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UPDATE: Landlocked Parking Lot (NH) (self.legaladvice)

totallyworkinghere が 投稿

So, I posted before about losing access to my apartment parking lot because another apartment had decided to tear up the only street leading to it.

They removed the physical cones from the road and instead put up a sign saying "Pass At Own Risk". I don't believe that actually absolves them of liability, but my car hasn't been damaged by driving over the dirt.

Then yesterday, I got home to find them actively paving the street at 6 PM. I had to park 2 blocks away from my apartment again and walk along a steep grassy hill and part of the newly paved road--still warm and sticking to my shoes a bit. (In heels, but that was my own silly fault) There were vehicles at both ends of the road blocking people from entering or leaving the parking lot.

I think they kept working all night--I woke up at around 2 AM because there was a sound like hammering coming from outside. Edit: This was not related to the construction, it turns out some asshole friends of my downstairs neighbors were banging on their windows while drunk and/or high, and half-asleep me heard it as hammering. Still a shitty situation for me, but nothing to blame the road crew for.

I know that all I have is a bunch of hypotheticals and no real damages, so I can't do anything. At the same time, this is extremely frustrating and seems shady as hell.

Update: The road has been fully paved and it looks like the workers are gone. I'm sure people here would like a story about how the fire marshall swooped in and saved the day, but reality is boring. They finished their work and left, still without telling the apartment residents anything.

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[–]trumptrainsnackbar 254ポイント255ポイント  (11子コメント)

WHAT? NO ONE CALLED THE FIRE MARSHALL???? I was hoping someone would get arrested for landlocking you.

[–]BlatantConservative 25ポイント26ポイント  (4子コメント)

Dammit I was gonna be really proud if my comment immediately solved the problem.

[–]trumptrainsnackbar 18ポイント19ポイント  (3子コメント)

Eventually, someone from /r/legaladvice will call the fire marshall. I promise...

[–]BlatantConservative 17ポイント18ポイント  (2子コメント)

Or the postal inspector.

[–]Jotebe 15ポイント16ポイント  (1子コメント)

I'd prefer to see the dynamic duo in a action show. "Federal Jurisdiction: No Emergency Exit."

[–]Cerberus339 0ポイント1ポイント  (0子コメント)

"I live above a post office, and my neighbor bought the surrounding property, effectively landlocking me (and the PO). He then cut down the oak trees on my property and placed the remains in front of the fire exits. Can I press charges?" (is there a /r/legaladvicecirclejerk ? Because there should be)

[–]totallyworkinghere[S] 62ポイント63ポイント  (5子コメント)

I chose not to call because technically access was open for most of the week, it was just over a really rough road.

I probably should've called yesterday with the vehicles blocking access, but for some reason I was thinking I couldn't call after business hours. Not sure now if that was right.

[–]cthulhuscatharsis 63ポイント64ポイント  (1子コメント)

There is probably a fire inspector on call 24/7 if you live in a decent sized town, but getting them after hours is tricky. I would suggest calling your police non-emergency number and asking how to contact them, or ask them to contact an inspector for you, and then the inspector can call you back (they don't like giving out their cell numbers, they don't want vindictive people pulling shit with their numbers)

[–]totallyworkinghere[S] 13ポイント14ポイント  (0子コメント)

I do live in a larger town, so I'll keep that in mind if there's a problem like this again, but I'm crossing my fingers that it's all over with now. Thank you!

[–]BlatantConservative 28ポイント29ポイント  (0子コメント)

Orignal guy who told you to call the fire marshall here.

If an ambulance or a large fire truck cannot get through, you should call the fire marshall.

[–]TheProphecyIsNigh 5ポイント6ポイント  (0子コメント)

Call the non-emergency line and they would have someone come check it out pretty quickly.

[–]on_my_lunch_break 2ポイント3ポイント  (0子コメント)

technically access was open for most of the week, it was just over a really rough road.

So, not firetruck/ambulance friendly?

[–]CallingYouOut2 73ポイント74ポイント  (16子コメント)

Sometimes that's just how things work. Roads need to be maintained. I live in an urban area and they were putting in streetcar tracks that blocked access to my parking garage during the day. Not a lot I could do about, it's an inconvenience, but a necessary one.

[–]The_Original_Gronkie 31ポイント32ポイント  (13子コメント)

About 15 years ago we made plans to move, and I decided I would sell my house by myself, which meant my best sales tool was a sign in my front yard to catch the eye of traffic driving by. So I stuck the sign and got ready for the flood of calls.

The next day, the city tore up not only the road, but the sidewalks, all the way down to the dirt. Both ends of the street were blocked, and we had to park a block away and schlep our groceries and 2 year old over uneven sheets of plywood the city laid down in place of the sidewalks. The calls for the house were few and far between

Luckily, the was a young guy who really wanted a house in our neighborhood, and he would drive around every day at lunch looking for houses. He was especially interested in people selling themselves because he thought he could get a better deal by not paying a commission. When he saw our blocked off street, and a sign on my lawn, he didn't let the plywood sidewalks deter him, and he walked down and knocked on our door. He and his fiancee ended up buying the house, at a price we were both happy with.

