A parking war erupts when one neighbor removes unofficial spot-saving cones.
My apartment complex has unassigned parking. My neighbor Greg has been placing traffic cones in "his" spot every morning for a year. There's no reserved parking in our lease. One morning, the lot was full and I moved his cones and parked there. Greg came to my door at 7am demanding I move my car. I said there's no assigned spots. He said "everyone knows that's my spot, I've lived here longer." I told him to talk to the leasing office if he wants a reserved spot. He left a passive-aggressive note on my windshield. The leasing office confirmed: no assigned parking, no cones allowed. Greg has now started parking his second car (which he barely uses) in the spot to "claim" it. I think he's being unreasonable. He thinks I started a parking war.
I work night shifts and get home at 2am. For a year, this spot has been available when I arrive because I am consistent. I put the cones out because twice I lost the spot and had to park three blocks away in the dark at 2am as a woman alone. The cones are not permanent. I move them by 8am every day. Nobody else wants this spot at 2am. Pat moved my cones on a Tuesday and took the spot until noon just to prove a point. It is not about the rules. Pat just wanted to win.
⚖️ The Verdict Is In
😤 Side B is right, but handled it badly
39 people weighed in on this dispute.
Official NACOL Ruling
# OFFICIAL RULING
This court finds that Greg's informal reservation system, while sympathetically motivated (38% jury approval), cannot supersede the lease's explicit lack of assigned parking, and Pat's technical right to the spot (supported by 28% of jurors) does not excuse the needless provocation of moving cones at peak conflict hours rather than, say, 8:15am. Both parties are ordered to negotiate a formal arrangement with management, or accept that parking lots, like democracy, are occasionally inconvenient for everyone.
Case closed.
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