A Burnaby homeowner is fed up with her neighbours over a battle over parking that continues to escalate.
Things reached a climax during the recent snowstorm when “Tam in Burnaby” parked in a spot on the street that had been cleared out by the neighbours.
“I slept at my parents’ house the night before because I felt it was too dangerous to drive home that night,” said Tam, who doesn’t want her full name used because she’s just sharing the story and doesn’t want to escalate things further.
“When I finally got home, my driveway was covered in snow and I couldn’t get in and so I parked on the street in a spot that had been cleared out. My plan was to just quickly shovel out a space in my driveway and then park my car. I knocked on the neighbours’ door to let them know, but they didn’t answer. So I got to work trying to shovel out enough space but one of the neighbours came out and started screaming at me that I ‘had no right’ to park in the street space that he had cleared out. He said he was saving the space for someone who was coming by. I was trying to explain things but he wasn’t listening and then stormed back into his house. And so I moved my car down the street and then kept clearing my driveway until I could park there.”
Things have never been good between Tam and her neighbours due to a variety of issues, especially parking. They have argued for years about Tam’s relatives parking on the street in front of the neighbours’ house during visits. Tam said she has stood her ground because it’s a public street and nobody should tell someone else they can’t park there.
Two days later, Tam woke up to some petty behaviour she thinks was revenge by her neighbours.
“Someone had buried my car in snow,” Tam said. “I think they backed up a pick-up truck and then shovelled it on top of my car. It’s lunatic behaviour. I can’t prove it was my neighbours, but who else would it be? We have enough problems with COVID without people doing stuff like this.”
No kidding.
What do you think? Should Tam have parked in a space that someone else cleared out during the snowstorm? Maybe not, but why not at least ask what’s going on first before freaking out.
This feels like the height of pettiness. Do you yell at people for walking on the sidewalk that you cleared of snow? I didn't think so.
Follow Chris Campbell on Twitter @shinebox44.