Once the road and sidewalks were done a couple of weeks later, the street looked amazing and made his deal look even better.

So the moral of the story is: Sometimes you have to crack a few eggs in order to make an omelette.

[–]Junkmans1 19ポイント20ポイント  (11子コメント)

Once the road and sidewalks were done a couple of weeks later,

Couple of weeks later? Doing that much on a street around here would take 9 to 24 months.

[–]The_Original_Gronkie 10ポイント11ポイント  (3子コメント)

Once they had it all prepared, which didn't take long, they brought in a huge machine that laid down a concrete road and both sidewalks at the same time! A bunch of guys were assigned to each element, and as the giant machine creeped down the road, a few guys on each side of the road would attend to each sidewalk and a team of guys would attend to the road. It took an entire day to go down our little street, but it was basically done, with only a couple of days of curing before it was 100% ready. It was really amazing to watch this thing go.

[–]binarycow 0ポイント1ポイント  (2子コメント)

hmmm i'd love to see this machine.

[–]Drando_HS 0ポイント1ポイント  (1子コメント)

Construction can get crazy for machines.

Where I live, they recently redid the main road using what I can only call a construction train.

The first machine tore up the road and asphalt, grinding it all up and leaving it in a neat row behind it. The next machine picks it up and mixed it with new tar, and gives it to the final machine that lays it down. A steamroller pats it all down behind.

It was done so quickly, and they even reused the same asphalt.

[–]WhitechapelPrime 0ポイント1ポイント  (6子コメント)

Try 24-48 where I am.

[–]brent0935 1ポイント2ポイント  (5子コメント)

5-8 years here...

[–]WhitechapelPrime 0ポイント1ポイント  (4子コメント)

Based on where I've lived, I am assuming either LA or Nashville?

Edit: I forgot Michigan!

[–]CannibalAngel 1ポイント2ポイント  (0子コメント)

Pittsburgh as well.

[–]ItAintYours 0ポイント1ポイント  (0子コメント)

Add Memphis to that

[–]brent0935 0ポイント1ポイント  (1子コメント)

Memphis. They're just now getting around to implementing plans that were drawn up in the 60's. The main bridge into the city has three lanes that just branch off and end 70ft in the air. It's a nightmare

[–]WhitechapelPrime 0ポイント1ポイント  (0子コメント)

Seriously. I remember driving through there after Katrina and the construction was heavy then.

[–]frymaster 5ポイント6ポイント  (0子コメント)

Yes, but I imagine they gave you slightly more than 0 hours notice, blocking in any cars that happened to have been unlucky enough to be parked there at the time ;)

[–]SlimJim84 2ポイント3ポイント  (0子コメント)

Roads can be maintained without blocking access to property that people are legally allowed to access. It's not only an inconvenience, but also illegal in cases. If access to your property is blocked by construction, how are emergency vehicles supposed to get in? Building catches fire, someone needs an ambulance, too bad, the city has deemed construction more important? It doesn't work that way.

Whether it's two hour construction to repair a pothole or two week construction to replace a watermain, it's not generally legal to block property access, and construction firms can and will be fined or prohibited from bidding on future projects.

There's nothing wrong with having a flagman temporarily blocking access while equipment goes by, or a worker does something. Even situations like where a building is washing their garage and they ask all residents not to park within a certain time. They cannot legally (generally) stop you from parking in a spot you pay for. Sure, any damage caused will be your fault as they've given fair warning, but they can't stop you.

I live in Toronto, which is in a state of perpetual construction, but damned if they block access to someone's house.

[–]NDaveT 12ポイント13ポイント  (2子コメント)

No damages for you, but the city might be interested in construction going on late at night.

[–]totallyworkinghere[S] 14ポイント15ポイント  (0子コメント)

It turns out that was an unrelated incident--I'll post a quick edit about it.

[–]Ziggamorph 1ポイント2ポイント  (0子コメント)

Probably OP (and the other residents of her building) don't want to delay construction further.

[–]TheRevMrGreen 4ポイント5ポイント  (0子コメント)

The sign in and of itself does not absolve them from liability, but it certainly bolsters an argument later that you knowingly put your car in a situation that could damage it. It all depends on the facts, and since you have not actually damaged your car, there isn't much to discuss here. As for whether you have the right to cross that road boils down to who owns the land on which the road sits. It seems likely that the owner of A owns the land. I bet the owner of your building B owns the right to cross A's land to get to building B and lot B (and this right is transferred to you and the other tenants). But without seeing the deed, it is impossible to answer your question.

[–]sparr 3ポイント4ポイント  (1子コメント)

Did anyone ever ask/answer whether the "street" in question is a public road or a driveway owned by your apartment building or a driveway owned by the other apartment building?

[–]totallyworkinghere[S] 0ポイント1ポイント  (0子コメント)

It's a driveway owned by the other building.