CA: Permit necessary for tree house?

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CA

My neighbor recently installed an accessory structure on what was initially a gravel covered driveway. A car had been stored there for years. Now, a pre-fab wooden elevated structure has been installed on the driveway for kids to use, presumably.

I live within the city limits. All of the houses are single family dwellings and all have driveways or garages. This neighbor is now by definition storing his car on the street instead of on his driveway.

The accessory structure is only a couple of feet from the sidewalk, and is not private, as it might be if it was hidden in the back yard.

This is from the municipal code:
The 'structure' is ten feet tall, but is only 5 or 6 feet on each side, maybe 36 square feet in total. I don't even know if the neighbor has children, and I've never seen any in the treehouse. For all I know, he installed it as an amenity in order to help sell his house (it's not for sale at this point).

I want some advice as to whether this is worth pursuing, or if my neighbor is within his rights to erect such a structure.What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

Check with zoning on the setbacks for such a structure. A couple of feet from the sidewalk may be a violation.
You didn't say if a building permit is required , but if one is, find out if he got it.

Is the car registered? Usually a car cannot be on the street if it's not registered.

And how does this affect you? Why do you care?

DC

debtcollector` said:

And how does this affect you? Why do you care?

DC

Click to expand...

The city sent out notices to every household that cars were supposed to be stored on driveways and not in the street (72 hr. law). How can you do that if there is a permanent structure on the driveway?

Alex you wrote >> The city sent out notices to every household that cars were supposed to be stored on driveways and not in the street (72 hr. law) << what do you mean by 72 hour? do you mean cars in your city cannot sit on a street for more than 72 hours in the same spot or they could be ticketed ? If thats what your refering to as long as the neighbor moves any vehicle he owns that is parked on the street enough to prevent ticketing he has not violated any street parking law. SO if the structure is with in setbacks are you more bothered by the neighbor parking on a street? yes in a ideal situation all would use own driveways BUT unless there is a ord which bans any on street parking 24/7 for any reason then the street can be parked on.

Sorry, my statement wasn't clear. Many people here don't use their driveways, but cars are never ticketed. I just wondered about the legality of putting a structure on one's driveway. I'm going to call the building dept for answers, then I'll post what I find here.

Alex23 said:

Sorry, my statement wasn't clear. Many people here don't use their driveways, but cars are never ticketed. I just wondered about the legality of putting a structure on one's driveway. I'm going to call the building dept for answers, then I'll post what I find here.

Click to expand...

That's great but it doesn't answer my question: Why do you care if your neighbor does something on or with his property that has nothing to do with you?

DC