Ticket in my driveway

[deadminnowcatcher]

It is also a law that makes it illegal for any man to sleep with an unmarried woman---- Do you think that law should be enforced---- I did not think so. In law enforcement you gotta use a little discretion. I would bet money that the ticket came from an officer that has less than 2 years of time under him. He used poor discretion in giving you the ticket... If there is a law why not nock on your door and explain the law to you and ask that you move the fish house to come in complience. Then you would know wht you can and cant do. Cops do not generally write tickets just because of a law. It is against the law to go 31 mph in a 30 zone and most cops would not even look at you for going 31. I would call the Chief of Police and at least get an explanation for the ticket and find out what the law is

[chris63]

Hello,Maybe it would be the short list getting the things (list)you can do in your city,this -hit is getting so nitpicky.Seems like a guy/gal could go to his neighbor first before going postal to the police/whomever.Just waiting for ice.c63

[cliffy]

Well from my point of view...and yes I am a police officer....in most cases like this...someone called and complained. We don’t spend our time driving around looking at such violations....unless its obviously a dangers situation or someone calls and complains. If we get a call, we are obligated to do something. That is where “officer discretion” comes into play. As long as the individual officer is consistent in his/her enforcement of the law.....I have no problems with it.

To those that wish we were out getting “bad guys” or real criminals.....I wish I was doing that as well. I find myself too busy trying to immediately fix a civil problem that citizen Joe/Jane spent years creating...or raising other people’s children or dealing with two knuckle headed neighbors over whose leaves are in whose yard.

Also, even those of us that live outside the center of the universe (Cites) can’t have 100,50,12 or even 5 rotten cars parked in our yards. We even have in-door plumbing and Ma says we are getting one of those picture boxes next year.

Just give the officer a call and get the scoop on why you got the ticket. Good luck.

Cliffy.

[shamalex72]

Quote:

---

That's why we do not have TITNBAFHIHD (turn in the neighbor building a fish house in his driveway).

---

[BigDaddy]

There are two great points made here.

1) If we assume that a neighbor called it in, why aren't neighbors talking to each other? It's not a surprise. We're more comfortable typing on the Internet than talking to each other

2) The officer's name should be on the ticket. Give the guy/gal a friendly call for an explanation.

[KatoMike]

Dodgeman & Big Daddy - we don't get to choose which laws we obey and which we don't. That is part of living in an orderly society.

[Gissert]

Often times one of the parties has no desire to speak with the neighbors. They just like to moan about stuff.

I work in the Mpls area during the week, and split a place with another person in a suburb. I have been doing this since 1989 so I have some history in this neighborhood. Never had any real problems with any of the neighbors in that time. If something concerned a person, they would alway bring it up to us, or we would bring it up to them - problem solved. Dog poo, kids with paintball guns, etc. - it was all settled very cordially.

Well, this summer we started getting letters from the city for various issues. Most concerned the landlord and how they maintained the property - and those were quickly addressed without me even knowing it came up. Fair enough, the property needs to be maintained and I was glad the place was getting spruced up.

I got a letter from the city in mid summer. It said that there was a vehicle parked on the lawn, against city policy. Well, no one had parked on the lawn all summer. We were told by the landlord last spring that that was against city policy. I called the number on the letter to inquire as to what and when the the problem was observed. He could provide no plate number, but did give me a date and time. I asked where on the yard the vehicle was and he was a tad reluctant to provide details. Finally I got it out of him that they got a phone call from a party he would not name. ONE of the wheels of the car was PARTIALLY on the grass, maybe about 3 inches. He was pretty embarrased, but said they had to respond to the complaint.

I know who did this, and they have NEVER said word one to us. I guess my snowblower will not be cleaning out their driveway this winter....

[cliffy]

Quote:

---

Often times one of the parties has no desire to speak with the neighbors. They just like to moan about stuff.

---

BINGO! NAILED IT ON THE HEAD!

People would save cops a lot of time if they would just take the time and speak with their neighbors. Would you rather have a neighbor address you with an issue of concern...or...have them call the cops and make an anonymous complaint?

[Augusta]

I agree, and I swear there are some people in this world who complain to simply hear their own voices.

[Borch]

Good Luck in resolving your issue. It's true that if neighbors would just talk things woulf be a lot easier.

I've had simuliar issues with one of my neughbors. Mine concerned a backyard light that is movement activated. Appartently the light would go into this neighbor's yard. He told the sheriff that he talked to me repeatively aboout it. This neighbor has never spoken to me in the 12 years he has lived there even though I smile, wave and attempt to get conversations going he turns and goes the other way.

When talkiing to the sheriff's I shared this info on their two stops to my house for this. Both times I brought them back as I point the light down a bit further. The second time I informed the sheriff that this was the last time I was going to adjust the light for this guy. I asked the sheriff to inform this neighbor that they should inform the neighbor to grow up and come over to talk to me about it. If the called continued I'd be taking legal action as I am appalled that our limited law enforcement resources were being used in such a wasterful manner.

It's been 6 months now and no further visits.

[wayne123]

You can read the laws for Rosemount here http://66.113.195.234/MN/Rosemount/index.htm

I did not read if very close but it appears you are breaking some city code. The one I noted was the length of the trailer.

