserving of parking out-front of their house trick, they no longer block off other peoples spots and they have started using their driveway.

    • +2

      You're my idol 😍

    • +1

      gads this make a good pub yarn…

  • +4

    so firstly, providing free untimed street parking in a dense urban area (it must be if people want to park there while they're at work) is insane. whether you're a car obsessed suburbanite or a bolshie urban planner like myself, you would probably agree that it is a massive waste of high value land to be used as free car storage.

    it's just not an efficient use of urban space. paid or at the very least timed parking solves this issue (kind of) by a) getting a return to council and b) improving the efficiency of the parking space by not just letting people use public space to store their private property.

    anyway, if this bloke has a permit for both vehicles, he can park wherever and is just keen to have his cars out the front of his place. that's a huge privilege in a dense area and not like, a given. doing what he was doing is both a dick move and reduces the efficiency of the space. he may be paying for the permit but that doesn't give him the right to do whatever he wants and overrule others lmao.

    further, the man owns an RS3 and a BMW suv (unsure what model as there's no such thing as an X9). if purchased new, the bloke has like $300k to blow on vehicles. even if he got them a few years old, that's a lot of cash. so he's clearly enough of a big dog to throw money around, but either not wealthy enough or too stupid to renovate his place to have a garage.

    given all of that, it's fairly obvious that you're in the right here and he's in the wrong. very little sympathy for spoiled brats who have always got their own way.

  • Isn't the bigger question here about why there isn't any on-property parking? Surely that should be part of the planning approval criteria.

    • +1

      Probably an old house built circa 1900-1930 when there were no car parking requirements.

  • -4

    You sound like a busy body. Leave the guy alone. Other people can stick up for themselves they dont need you.

  • Wait a min, so when there is one car, and a few motorbikes/scooters in the other spot, where does he park is other car?…i suspect a permit zone.

    If you want to park your scooter in that spot, do it, if others want to, fine. As long as its got valid rego, anyone can legally park there, and while it might inconvience him thats not yours or anyone elses problem.

    BTW, I really love this bit "I asked if he owned this parking spot because it appeared to be a street…. he said "no but I pay to park here" pointing to his permits on his windscreen"

    No, and then continues to give reasons to convince himself and you that it should be a yes

  • +5

    Apologise for calling him a peasant.
    Continue to park there when you can.
    Don’t collude with others to mind your spot with their scooters.

    You and your neighbour appear pretty similar.

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