GRAVEL GROVEL
My neighbor thinks he can use my ‘driveway’ but I won’t let him – I took drastic measures to stop him & it’s not working
Even the mayor can't find a solution to the problem - but he hopes the neighbors stay out of court
NEIGHBORS' tempers have flared into a tussle over roadway access to their homes - now, lawyers may need to get involved.
Homeowners are fighting over the legal definition of a private driveway after the drivers grappled with thousands of dollars in construction costs.
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"Unless you've ever gone through this, you could never imagine the pain in the butt that this is," Odell Tuttle, one of the neighbors, told Minnesota-based Fox affiliate KMSP-TV.
"We don't need to go nuclear here. We can figure out a way to work together."
Tuttle lives off a gravel pathway that technically holds two legal definitions.
The city defined the road as a private driveway within a public right of way.
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In 1994, the driveway was built for access to two homes.
The agreement between the Tuttles and a previous homeowner allowed access to both homeowners as long as they maintained the surface.
But Clair Rood, Tuttle's neighbor, said he should also have access to the path.
Rood has used the gravel driveway to access another home sitting on 2.5 acres of land for years.
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The homeowners didn't report any initial grievances to the station after Rood moved in.
But recent projects brought heavy construction machines to the gravel path, enraging both neighbors.
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Tuttle attempted to build a barrier to keep Rood off the path.
"It's an obstruction. They're obstructing the road," Rood said after Tuttle received a stop work order while crews built the boulder barrier.
"It's an ideology. He wants to own the road. He wants to control the road."
Tuttle also said that Rood's construction projects have degraded the surface of the pathway.
"It wouldn't be a problem if he simply wanted to use it," Tuttle said.
"He comes on it, dumps gravel all over it in piles, tears up the edging, tears up the grading."
Why is it illegal to block a driveway?
Blocking a driveway is illegal in the United States due to the limiting of access to emergency care.
Aside from being inconsiderate, blocking a driveway is a serious safety hazard, cops say.
Blocking the driveway of someone's home is illegal in all 50 states, with fines and penalties varying by state.
For instance, blocking a driveway in San Francisco, California can earn a driver a hefty towing $286 fee and a $110 ticket.
That's not including the feed to retrieve the vehicle from an impound lot, which averages over $600.
In an emergency, a blocked driveway can mean the difference between life and death for a patient.
"In the United States, it is illegal to block a driveway, even your own," reads Parklio's website.
"It's a matter of public safety: emergency services like fire trucks, ambulances, or police cars need that space to get in and out.
"An obstructed driveway might also prevent vehicles from pulling out onto the road to seek emergency services."
Source: San Francisco Police Department, Parklio
The neighbors are seeking to define the pathway as either a private driveway or a public access road.
The city's mayor told the station he hopes the neighbors find a more cordial solution.
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"I would hope the property owners work together to come to a reasonable solution everybody can live with," Mayor Denny Welsh told the station.
He said he wanted to avoid "having to get judges and lawyers involved."