(WSVN) - Day after day, she comes home and her driveway is blocked by a car and day after day she can’t do anything about it. It’s why she called Help me Howard with Patrick Fraser.
When Eileen saw this house at the end of the street, she thought the location was perfect.
Eileen: “There was a quiet, dead end street. The kids could ride bike there. They’re safe. It was fantastic.”
Fantastic for 11 years, then, three years ago, a part of the fence at a park next to her house was removed and a gate installed, closing the peaceful era of living here.
Eileen: “And nobody else has to go through this issue.”
Next to Eileen is South Miami Park, where there is plenty of parking inside the facility, but when the city installed this gate at the far end of the park right, many drivers decided to park there.
Eileen: “They’re blocking my driveway when I come in and out of my home.”
Eileen has the proof. Boy does she have the proof.
Many cars pulling up to drop off people and driving away, but far too often, the drivers park and go inside, blocking her driveway.
Both her driveways. Sometimes she can’t get out.
Sometimes she can’t get in.
Here, Eileen blows her horn in frustration, day after day.
Eileen: “I have so many. I have like over thousands of pictures and because I’ve just been documenting, documenting.”
If Eileen was not home, some drivers just pulled in like they owned her house.
Eileen: “There were parking in my driveway.”
Patrick Fraser: “That’s got to be infuriating to come home and see that.”
Eileen: “Yes, that is.”
Eileen now rolls pots into the driveway to stop drivers from making themselves at home. But she can’t do anything about the people who walk to the side of her house to do you-know-what.”
Eileen: “They’re coming onto my property and using my property as a bathroom.”
The homes surrounding South Miami Park are in Miami-Dade County.
The park is owned by the City of South Miami.
Eileen has gone to city meetings to ask them to fix the problem.
Eileen: “Well, the simple solution would be like, I wish they would close the gate. I mean.”
South Miami told Eileen they would not lock the gate and suggested she ask Miami-Dade to do something about the cars on the county road. They put up no parking on pavement and no stopping on the pavement signs.
The drivers just parked next to those signs, so Eileen tried calling the police.
Eileen: “It’s not an emergency call. So they’re going to answer that call whenever they can and it’s usually an hour later.”
Eileen has confronted some drivers, unsuccessfully.
Eileen: “They tell me this is a public street, that they can use it.”
Imagine coming home and your driveway is blocked, every single day.
Eileen: “It’s a nuisance. It’s every day. I get home and it’s just like if it’s I-95 at 5:00 in the afternoon, it’s a constant cars.”
Well, Howard, can a city refuse to solve a county residents problem?
Howard Finkelstein, 7News legal expert: “Yes because the city gets to decide where they put a gate in their park. And the county gets to decide how they allocate resources and whether or not to ticket or tow illegally parked cars. Unfortunately, it’s clear Eileen’s concerns are trumped by the desire to make it convenient for the people coming to the park.”
I spoke to Chip Iglesis, south Miami’s City Manager.
He said it’s a parking issue on the county side. That he has asked South Miami Police to go over there and warn drivers.
When I said why not just close the gate, he said many people walk through the gate from the neighborhood and locking that gate would take away the benefit for those people who come from the neighborhood.
Eileen: “I don’t think they seem to think that it’s like a big issue.”
The city put in the gate for the convenience for some people, just not Eileen.
Eileen: “I want to be able to come outside of my house or come home one day and not have people constantly blocking me.”
You might be thinking, “Lock the gate, Eileen.”
She can’t. It’s not on her property.
Why not call a tow truck if they are parked in front of your house? She can’t. Only the county can do that.
There’s only one solution and the city won’t close the gate.
A problem parked in your lap? Feeling fenced in? Lock in on us to see if we can find the gateway to a solution.
With this Help Me Howard, I’m Patrick Fraser, 7News.
CONTACT HELP ME HOWARD:
Email: helpmehoward@wsvn.com
Reporter: Patrick Fraser at pfraser@wsvn.com
Miami-Dade: 305-953-WSVN
Broward: 954-761-WSVN
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