Legal Question in Civil Litigation in South Dakota

Property In the Street

My neighbors and I share a parking space that is in front of both of our houses. They have three cars, and my family has six cars. We park two in the driveway as they do and we have two other parking spots in front of our house but we still have two cars to park somewhere. Here's my question, is it legal for my neighbors to put orange cones blocking off the shared spot or not? I was also wondering if property found in the street(i.e. the cones) could be taken without it being considered theft? Thank You.


Asked on 7/07/04, 7:21 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Scott Sumner Sumner Law Office, P.C.

Re: Property In the Street

Your statement of facts does not describe the particulars of the arrangement where you say you and the neighbors have shared parking? Do you both rent? Do you both own? Who owns the land on which the driveway/parking spaces is located? Why do you say they are shared? If your neighbors have the right to use two of the parking spaces in this shared drive, then it would be likely that they have the right to seek to discourage and prohibit others from using property which is rightfully theirs to use, such as by use of the cones. As for the cones in the street, if it is a public street, the neighbors do not have exclusive right to use the on-street parking in front of their house. You would have the right to move cones placed in the street but I would strongly discourage simply taking the cones and claiming their are yours because they are lost property. You know who they belong to. Instead, just move them and leave them in a place where they can be easily seen by the neighbor.

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Answered on 7/09/04, 11:55 am


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