Chesapeake, Va. - We received an email from Susie in Chesapeake who brought up an interesting question.
"I am furloughed. My husband is active duty and deployed to the Middle East and the City of Chesapeake decides to issue a $30 parking ticket to us for being parked in our own driveway. Still trying to wrap my arms around how we can be ticketed in a driveway of a home that we own."
NewsChannel 3 spoke with Susie who told us that the car was ticketed for parking on the sidewalk and that several of her neighbors also received tickets for the same thing.
Susie says it’s the first time in the 10 years she's been living there that she's seen anything like this.
NewsChannel 3 took action and found that by law, you can be ticketed for blocking the sidewalk even if your car is in your driveway.
In Susie's case, the car was parked a couple of feet from the end of the driveway but where the sidewalk crosses over it.
In most cases, your property line ends at the sidewalk. The sidewalk is considered public property, including the portion that crosses over your driveway.
So blocking it, even though you're in your own driveway is considered parking on the sidewalk.
While it’s not a well-known law, in this case it doesn't seem to be a law that's been regularly enforced.
Local codes are as follows…
Here’s Chesapeake’s:
No person shall park a vehicle, except when necessary to avoid conflict with other traffic or in compliance with the directions of a police officer or traffic control device, in any of the following places:
(1)On a sidewalk or a city right-of-way between the sidewalk and curb.
Norfolk:
No person shall park a vehicle or permit it to stand, whether attended or unattended, in the following areas:
(a)In front of a public or private driveway on a street or alley, or within three (3) feet of the edge of the driveway entrance, unless otherwise indicated;
(b)On any improved or unimproved area between the paved vehicular portion of any public right-of-way and the private property line; provided however that this subsection shall not apply to the parking of a vehicle on the unimproved portion of the public right-of-way where there is no curb and gutter and there is no sign prohibiting such parking;
Virginia Beach, Portsmouth, Hampton:
No person shall park a vehicle, except when necessary to avoid conflict with other traffic or in compliance with the directions of a police officer or traffic-control device, in any of the following places:
(1)On a sidewalk.
Suffolk:
Sec. 86-106. Parking in front of fire hydrant, near street corner, fire station, in a fire lane.
No person shall park a vehicle or permit it to stand, whether attended or unattended, upon a street in front of a private driveway or within 15 feet in either direction of a fire hydrant or the entrance to a fire station, or within 15 feet of the entrance to a building housing rescue squad equipment or ambulances provided such buildings are plainly designated, or on a sidewalk, or between a sidewalk and the curbline of a street, nor within 20 feet from the intersection of curblines, or if none, then within 15 feet of the intersection of property lines at an intersection of streets or within any area designated as a fire lane.
Newport News:
Sec. 26-119. Parking on sidewalks.
Except as provided by ordinance, it shall be unlawful for any person to place or park any motor vehicle or trailer upon any sidewalk of the city.
