Hi Neighbors – the subject of parking in your driveway yet blocking the sidewalks came up at our Annual Meeting of Homeowners in February. We were asked to address this to all our neighbors to remind everyone, please try to keep all sidewalks clear so that everyone can have a clear, safe path for walking in the neighborhood without having to walk in the street. Many families with small children and strollers, people walking their dogs, and all neighborhood pedestrians use our sidewalks to traverse the community streets. If vehicles are parked beyond the driveway and into the path of the sidewalk it forces pedestrians out into the street to go around the vehicle and this can create a hazard. Please be mindful of how your vehicle is parked in your driveway and help keep OPT “walkable” and safe for all.
Can a vehicle park blocking the sidewalk if it’s in a driveway?
The Texas transportation code says that you cannot park over a sidewalk.
Does law enforcement ever write tickets for these infractions?
They can write tickets, especially for fire hydrants and issues like that, but they prefer to give people warnings first and they will ask that everybody be good neighbors and follow the law.
Do we want our patrol officers to start writing tickets and warnings for sidewalk etiquette?
Probably not the best use of our officer’s time – remember that your annual HOA fee pays them to be here. We have 1000+ homes in OPT and ticketing or warning individuals who park over the sidewalk is time consuming. We would much rather have them be spending their time monitoring our neighborhood and keeping the safety of us, our children, homes and property paramount.
The “why” behind not parking our vehicles over the sidewalks.
It keeps families, children and our neighbors out of the street and out of harm’s way.
|
|
