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A man's home may be his castle, but his driveway is no place to park a camper, board rules
By adamg on Wed, 08/01/2018 - 1:52pm
The Board of Appeals ruled yesterday a Fields Corner resident has to get a school bus he's turning into a camper out of his driveway.
Anthony Hines, who lives on Lincoln Street, acquired the bus about a year ago and has put in a couple bunk beds, a couch and a TV. He told the board that he is working to outfit it with running water and that while he has yet to take the bus/camper on the road, his son and niece have used it four or five times for trips down to Florida and the Cape.
"When I'm not using it, I want to able to park in my driveway," he told the board. He said he normally parks it at the very end of the driveway, behind his house, where he said it wouldn't be visible from the road.
But both the mayor's office and the office of City Councilor Andrea Campbell opposed his request, based on a meeting of the Fields Corner Civic Association, where members voiced concern about a bus/camper being parked in a driveway for long periods of time.
Marking the first time board members could remember being asked to rule on campers, the board then voted to deny Hines's request, which means he has to move the vehicle.
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Comments
What's the problem with the
What's the problem with the bus/camper being there?
I live not far from 23
I live not far from 23 Lincoln, pass by it often, and know its reputation (not good). It did make it make it to universal hub some time ago. And yes, I am absolutely positive that this is the same address.
https://www.universalhub.com/2015/police-seize-nearly-two-dozen-dirt-bik...
The Price of Tea in China
About $0.30 per kg today.
That's a good question.
If it's the guy's own private driveway, why should he be kept from parking the bus/camper there? That's ridiculous.
Silly,
The bus/camper isn't botbering anyone.
Such is the trend
On my street in Medford someone has taken to parking a large RV on the street near their house. They run the loud generator in the evening but thankfully turn it off before it gets too late. Someone has been living there for almost a year now.
If you have a parking spot, buying an RV and renting it out on AirBNB (or renting your apartment and living in the RV) is a way to make a lot of money in Boston.
In the street is different
I think that may be the same one that was blocking a disabled person's driveway. If so, I know several people who are quite unhappy about it - and they have a much better case than this.
The RV in question in Boston is in a private driveway.
Where I grew up - in trailer parks - it wasn't uncommon for a family to buy a travel trailer and station teens or young adults in it. Or to accommodate a long stay of a family member. There were even rental rules for how long was too long (or past what duration would the renter be charged for the extra utilities).
Sounds to me like this particular guy has an RV, stores it in his private driveway on his private property, and uses it like an RV. So what?
WHY?!
A grown man can't park his own vehicle in his own driveway? On what grounds was this decision made?
Simple
Because some snobs got the Mayor's Office - which rightfully shouldn't be allowed to intervene in such matters - to agree with them.
HOA
This is like those Nazi-esque Home Owners Associations where you can't put a (nice) chair on your porch or a flag on the front of your house unless The Board has approved it. I bet this bus looks like shit, but the grounds for making him get rid of it seem very shaky, from a legal viewpoint.
Take a look at the street in question
Auto body shops. Everything paved.
A half-renovated bus would totally fit in.
True
Yeah I did. And I agree. (I bet it was the new-looking condos/apts that abut them in the rear. "New" people probably didn't want to look at what "the locals" keep in their backyards.)
Not really
I'm betting it is just nosey busybodies playing the OMG Homeless Trailer People in RVs like California! Card.
Bet that is why Andrea peeked
Bet that is why Andrea peeked into this big development!! She puts developers from Milton over her constituents.
If the bus is legally registered
then they have no case, period.
Yup, just like my condo
Gotta agree with Gary, this is just like an HOA. Yuck. I have a condo out in the burbs and the rules are hideous. I simply don't see what power the city has over this bus/RV in the guy's driveway.
Can anybody cite a city ordinance? Or is this just some ad hoc decision?
Arrogance:
Arrogance, and the idea that one can control somebody else's lifestyle if they don't like it.
If it has no registration....
If it has no registration then it's not really a vehicle, it's a structure, or a piece of industrial gear, or a heap of scrap metal, all of which are legitimately regulated by zoning laws. It seems based on the article that if he would merely stick a license plate on it his problems would go away.
If it's been driven multiple times to FL and the Cape...
...then, in all likelihood, it's legally registered.
And I disagree that it isn't a vehicle. Are all those new cars on dealer lots not vehicles?
Here's why ...
He was cited under Article 65, Section 8 of the city zoning code. Article 65 is for zoning along and next to Dot Ave. generally, Section 8 is for blocks with primarily three-family homes (triple deckers for the most part).
And that section has a table of "forbidden" uses, including:
Article 65 was adopted in 2002, who knows if there was a particular problem with campers in driveway or if this was just one of those generic things they add to a lot of zones, but whatever the reason, his camper is in violation of that rule.
Now, he didn't formally apply for a variance; ISD sent him a violation notice, which probably means somebody complained (since I don't think ISD inspectors drive around looking for campers).
