Neighbors who plow their driveways archived

Yes, you cannot push your snow out into the street. I would make a complaint.

Most of my neighbors plows plow snow into and across the street. The one directly across from me pushes it onto my property. Am sure when melts will show the grass near the street torn up. I just ressed every Spring..

If it has to be pushed into the street they should spread it out in front of the customers home.

You can doenload the ecode app and just search for snow. Check out section B.


§ 138-1. Duty of owner or tenant to remove.
[Amended 3-28-1994 by Ord. No. 94-5]
A.
The owner or tenant of lands abutting upon the public streets and highways of the village shall remove or cause to be removed from abutting sidewalks of said streets or highways:
[Amended 9-25-2000 by Ord. No. 00-21]
(1)
All snow or ice from commercial properties within four hours of daylight after the same shall fall or be formed thereon or 12:00 noon, whichever is later. All snow or ice from residential properties within 12 hours of daylight after the same shall fall or be formed thereon.
(2)
All grass, weeds or other impediments therefrom within three days after written notice by the Superintendent of Streets and Sewers to remove the same.
B.
In performing the duty set forth in Subsection A and while clearing the snow from any driveway located on private property, neither the owner nor tenant nor the agent of the same shall allow any of the snow or ice so removed to be deposited in any portion of the streets of the village which is located further from the existing curbline or edge of the pavement than the windrows created by the village during the village snow plowing. No snow or ice may be deposited on the land of another owner or tenant unless said owner or tenant has agreed to accept the same.

I have neighbors across the street who rake their leaves into the middle of the street (along with empty plastic flower pots thrown in), they shovel snow into the middle of the street, etc. I live on a narrow street where there is just room enough for a car to get through when everyone is parked on the street (which begins at 5:45am and doesn't end until 2am the next day). And they continue to get away with it. Such is life in these parts.

Does anyone know the laws for South Orange?

The guy you spoke to was a hired service plowing a neighbor's driveway, right, not the neighbor himself? I would speak to the neighbor and ask them nicely to tell the service they cannot block other driveways if they want to keep his business. And if he refuses to do anything, take photos and tell him you will let the town know exactly which subsections of the code are being violated in his name.

Alternatively, take photos of the guy as he's plowing and the mess he's leaving on your property, and send them to the town.

smurfette said:

Does anyone know the laws for South Orange?

the one i posted above is for SO.

In this situation, I would think if the homeowner and the plow guy know you're unhappy with them breaking the law that just seeing you out there snapping a few photos might do the trick -- be sure to get one of the plow's license plate and the logo on the side of the truck, if there is one!

^^This^^

I was just asking about this. I am on a corner so it is bad enough just to clear the sidewalks and my driveway. The neighbors service pushes their driveway snow directly onto my curb. Today was not too bad but the other day they pushed it too far and I had to dig like 5 feet of snow back off my walk. I plan to talk to the owner - I doubt they know this is an issue. Actually, I will ask my wife to do it because, even when I am happy, people think I am mad.

@Cleg, I think you are wise to have your wife handle the conversation, under the circumstances. Chances are the other homeowner doesn't know what the plowing service did and will not be happy about it. I hope this resolves the problem.

Thanks all for the suggestions. My guess is the neighbor has no clue. We don't know her even though we've been here over ten years. She's kind of a hermit. But as you may have guessed, I think the guy is kind of a jerk. Beware the dumpy green pickup with yellow plow!

I imagine it isn't a particularly fun job, but still... he could have handled that differently and better in SO many ways! Good luck.

Happens to us all the time. Really lots of fun when the town plow then pushes all the muck in my driveway apron.

grahamb said:

§ 138-1. Duty of owner or tenant to remove.
[Amended 3-28-1994 by Ord. No. 94-5]

B.
In performing the duty set forth in Subsection A and while clearing the snow from any driveway located on private property, neither the owner nor tenant nor the agent of the same shall allow any of the snow or ice so removed to be deposited in any portion of the streets of the village which is located further from the existing curbline or edge of the pavement than the windrows created by the village during the village snow plowing. No snow or ice may be deposited on the land of another owner or tenant unless said owner or tenant has agreed to accept the same.

Does this also apply to City plowers not depositing the snow from the street on my driveway? I did not agree for my driveway to be used to deposit the snow from the street.

Welcome to home ownership. It's one of those things no one ever warns you about before you buy a house (with a driveway). Everyone has to clear it, not just you. Where else would you suggest the DPW "deposit" the snow? Cleveland?

You can't complain to the town for pushing the snow in front of your driveway. They don't have much choice. But you have a complaint with your neighbor. I suggest telling him what happens to you as a result, i.e. it ends up in your basement. If he says he doesn't care, I suggest telling him that the law is on your side. If he asks where to put the snow, I suggest telling him to make a snow bank along his own curb or put it on his property. "Not my problem" is not a good way to negotiate something mutually agreeable, even though it's accurate.

Agree. And I recognize that as the snow plow rolls by, the snow inevitably finds its way to fall at the end of the driveway and it's in the community's best interest to live with it and clear it themselves.

Yes, I can complain and I just did.
Street snow pushed into your driveway is not inevitable consequence of having a driveway. It is the end result of how it is done. I live in other than South Orange where there is snow plowing takes place regularly. Plowers change the tilt of the pushing blade to move forward till passing the driveway so the accumulation on the driveway is not as great.
I find it disturbing to see "it is what it is, live with it" attitude.

