Not sure if anyone has any insights on this subject, but it doesn't hurt to help.

I live in a town house where everyone shares a community driveway in the back of their house that leads to individual spots. The driveway is a single lane with only one entry/exit point. Everyone have 2 spots for cars in front of their individual garages that is part of each person house (in the basement of the house) on one side while the other side of the driveway has a section of property owned by the homeowner.

Each house is an actual house, privately owned by each person...only thing is that the houses are attached.

Is there any law or anything that requires everyone to shovel the snow on portion of driveway behind their house? I haven't been able to use my driveway spots for the last month because the people in the beginning of the driveway have not shoveled the snow which turned into a 5" layer of ice. My car got stuck the first time I attempted to go into my spots and I nearly hit one of their fences. I am now forced to park 5 blocks away from my house because there are just no other street parking available.

Do I have a way to force everyone to shovel?

 

Is there some kind of an association fee that goes along with the property?

 

unfortunately no. The only thing we have in common is that we all use the same driveway.

 

Call the police? 611?

 

I highly doubt there's a state/city law requiring them to shovel. The best you could hope for are neighborhood covenants...but if you don't have a HA, I doubt you have covenants.

 

have you tried talking to them?

 

Werd.

Or just throw tons of salt out there...

 

yeah, of course. I, as well as the other neighbors (who all live at the end of the driveway) have asked repeatedly. They just ignore the requests but saying they'll do it next time. I figured the only way they'll do it at this point is if they would be fined or sued or something to that degree.

At this point it looks like a no win situation since half of them don't even shovel the sidewalks which is required by NYC. These are also people who park on the street 4 feet from the car in front of them just because.

I wish diarrhea on them

 

Well since it's a community driveway I don't know if you can really say he is responsible for that section. Although common courtesy would dictate that he should do it, he probably isn't solely legally responsible for it. There's really no reason that you couldn't go shovel it even though that sucks ass for you.

Let's say someone has an accident on that section of the driveway, can they sue you?

 

move

 

If it were one driveway, I maybe would....but its like 10. Everyone doesn't do it cause the first 2 people at the beginning of the driveway won't do it.

I'm going to scatter dog shit in their yards in the summer

 

Better solution for you:

Get everyone to agree to pay a service to plow it, and split the fee equally.

 

...if that doesn't work, slash their tires

 

Check with the by-law department. I know you are responsible for clearing the sidewalk in front of your property so it is safe for pedestrians, but I'm not sure about the driveway --- if you are impeding others. As far as I know, there's no law about clearing your own driveway when it's a single drive, but not sure about your situation since it is impeding other residents/"traffic".

And I agree that a solution for next winter would be to hire a plow and split the cost, if in fact, they just aren't doing it out of pure laziness.

 

The 4 neighbors that are at the end of the driveway and myself have actually offered that as a solution before. The service would cost under $15 per house each time and it was a no go.

I have come to the realization that I just live amongst cheap, inconsiderate, and lazy fucks.

 

Buy a snowblower next winter and clear a nice path just for you. Pay no heed to where the cleared snow is deposited.

 

So all of you guys pay for the service and either pitch in for the cheep house, or have the plow push all the snow in front of their garage.

 

Easy fix.

Walk on that ice. Fall down. Now your back hurts right?

J/k. Don't do that. But, it is a huge liability for them. I work for an insurance company. We had a homeowner come to us because they received some paperwork for court. Apparently the mailman was walking up their front steps, and his foot fell in between the wooden steps. They were never contacted about it, but apparently he injured himself and was suing them.