Thanks
Your original article made it sound, to me, like the board was ruling based on their own feelings, not any specific code.
Selective enforcement?
So, wait a minute. There are a LOT of campers in driveways all around the city. Does this mean that they all have to find garage space in the suburbs somewhere? Or did Mr. Hines do something to make the city council angry? I don't even understand what the infraction is supposed to be.
I believe it would be
his "son."
Slippery Slope
You let one guy park his RMV-licensed RV on his private property, and the next thing you know, its trailers all the way down!
Come On Get Happy
This is all I can envision.
Unsanitized Version
Alaskan Survival Version
Foraging Is Much Easier In Fields Corner
Bahn mi can be found in all seasons. Rivers of bubble tea - abundant with tapioca pearls - course through the region.
The Struggle for Food is Not Ours!
Within these streets you will find your "Happy Hunting Ground".
Heh.
Oh, welcome fellow former Waltham Supermarket shopper
I bet you spent a fair amount of time down in the bargain basement, too.
BRAVO!
Now all need is a mural of tattooed dudes with man buns spearing banh me and roasting them over an open fire.
Wow - someone is old like I am!
Wasn't the city proposing to
Wasn't the city proposing to allow more dwelling units in small units on peoples property why not this?
Poor Branding
The owner should have called it High-density Transit Oriented Development!
camper in driveway
I do not see how a homeowner can be told not to park an RV of any sort in their own driveway. I have seen RVs parked in driveways all over Boston, in many different neighborhoods. What on earth is the City Council thinking? Is there a City ordinance against RVs in driveways? If so, it should be universally enforced rather than selectively enforced. I would like to hear from other Boston residents about this, as well as from City Councillors or lawyers.
I'm at a complete loss as to what he was appealing
The board of appeals grants or denies appeals to zoning/permit decisions. I just spent half an hour scouring zoning regulations. I don't see anything in there about the TYPE of vehicle that can be parked.
Best I can come up with is this section in Article 23 (PDF) about parking:
So maybe they're getting him under sub-section c, which says that he can't use the driveway for any kind of repair work or servicing? Seems like a very tenuous argument. If the vehicle is moving 4-5 times a year, it's not dead storage. And if it is an issue of him not being allowed to work on a vehicle in his own driveway, they are turning a blind eye to a whole lot of people doing the same elsewhere in the city. If that is really what they are hanging their hat on, he could finish the work elsewhere and move it back and I don't know what they could do about it.
Not sure how invested this guy is in the fight, and IANAL, but I would expect that the city would lose in a legal challenge. I'm frankly surprised they even considered issuing any kind of judgement at all.
I’m Pretty Sure
this happens when the vehicle doesn’t move for some time, hasn’t been registered and was reported by a neighbor. This is typically a property standard violation akin to not mowing your lawn, not a parking violation. I was ticketed for what I consider a great looking 50s beetle back in the day. Despite legal counsel no recourse was apparent outside of licensing and insuring the vehicle and “tenting” it if it was going to sit for more than a week. I liked the perspective of one writer who suggested that whoever filed the complaint seems “unfit for any encounter with the modern world” given their inability to coexist with stationary motor vehicles anywhere in their line of sight. But I’m sure this complainant is this case has played an important role in keeping government big and Dorchester beautiful.
One Question
If this bus isn't registered, then how did it travel to the Cape and Florida on several occasions?
If that's the case
They should be coming after me too, as I perform maintenance and repairs on my 200k mile Volvo several times a year in the driveway of my apartment. I also (God forbid) hosed some dirt out of the driveway and into the street last weekend after rain washed it down from the construction site next door.
Where is somebody supposed to service their own vehicle if not in their own driveway? Did a group of professional mechanics write this regulation?
Bite me, ZBA.
Get me that membership list
So that I can know which people not to have sympathy for ever again.
Would they prefer he park it on the street?
This is a nasty bit of bullying and overreach, imo. I hope he appeals to the SJC or whoever.
Good point, Dan Farnkoff.
Well said.
Thanks!
Have a great day, MPLO.
If only our forefathers
could have imagined what the sad state of our “representation” would one day look like.
Mr. Hines should’ve told Marty and the council that he’s simply a developer and he’s going to subdivide the bus into 3 microunits that Millennials totally want to live in, the middle of the bus will be an affordable unit, and amenities include a built in carpool. Instant approval.
All of you bitching about regulatory overreach...
... would you be OK with someone operating an automobile junkyard on a residential street?
It's not a junker
If the bus has valid plates and inspection on it, and it's operable, then it's hardly a "junker", is it?
If it has valid plates and inspection...
... then my comment is not applicable.
Probably not
But that's not the issue. One functional camper does not make a junkyard.
As long as he paints
As long as he paints "Ayyadurai for Senate" on the side of the camper, he should be all set.