Edgwater parking epistle ridiculous

EDGEWATER, Fla. -- The City of Edgewater has decided to tell us where we can and cannot park our cars on our own property.

Let me tell you :I have lived in this house since 1984 with no car parking problems except when having a yard sale. Then people parked everywhere so the police made us get a friend to stand out by the road and direct cars on where to park. My house, sadly, is on the boulevard (Stae Road 442). I have a driveway that is semicircular with outlets on 442 and Lime Tree Drive.

My 89-year-old mother moved in with me more than three years ago. Since I have a one car carport, she parks her car parallel to the front of the house on the grass and has been doing so since she came here.

We always keep the driveway clear overnight because the newspaper carrier drives through and throws the newspaper onto the porch so it is easier for my elderly mother to retrieve it in the early morning hours.

Sometimes Mom parks behind my car but that means jockeying them around if I have to go somewhere so it is easier for her to park on our grass which is no where near city property. A week ago, we got a letter titled “Courtesy Notice” telling us she can’t park there anymore.

It came with a sketch of places she is allowed to park which I will scan and place with this writing. As you can see in my own yard (four lots on a corner with plenty of room not near lot lines) I can only park in my carport or driveway or if I have company overflow can only park adjacent and parallel to my driveway. I cannot park in front, on the sides or in the back of my own property. What right do they have to say this?

If we don’t care if we park on the grass and there are only the two cars the majority of time shouldn’t that be our business? Funny, cars have been parked on the side and front since 1984, but now it is a problem? Why does that bother anybody? I am at a loss what prompted this action.

We do not bother anyone, keep up our property and should be able to do what we want. At the bottom of the letter it says “Thank you for helping us to promote, protect and improve the health, safety and/or economic welfare of the City of Edgewater. This courtesy notice is preliminary to enforcement action.”

I don’t see how this car is affecting anyone but us. The car is not blocking sight lines. It is a relatively new Toyota -- not some rusted thing on blocks, which apparently would be OK as long as it is in the driveway. You can bet that if I were able, I’d be leaving this city that pays no attention to what its residents desire and does what it wants. 

For instance, making 442 a 5-lane landing strip, taking our property for it against our wishes and putting our houses ever closer to the street, never mowing the edges of that road which is their land relying on us property owners to do that job and I could go on but what’s the use. Politics never change and you truly can’t fight City Hall. I know because I have tried over the years. I thank my readers for hearing my point of view.  

I don’t see how this car is affecting anyone but us. The car is not blocking sight lines. It is a relatively new Toyota -- not some rusted thing on blocks, which apparently would be OK as long as it is in the driveway. You can bet that if I were able, I’d be leaving this city that pays no attention to what its residents desire and does what it wants. 

For instance, making 442 a 5-lane landing strip, taking our property for it against our wishes and putting our houses ever closer to the street, never mowing the edges of that road which is their land relying on us property owners to do that job and I could go on but what’s the use. Politics never change and you truly can’t fight City Hall. I know because I have tried over the years. I thank my readers for hearing my point of view.  

Florida Shores residents watch where you park your cars or you, too, could very well get one of these epistles.