I owe the city $1500/month

[Bald Eagle]

This is one of the problems created by the government itself.  If you owned the road outside your home, you could dictate who could or could not park there.  You could rent the street space in front of your neighbor's house and enforce the terms of the contract.

"Public" (government-owned) roads suck, and so does the fascist money-grubbing government.

[Quantrill]

If the truck is driven by someone who lives on that street, how is that different than a non-"commercial" vehicle driven by someone living on that street?  If they are going so far as to ban commercial vehicles, at least give exemptions for people who use that truck to get to work and such.  I can understand a fleet of vehicles, but damn.  It's my work truck and I live on this street.

Can I declare this my "personal vehicle"?

Also, there seem to be no restrictions for # of non-"commercial" vehicles.  So my neighbor could have 3 or 4 cars and park them on the street and that would be ok...

[Pat McCotter]

So Manch parking ban is for commercial vehicles only?

Concord ban is for all vehicles.

[Crocuta]

So Manch parking ban is for commercial vehicles only?

Concord ban is for all vehicles.

Some cities do that for the sake of sweeping streets at night.  At least then it makes a *little* sense.

[Rochelle]

I can understand having it banned in winter but this is dumb

I wonder if they ban all commercial vehicles, even if it is a car that you happen to have your company logo on...

[E-ville]

I like to fight my city... I don't live in NH , but here is a example.

My city has a ordnance saying that abandoned cars are not allowed and will be removed by the city at the owners expense, this isn't on the street this is on your property anywhere.. I have a large yard 2 city lots.. very large by most peoples standards.

They state that any car that is either inoperable or not registered will be removed from the owners property..

Needless to say, I asked the city about this they said to qualify it needs to behave both of those requirements so if you had a car that was inopperable but registered it could be there or operable but not tagged..

I now have 10 cars in my yard every one of them runs and drives only a few are registered, I actually move them and mow around them etc..

They have no laws on RV trailers, so now I began buying RV trailers.. got one looking for my second now

Its funny because I have been adding a car every few months for the last few years and over a year ago they were bitching And my wife is on the city councle.. they can't do anything about it there all with in there guidelines..

Problem is that the cars are getting nicer and nicer.. being i keep alookout for dirt cheap cars i kepp on finding better and better cars for less and less. for instance one of my recent additions was a Jeep Grand Cherokee, perfect condition absolutly mint condition but 247,000 miles.. I drive it all the time absolutely nothing wrong except a ton of miles with it.. it's a great vehicle, everything works and looks really good.. looks nicer than my 2005 Chevy pickup! Literally it's in mint condition.

I say park you truck in your yard with the biggest best advertising for your business plastered all over it.

[d_goddard]

I like to fight my city... I don't live in NH

.... but you have the NH attitude
Come Home, willya?

[E-ville]

I like to fight my city... I don't live in NH

.... but you have the NH attitude
Come Home, willya?

Yeah I'm working on it..  I have some things here that need attention first.. and it's the state laws that are keeping me here for now. Otherwise there going to take property from me.. go figure.

E-ville

[Quantrill]

I can't help you in Ward 5, but I have a driveway in Ward 9 that is available for parking (at least until I sell the house).  If nothing better comes up, you could maybe park there and ride a bicycle back and forth to home.  A pain in the ass, but better than being ticketed every day.

THANK YOU!

Hopefully I won't need to take you up on that, but I'll keep it in mind.  I'll be contacting my Alderman tomorrow to see what he says...

[E-ville]

I read a story on DIGG that a engineer in england had some of these same issues, so he build a 3 story underground parking lot under his house.. fit like 30 cars.. he now rents spaces to the neighbors and make a nice profit out of it every month.

His downfall was that her dug it underneath his neighbors land and has to share some of the profit..

Funny thing is he didn't tell any one and no one really figured it out until they saw 4+ cars drive into a single stall garage?  He did it all with out moving his house or garage.. just dumpster loads of dirt coming out of the garage.

I looked for the story but could not find it again.. but it was legit, was on a legit news source (if there is such a thing as a legit news source)

E-ville

[Spencer]

You actually commit a new violation every 120 minutes that you violate nearly any provision of the parking laws of the city of Manchester:

§ 70.81 PENALTY FOR OTHER VIOLATIONS.
(A) A ny person responsible for any violation of any ordinance, rule or regulation pertaining to motor
vehicles or traffic for which a penalty is not specifically provided shall be guilty of a violation and shall, upon
conviction, be punished by a fine as prescribed by § 130.99 of this Code. Each such violation shall constitute a
separate offense.
(B) A person shall be deemed to have committed a separate offense for the violation of any provision
of this chapter for each 120-minute period that he permits or causes a vehicle to remain parked in violation of
any of the provisions of this chapter, except when parked in violation of the provisions of §§ 70.36(B)(4) and/or
§§ 70.61 through 70.65.
(Ord. passed 8-6-02)

http://www.manchesternh.gov/CityGov/CLK/files/E703042F41A74F38857DD3980D90995F.pdf

Manchester appears to have nothing better to do than pass Draconian ordinances designed to increase the government's ability to enforce arbitrary rules without accountability to anyone.

Here's the ordinance governing commercial motor vehicle parking:

§ 70.36 STOPPING, STANDING, OR PARKING PROHIBITED.

