Neighbor upset that I have over flow parking in front of his house

[Bontchimuz]

This is in New Hampshire.

We live on the 2nd smallest lot in our town and we have 3 parking spaces. A single driveway that fits 2 cars and then I dug out and filled rock in front of our house to fit another car.

Often we have more than 3 cars at our house and need to have people park in front of neighbors houses.

We have no street parking laws, at the same time it is a double yellow road with no sidewalks or space on the road to park.

We often have our family/friends park in front of neighbors house 75% on their land and 25% sticking out in street.

My question is, doesn't every town in NH (or the US) have a certain amount of "right of way" that is considered public easement and the public can always utilize to park?

I always thought the towns right of way was around 4-5 feet and supercedes a private property line.

I have had my neighbor call the police numerous times on me or friends/family parking half on their property and half over the white line of the road. The police say there is no parking ban and it is up to each policemans discretion whether to enforce a car being over the white line or not.

This is the only neighbor who cares, and he also has a massive house set so far back I am often shocked he can even see a single car parked in front of his property. He has recently found his exact property line and posted plastic poles in a line between his boundary markers. His lot must be unorthodox because theres only about 2 feet between his line and the street.

I still was under the impression that town right of way supercedes a private property line and the police should ask him to remove the plastic poles so people can safely park.

Any advice or thoughts or information would be greatly appreciated.

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

If your visitors destroyed my lawn, I would call the police on you also. I would also line the edge of my property with rocks.

 

[Bontchimuz]

The issue of lawn being destroyed has never once come up in the 2 years of my neighbor and I talking with police and town highway director. If you saw his property you would understand that trampled grass is not an issue at all.

The real issue is what is the state of NH town public easement on either side of roads. The public does have a right to park in front of homes even though this seems to bother a lot of people. I can understand both sides of the coin here.

It just seems so hard to get a straight answer on this....

As far as building a fence or rock wall (i love rock walls) ... im pretty sure you actually cant put a fence/rock wall directly on your property line...there has to be a set back of inches or feet and if the property line is adjacent to a public road...that setback could be the public easement of "xxx" amount of feet.

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

The straight answer is "I would not allow strangers to park on my property". When they attempt to stumble into the passenger side of their transportation and fall out, breaking their leg, I do not want to be sued.

 

[FarmerJ]

Your guest have zero rights to park on someone elses land, your concept of public use right of way I believe is mistaken, Your city / township. town , or county- state (if a property is on a county or state hwy) the local govts are the ones who have a so called right of way, meaning that if they must they can take land , compensate for it and widen a street, they can build public side walks or even say take steps to correct drainage when it may damage a public road but they can also write into ords barring cars from parking even partially in a yard and on street. SO if your road has wide built in shoulders created by your city/ county/ state then people can park with in the shoulder area when its not posted no parking or a parking ord bars it. When there is no govt rule forbiding parking and no shoulder area your guest parking on someone elses land is not a given right, Your guest would be better off parking right on the road even if it meant being at risk of having to argue a ticket in court as unjust due to lack of no parking signs or lack of a ord baring parking on any city street in your town, Your guest are at risk of being sued for damaging someone elses property.

 

[Bontchimuz]

This is all very interesting and I am now shocked the Chief of Police whom both my neighbor and myself have spoken to several times has never brought this up.

My brother who just graduated law school keeps telling me that there is "public easement" onto the "perimeter" of most property lines, especially ones adjacent to public roads and that "the right for the public to use public property exists on these perimeters"

in other words, if indeed there is a certain feet between the road white line and any individual property line, then technically anyone can park on the public easement.

In this case I am pretty sure there is a 4-5 feet easement or right of way or whatever its called so technically I can park my car there at any time (besides winter when plows use that easement to push snow)

It's all so very confusing....I guess I need to really push the police to find out the law and enforce it either way. The biggest issue is not having closure or a resolution....

 

[las365]

it is a double yellow road with no sidewalks or space on the road to park.

