I got fed up with cars blocking my driveway and finally took action – but the city said my tactic was a step too far
A HOMEOWNER found his car immobilized in a Denver neighborhood in August 2018.
Leo Harmon parked the vehicle before work but later regretted his decision when he noticed the orange boot.
Harmon parked his car in Denver, Colorado, on August 29, 2018, according to local NBC affiliate KUSA.
"Parking here is crazy. I mean, you get here after 8:30 and it's literally a battle," he told the outlet.
Despite seeing a yellow curb and lines in the road, Harmon parked his vehicle and went to work.
"There's these brackets,” Harmon said as he showed KUSA the yellow lines.
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"But I thought it was okay."
He then showed the outlet the orange notice left on his car.
"Here's the actual notice. It's an orange citation. It looks very official," he said.
"Immobilization notice. Do not attempt to move this car. This car is immobilized," Harmon read.
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GETTING THE BOOT
Harmon's vehicle was immobilized with a small, orange boot.
Harmon told the outlet, "When I first saw the claw on my car I was super nervous. I was like, 'Oh my God, did I not pay a ticket? I promise, I paid all my stuff.'"
However, he learned that the parking notice came from a homeowner rather than the city of Denver.
"It was just this private resident who decided to claw my car," he said.
He called the phone number on the notice eight times before someone answered.
He told KUSA that a couple from the house in front of the yellow-painted curb greeted him.
"The couple came out and told me that this is a regular occurrence apparently. They said, 'We don't want to charge you. We don't want any bad feelings. We just want to have a conversation,'" Harmon recalled.
According to Harmon, the couple removed the boot from his car and explained that drivers frequently block the space that is actually an entrance to their driveway.
"It looked like a parking space to me," he told the outlet.
'MASSIVE MISTAKE'
A spokeswoman for Denver Public Works said since the curb is not cut, the city does not consider the space Harmon used a driveway. City crews did not paint the curb or the yellow lines.
"Marley Bordovsky, director of prosecution and code enforcement for the Denver city attorney's office, said the homeowner could have violated at least two city ordinances," the outlet continued.
Painting curbs and booting a car both go against city law.
According to Bordovsky, booting a car on public property is basically motor vehicle theft and can become a felony offense if the boot is left on for over 24 hours.
The city attorney's office said it would contact the homeowner, per the outlet.
On August 30, 2018, a man who lives at the home told KUSAs that he had booted Harmon's car and said he had "made a massive mistake."
Are you covered by law to park on a public street?
Parking on a public street is generally legal, even in front of someone's house, experts say.
Unless the home is in an HOA subdivision, an apartment complex with assigned spaces, or there are posted laws against parking during certain days or hours, it is not illegal to park a vehicle in front of someone's home on a public street.
"Generally speaking, an individual citizen does not 'own' or have any ongoing exclusive right to use a parking space on a public street," wrote Nolo Legal.
"These spaces are open to the public on a first-come, first-serve basis."
Most states do have rules against vehicles being parked in the same spot for 72 hours, or blocking fire hydrants, driveways, and sidewalks, as a parked vehicle in those spaces presents a safety hazard.
The man said he was tired of drivers parking in front of the space he considers a driveway and used the boot for the first time on the night of August 29 of that year.
On August 30, he learned his actions were wrong after researching city ordinances.
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He said he would not use the boot again, per the outlet.
"The problem isn't solved if you continue to boot people's cars," said Harmon, referring to the parking issues.