***

(C) Parking of motor vehicles designated as commercial vehicles shall be prohibited from parking on
any city street between the hours of midnight and 5:00 a.m. subject to violation or towing.
(Ord. passed 8-6-02; Am. Ord. passed 4-6-04)

And it doesn't appear that you are able to use a residential parking permit to do what is prohibited in any other section of the parking ordinances (i.e., park a commercial motor vehicle):

§ 70.55 RESIDENTIAL PERMIT PARKING

***

(G) Use of residential parking permits.
(1) A residential parking permit shall not authorize the holder thereof to stand or park a
motor vehicle in such places or during such times as stopping, standing, or parking of motor vehicles is
prohibited or set aside for specified types of vehicles, nor exempt the holder from the observance of any traffic
regulations other than a parking time limitation within a residential permit parking zone.

Manchester sounds a bit like Massachusetts.

[Quantrill]

So I spoke with Alderman Ed Osborne today. 

He said what I've already heard before - That law has been in effect a long time, we don't want fleets of trucks and trailers parked on residential streets, yadda yadda.  I asked if there was any way for me to get a special permit and he basically said "isn't there somewhere off-street you can park?"  I replied that I wasn't fortunate enough to own a home with a driveway, so I had no place to park.

He did give me info on how to get the law changed, though he said he didn't think there is any chance of that happening.  I must talk to the city clerk and request some type of hearing for the next Public Safety & Traffic agenda.  The next meeting is July 10.

Here's what I'm thinking - I'll contact the city clerk tomorrow and find out what legal hurdles to jump through.  I'm going to make a list of talking points that may help get this law changed.  If anybody has any other suggestions, please post them here (NOTE: I don't know if this counts as an "underground project" but if this thread gets moved, that's ok with me)

• This ordinance only hurts working-class people.  Large companies would be very wary of leaving their vehicles unattended at night on residential streets
• There is no exception for people who use a "commercial vehicle" as their primary transportation
• My neighbor could have 3 vans identical to mine without the company info, and he would not be breaking a law by parking all 3 on the street
• This law only goes into effect at 12am and expires at 5am.  So theoretically, the city could be overrun by "commercial vehicles" for the  other 19 hours each day.  Why would "commercial vehicles" not be allowed on the street during the 6 hours that most people are sleeping?
• There is an exception for city vehicles.  If it's ok for people driving city vehicles to park the car in a residential street, then why can't I park my work truck?

[d_goddard]

Be sure and ask the City clerk's office which specific law(s) are at play.
You can't get "The Law, whichever one it is" changed; you can reasonably get "city code 12345 paragraph 2" changed.

Oh, and did Osborne offer to go to bat for you, his constituent?
Or did he tell you to go buzz off and spend your time talking to the bureaucrats?

MMmmmm.... what a pretty LTE you could write next voting cycle.
Especially if we DO actually get the damn stupid law changed.
Especially especially if there's a Free-Stater competing for Osborne's seat 

[Rosie the Riveter]

One other thought -- call the Mayor's office and complain too....

[Quantrill]

Rosie - Do you think that would change anything?  To get a law changed the Alderman plus the Mayor vote on it, is that right?  So basically I need to schmooze these cats beforehand and then bring my issue up at the next meeting?  Apparently, the committee is also comprised of non-voting heads of Police, Fire, Traffic, and Highway departments


D-Godd -  To be honest, Osborne did not seem that interested.  He said he wouldn't put his two cents in if I chose to bring this up.   

Spencer was kind enough to look up and post the info -

§ 70.36 STOPPING, STANDING, OR PARKING PROHIBITED.
***
(C) Parking of motor vehicles designated as commercial vehicles shall be prohibited from parking on
any city street between the hours of midnight and 5:00 a.m. subject to violation or towing.
(Ord. passed 8-6-02; Am. Ord. passed 4-6-04)


Whoa.  After reviewing the link Spencer posted, check this out -

5) Exclusion. COMMERCIAL MOTOR VEHICLE shall not include a city vehicle, or
emergency vehicles engaged in the provision of emergency medical, Police or Fire services.

So these people grant exclusions from any city vehicles they may drive, but the working class people who have no driveway are F*CKED.  Also, they don't define what a "city vehicle" is.  Maybe I can put "MANCHESTER PD" on the truck and then it's a "city vehicle"?


And can someone clarify part of this for me? 

§ 70.28 COMMERCIAL MOTOR VEHICULAR AND TRUCK TRAFFIC PROHIBITED DURING
CERTAIN HOURS.
(A) N o person, persons, firm or corporation shall operate or cause to be operated any commercial
motor vehicle, or truck in any district prohibited by regulation of the Committee on Traffic and Public Safety.
(B) No person, persons, firm or corporation shall operate or cause to be operated any commercial
motor vehicle, or truck between the hours of 9:30 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. on any street or portion of a street
designated by regulation of the Committee on Traffic and Public Safety.
(C) This section shall not apply to any commercial vehicle or truck making an emergency delivery or
service call on any street or portion thereof designated as no trucks allowed.
(Ord. passed 8-6-02)

Cannot operate a commercial motor vehicle between 930pm and 700am?  Does this really mean I'm not allowed to have overtime?  Boss will surely be pissed when he hears this.  If we get a call at midnight, we have to take it.  Surely the city wouldn't infringe on the rights of its citizens to make money and provide a service?  If it's wintertime and I get a call to fix someone's heat, it's sounding like the city won't let me drive the truck after 930pm.  So when that person's furnace blows up is it the city's fault?