What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? PA
I live adjacent to an alley that I and the previous homeowner have parked on for over 21 years (combined, enough time for adverse use/possession to take place). Parking in the alley always made sense because the alley is the only access to my property and because of the long walk to the street. The alley is in the middle of a city but the public does not use it. I believe the previous owners had a NO THRU TRAFFIC sign posted due to occasional cut-through attempts by motorists looking to avoid traffic during city events. City events also created situations where (due to lack of parking) people parked their cars and blocked the alley because they saw the previous owner's car parked there. This promped the previous owner to ask the police to post a no parking sign, which they did.
Because city administrations, police staff, and neighbors all change over time, situations like this are forgotten. Now, a new neighbor boldly parked in front of my home (in my long established parking spot) so I pulled in behind him and when I tried to have him ticketed by the police, they would not do it. I ended up with the ticket after the police allowed both of us the opportunity to move our vehicles and I refused to move (I park here every day without receiving a ticket, this has always been the situation).
My question is, what do I have to do to establish my right to park in front of my home so that I have tangible evidence? Can I record an easement? Is it even possible to obtain this sort of easement on a public right of way?
Thanks.
(side note - if the answer to the above is no, my deed (and others) also state that the alley is private, however the alley is on the city map and has been for over 100 years, then again tracing my deed back over 100 years the alley is also described as a private right of way, even in the deed of the owner that the alley was named after).
I live adjacent to an alley that I and the previous homeowner have parked on for over 21 years (combined, enough time for adverse use/possession to take place). Parking in the alley always made sense because the alley is the only access to my property and because of the long walk to the street. The alley is in the middle of a city but the public does not use it. I believe the previous owners had a NO THRU TRAFFIC sign posted due to occasional cut-through attempts by motorists looking to avoid traffic during city events. City events also created situations where (due to lack of parking) people parked their cars and blocked the alley because they saw the previous owner's car parked there. This promped the previous owner to ask the police to post a no parking sign, which they did.
Because city administrations, police staff, and neighbors all change over time, situations like this are forgotten. Now, a new neighbor boldly parked in front of my home (in my long established parking spot) so I pulled in behind him and when I tried to have him ticketed by the police, they would not do it. I ended up with the ticket after the police allowed both of us the opportunity to move our vehicles and I refused to move (I park here every day without receiving a ticket, this has always been the situation).
My question is, what do I have to do to establish my right to park in front of my home so that I have tangible evidence? Can I record an easement? Is it even possible to obtain this sort of easement on a public right of way?
Thanks.
(side note - if the answer to the above is no, my deed (and others) also state that the alley is private, however the alley is on the city map and has been for over 100 years, then again tracing my deed back over 100 years the alley is also described as a private right of way, even in the deed of the owner that the alley was named after).
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