I would review all the laws and make appropriate plans to meet the law.

I might think about paying the ticket before you talk yourself into another one.

Hope this helps.

[deadminnowcatcher]

are you saying the city can tell you what size fish house you have on your property??? you gotta be kiddin me. If there is such a law i would contact my councelman and ask that they change the law or get a conditional use permit. Again as i stated---- Why could the cop not have nocked on the guys door and shared the law with him??? A big part of law enforcement is education and sometimes a ticket is not the best way to educate. Now if it is a repeat violation after you talk to the guy then he may need this form of education

[GRAND DAD]

That dam thing is a bonch of whoee.Why can't any legal document be written in plan english so the commen guy can understand it.So I guess I will have to chop a 75 year old tree down.I have a 4 car drive way(like two lanes) then at the top of the driveway It vers left to a tared pad the gose the hole lenth of the garage that is all fenced in with a gate the problem is that with the tree there I can't make the turn to get back there.oh well.I will call the cop's today after work and see what they say but I think that make's it all legal It won't be in the front yard any more.Oh and Thank you for posting that!

[Powerstroke]

I realize that there are laws against having 15 cars...it doens't stop some people from doing it. Its just like everything else and its a bit of an exaggeration on my part.

I realize people who live outstate aren't some kind of redneck hillbilly, but nevertheless some of the responses here dind't help the case any.

I'm glad there have been some levelheaded responses here and hopefully it inspires people to be more involved in local politics and in metting their neighbors. If your neighbor has never said anything to you....its probably cause they don't want to meet you by saying "Are you ever gonna move that thing off of MY block?"

Obviously the way the law was written you were in violation. Now its where you go from here that matters.

Also, I don't mean to pick on you Granddad cause you have some things to deal with, but don't make it seem like its the tree's fault your fenced in stall inaccessible. Its a design flaw of the driveway. If it was that way when you moved in then its not your fault, but if you built everything like that then there wan't much consideration made to HOW things were gonna get inside the fenced in area. Maybe you can use a 4wheeler to move the trailer. IF your driveway is flat enough and your trailer light enough, you could try one of the trailer dolly's out there to move your trailer around.

I totally understand where you're at, I have a 3rd stall outside my garage with a truck parked in it and I've had it looked at before cause someone probably called on me. The truck is licensed and insured and I had to prove it. I have a tree on the outside edge of that 3rd stall and I plan on cutting it down because it threatens my house and it limits the space I have in that 3rd stall. My shed behind my house and out of view is the maximum "footprint" allowed by the city, so it also has 9' ceilings so I have enough storage space.

The only reason some of these laws were made is because the nosy neighborhood (Contact Us Please) (aka the village (Contact Us Please)) went to the city council and convinced them making a rule about their pet peeve was in the best interest of the city.

The only way to fight people like that is to take an interest in local politics and stick up for your rights.

Lets not pick on the cops for just doing their job. Any LEO will tell you most of their work is spent dealing with the public and "nuisance" complaints. Its similar to calling the cops cause your neighbors are being too loud...or their dog is barking. Some people go next door and talk to their neighbor....others thrive on calling the cops.

I am a firefighter too and a Law enforcement student and none of the cops I work with or learn from like writing tickets similar to this one. Nobody wins in this situation cause tickets like this almost always end up in court. I'd rather testify against a DWI then defend why I ticketed someone for having too large a trailer in their yard.

[wayne123]

One thing I thought of after posting is you could argue that the law does not say anything about fish houses so it does not apply. Maybe take a picture of it with the wheels off so it does not look like a trailer. I have no idea if it will work because like you say the document is pretty hard to follow. You are in a tough spot I hope you can find a solution other than cutting down the tree.

[DinkADunk]

Well it looks like your Fish House would come under the definition of Recreational Vehical as defined by the city of Rosemount. See the "DNR registration" reference.

Quote:

---

RECREATION VEHICLE: Any vehicle which meets the criteria for "recreation" class registration and license plate, DNR registration, or trailer registration used for conveyance of recreation vehicles as established by the Minnesota department of public safety, Minnesota department of natural resources, or this chapter, including, but not limited to: travel trailers, stock car trailers, campers, motor homes, tent trailers, vehicles converted to motor homes, boat trailers, snowmobiles, snowmobile trailers, boats, personal watercraft, all-terrain vehicles, and all-terrain vehicle trailers.

---

So, if you have a license for your fish house per the DNR then you have a properly licensed recreational vehical and you should be fine. If it's not licensed then you're SOL. Of course if its a fish house under contruction then argue that you were going to get a license when its completed.

[Gus]

I agree with Dinkadunk. I mean it's a project that he's been working on. It's sort of the chicken or the egg arugument but I'd still be pretty po'd that I got a ticket for an unlicensed project...

[so haaad]

I know that the City of Forest Lake has regulations regarding unlicensed/unoperable cars, outdoor storage of junk, etc, but the City will always give a couple warnings notices first before sending out any citations. The overall goal is to get the property cleaned up or the issue resolved, so the City will work with the property owner to resolve the situation.

I would get in contact with them to discuss your options.