We often have our family/friends park in front of neighbors house 75% on their land and 25% sticking out in street.

This sounds like you and your friends are creating a hazardous condition for people who are driving on the street. But still, I have an idea. Two ideas! Why don't your friends ride to your house together to cut down on the number of cars, or park in front of a house whose owner isn't bothered by it?

 

[Zigner]

This is all very interesting and I am now shocked the Chief of Police whom both my neighbor and myself have spoken to several times has never brought this up.

My brother who just graduated law school keeps telling me that there is "public easement" onto the "perimeter" of most property lines, especially ones adjacent to public roads and that "the right for the public to use public property exists on these perimeters"

in other words, if indeed there is a certain feet between the road white line and any individual property line, then technically anyone can park on the public easement.

In this case I am pretty sure there is a 4-5 feet easement or right of way or whatever its called so technically I can park my car there at any time (besides winter when plows use that easement to push snow)

It's all so very confusing....I guess I need to really push the police to find out the law and enforce it either way. The biggest issue is not having closure or a resolution....

Please have brother study up on what an easement actually is. Particularly as it applies to your property.

 

[justalayman]

This is all very interesting and I am now shocked the Chief of Police whom both my neighbor and myself have spoken to several times has never brought this up.

My brother who just graduated law school keeps telling me that there is "public easement" onto the "perimeter" of most property lines, especially ones adjacent to public roads and that "the right for the public to use public property exists on these perimeters"

in other words, if indeed there is a certain feet between the road white line and any individual property line, then technically anyone can park on the public easement.

In this case I am pretty sure there is a 4-5 feet easement or right of way or whatever its called so technically I can park my car there at any time (besides winter when plows use that easement to push snow)

It's all so very confusing....I guess I need to really push the police to find out the law and enforce it either way. The biggest issue is not having closure or a resolution....

regardless what you or brother thinks is the case, you have no right to park on a public ROW or easement unless it is specifically written in the right of way documents there is parking allowed and it is designed for such. You do not get to park on another person's land if the municipality has not designed the area for parking. I suggest dear brother research the road construction and designation rules for your area. I suspect you will find that a road constructed as you speak of is not designed to allow parking on the road...at all which means; if your wheel touches the road surface, it is illegally parked.

and always remember: when there is an easement or row, the servient tenant still owns the land and controls all rights not specifically granted to the dominant tenant.

and this is the same whether there is 4-5 feet outside of the road surface or 14-15 or 24-25 feet. You do not get to park there unless it is designed and designated as such. It is destruction of private property and you can be held liable for the damages you cause.

 

[154NH773]

As I live in NH I will put in my two-cents. As others have told you; you have no right to park on your neighbor's property. Having said that, the next thing you need to find out is what is claimed by the municipality, or whoever maintains the road, as the right of way. You also must find out from the enforcment authority, what the permitted parking regulations are. In other words, can you park with your vehicle extending onto the traveled way?

My question is, doesn't every town in NH (or the US) have a certain amount of "right of way" that is considered public easement and the public can always utilize to park?

The answer is NO. Let's say the road-right-of-way claimed is 50' wide, and the traffic lanes are 12' each. That means there is 26' of additional right-of-way, possibly 13 feet on each side of the road. You can park on that right-of-way if the law allows.
I would have to dig further, but I believe 50' is the minimum road width/right-of-way for the state.

The question can get complicated. In my town, the State highway is an old undescribed right-of-way easement, owned by the bordering property owners. A local has placed rocks right up to the maintained asphalt along his property and the State cannot order him to remove them.

(Just looked this up) The specifications in my town are; a minimum 50 foot right-of-way. The roadway "shall not be less than 18 feet. Shoulders shall be at least 2 feet wide." That means that the town could place guardrails 11 feet from the centerline of the road. If no guardrails or obstructions exist, you could potentially park in the 32 feet that may be split between either side of the maintained road (16' either side). Now; that's MY town, and only applies to town roads accepted after the adoption of the road specifications (1988).