RuhiA, that's not my attitude. I lived in Maplewood for ten years until recently. The director of public works (Eric Burbank) is a great guy, and he said he honestly did not know how to plow effectively (which includes quickly) without making a snow bank at the ends of driveways. The trick you describe is news to me, and I wonder what the cost is. Remember, the town has goals as to how fast they clear all the streets. That trick may be an expensive one. Multiply the time it takes at one driveway by the number of driveways they pass. It adds up to a lot of time. Either you need more equipment and staff, or you finish all the streets later. I had to remove the snow bank from my driveway, and it was a lot of work that I didn't enjoy, but having heard from Eric, I understood it to be a necessary evil.

I have lived In a number of snowy places and plowing or no plowing issues were never such an issue especially in volume.

That is why I do it but I don't get upset if my neighbor does not do it.

And never encountered cases of people pushing snow In the middle of the road in quantity anyway or at the end of their across the street neighbor's driveway.

I always shoveled my way out even as a renter.

Makes me want to move to Florida so I can concentrate on hurricanes and alligators instead.

Or Texas even.

SO and Maplewood DPWs kill it on snow removal. The idea of criticizing them is, to me, the height of absurdity. I'd say drive around some of the neighboring communities after a storm, but that'd put you and others on the roads at risk.

RuhiA said:

Street snow pushed into your driveway is not inevitable consequence of having a driveway. It is the end result of how it is done. I live in other than South Orange where there is snow plowing takes place regularly. Plowers change the tilt of the pushing blade to move forward till passing the driveway so the accumulation on the driveway is not as great.
I find it disturbing to see "it is what it is, live with it" attitude.

So it if was so wonderful in the place other than South Orange, why did you leave there and come here? I don't suppose they'd take you back, would they?

I live here, not on some of the other neighboring communities.
First, my initial comment was rather sarcastic one with some truth to it. There is an ordinance in place describing how the snow should be cleared, so my question was how about if it applies to pushing the snow into the driveways but clearly there is too much uptight folks in my neighborhood who more than happy with what they have instead of thriving for better.

That's aside... To be honest, Tom, I don't know if the equipment used here are "tilt-able" from the cab. Where I grew up, plowers had controls in the cab. The driver/operator can adjust the blade as s/he drives the truck. What I see here is that they only lift and drop it. It would be definitely somehow slower but would not necessitate the driver to operate it with stop-and-go style. The other approach is folding the pushing blade forward which drags the snow forward rather than rolling to the side. It is doable and it is not too much to ask for if the trucks are equipped in either of these manner.

Also, I do realize that it is all about the demand the drivers being imposed on time wise and/or if they have the right equipment for the task. This does not explain of course, why the street sweeper is driving around the brushes rotating but way up, not touching the surface right after reading the paper at the end of Longview Road by the tower at 9:15AM. Foolish me thinks, the street sweepers are useful when they sweep the surface and twice foolish me who thinks the shift starts a little bit earlier than 9:15AM. But, I also realize, I am expecting way too much for that alone, I apologize one more time.

Out of curiosity, where did you grow up?

I belive the complaint is the snow is pushed in front of the house, not the driveway. And according to the aforementioned law, only my interpretation, that as long as the snow isn't out further then what the village cleared it's Ok. If it's plowed up on your property ie sidewalk , that's a different story. It does suck, and I've noticed it a lot more as we have more snow.

grahamb said:

§ 138-1. Duty of owner or tenant to remove.
[Amended 3-28-1994 by Ord. No. 94-5]
...
B.
In performing the duty set forth in Subsection A and while clearing the snow from any driveway located on private property, neither the owner nor tenant nor the agent of the same shall allow any of the snow or ice so removed to be deposited in any portion of the streets of the village which is located further from the existing curbline or edge of the pavement than the windrows created by the village during the village snow plowing. No snow or ice may be deposited on the land of another owner or tenant unless said owner or tenant has agreed to accept the same.

Thanks for posting this last year...the part about not being able to go beyond the windrows created by village plowing is useful to know, and makes me feel better about sometimes adding to them rather than carrying snow back to the curb line.

Our minor problem is a neighbor across the street whose plow service keeps the snow out of the street by shoving the plowed snow a couple of feet into our yard, straight up against our planting bed, even shoving up the branches of our nicest yew.

I spoke to the plow driver about this today, and he told me both "Well, I've being doing this for 6 years, and I haven't killed your bush, have I?" and "Well, there isn't anyplace to put it on my customer's property" (which is crazy untrue).

Let's face it, he plows it into my yard because it is the fastest and easiest way to earn his plowing fee, and he thinks he can get away with it.

I'm loath to pursue it with my neighbors, because they are excellent, quiet, elderly people with an impeccable property....while we are the ones with noisy kids and occasional busy-parent delays in dealing with cosmetic issues around the house and yard. So where the homeowners are concerned, I'm all for live and let live.

But I'll ask, is it expected that I should overlook someone routinely plowing snow into my yard in the name of dealing with winter, or should I push this driver to put the snow someplace more appropriate? If he had a name on the truck I'd call, but I'm guessing he is not part of a larger service.

I blow the snow from about 1/3 of my driveway into the street. The rest gets put in my front and back yard. I blow the snow from the sidewalk up on to the grass at the streets edge until it gets to high. Then I blow it into the street as well. After I'm done any snow the plow pushes up into my driveway I also push back out into the street. Started off the last two winters trying to do the right thing but once the piles get too high I don't have much choice. There's just no place to put it.