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The Dear Nick and Nora Neighbor Column |
Meet the Neighbors, Nick and Nora, whose question and answer column will appear both in the FPCA newsletter and on the FPCA website to help residents with common neighborhood problems. Nick and Nora will tackle both "people" problems such as noisy neighbors, blighted properties, and problem pets as well as "systems problems, such as how to get help from the city.
Leaning on their rakes in warm weather and their snow shovels in cold, with sympathetic smiles on their friendly faces, Nick and Nora always have time to listen and will do their best to help. In fact, they are out there right now, just waiting to help with neighborhood problems of general interest!
Have a problem you need help with?
Nick and Nora Neighbor,
Forest Park Civic Association
Box 80708, Springfield MA 01138
Letters
Illegal Tree Business on My Street
Guy Wire in the Way
Sick Tree
Cracked Sidewalk
Tractor Trailer Parked in Front
Everybody on my street is concerned about a tree service being run from one of the homes down the block. We appreciate this person's entrepreneurial spirit, but this activity is causing problems: First, they park their truck and grinder both day and night either on the street or in their driveway, and second, they have put up a sign in their yard advertising their business. Even worse, they have taken to grinding branches in the terrace which runs down the middle of the street.
Although this commercial activity detracts from the residential character of our area, we don't want to offend our neighbor, but we want him to move his business somewhere else. Also, does the fact that our street is in the historic district make any difference in what he is allowed to do?
Is he breaking the law? What should we do?
Signed,
Up a Tree
Dear Tree,
Nick and Nora feel your pain, or at least we used to when the tree man living over our way parked his truck and chipper on our residential street and leaned his ladders against a street tree while painting them. (I'm not making this up, either.)
Your neighbor is operating a business on property zoned residential and is therefore violating the zoning ordinance. The fact that you live in a historic district carries no special weight; it is illegal anywhere in Springfield. The zoning ordinance specifies which home-based businesses are allowed under the law; all others are forbidden. The operator of a legal home-based business, e.g. physicians, music teachers, architects, chiropractors, lawyers among others, must live in the property and can have only one employee who is not a family member. The sign advertising your neighbor's business is also probably illegal.
Report these problems to the Department of Code Enforcement by calling 787-6031. If you are told that telephone complaints will not be accepted, contrive an alias and submit the complaint in writing from that "person" giving him/her a fictitious address on another street. This should take care of the problem.
When the truck and grinder are parked on the street, you might also try calling the police non-emergency number (787-6320). You could also discuss this situation at the monthly Community Police Beat Management Team meeting (7:30pm, first Wednesday of the month at the Goodwill Building on Dorset Street). The apparatus parked on our street was so long that the police told the fellow to move it, thus solving our problem.
Good luck!
I own a corner property on Sumner Ave. My driveway is on the side street, and beside it is one of those cables that go into the ground from telephone poles. It is like a trip wire and if I don't constantly keep it in mind I hit it with my car; last time was $1000 dollars worth of damage to my car. The time before that it was covered in snow and my friend hit it and was out $600. The cable is VERY hard to see at night. After shelling out the $1000 bucks cash to avoid increased insurance premiums, I called the city and was referred to the street dept, who said to call the telephone company which hung up on me when I said it was a city pole. Then I called Verizon, who said they would send someone to look at it, but that was 4 months ago. Sometimes I get VERY frustrated and want to take a bolt cutter or hack saw to it, but thus far have held off. Anything you can advise would be appreciated....
THANKS!!!!
Eric
Dear Eric,
I went out and took a look what I take to be the problem guy wire--I assume
it is the one that almost blocks the entrance to the left bay of your garage,
right?
That is nasty! I have placed a call to Mike Hurley, head of the WMECO staff
for Springfield (787-9594) and left a message to have him call me back. I will
explain your situation and ask them to come out and look for themselves.
I'll keep you posted. Thanks for sending us this interesting problem!
Regards,
Nick and Nora
Hi Eric,
John Colapietro of WMECO will come out to check on the guy wire and will report
his findings directly to you. His phone number is 787-9475. I hope this works
out. Be sure to get back in touch if you don't hear from John before a week
or ten days have passed.
Hello Nick & Nora!!
I spoke to John at WMECO WHO agrees that the wire has to go. He was going to
remove it but was concerned about support for the pole. So they are going to
put another pole on the other side of my driveway (nice and far away) and put
the guy wire off of that!! Pretty good huh? Thank you VERY MUCH!! I did
not even know it was called a guy wire, nor could I find the right place to
call.
Forest Park is a great place but needs to be taken care of.
Thanks again, Eric
Hi Nora!
Just wanted to update you and tell you they were able to move the wire a few
feet away from the driveway, which is great. I can now back straight out without
ripping half of my car off.
THANKS for the help!!!!!
Dear Nick and Nora Neighbor:
The street tree in front of our house, a silver maple, is beautiful, but many
of its larger branches didn't leaf out last spring and they look dead to me.
I am worried that if we get an ice storm and/or a high wind next winter, a big
branch will fall on a somebody or on my car. Who can help me? Signed, Tree Hugger
Dear Hugger,
Silver maples are beauties, aren=t they, with their delicate leaves and slender
pendulous branches? However, they are short-lived. Many of the big ones in the
Forest Park neighborhood are showing their age, and yours seems to be one of
them. To get an expert opinion on yours, call city forester Ed Casey at 787-6440
at about 7:30am and ask him to look it over. He will get back to you with an
assessment, and together you can decide what should be done and who should do
it.
Regards,
Nick and Nora
Dear Nick and Nora Neighbor:
While I love both my newly purchased house, the sidewalk in front is cracked
and broken. It looks like a bear to shovel in the winter, and I am afraid that
somebody will trip and hurt themselves. I have been told that the sidewalk is
on city property. How do I get it replaced? Signed, Liability Averse
Dear Averse,
To get on the list for sidewalk replacement, call the Department of Public Works
(787-6210) and ask them to send you a sidewalk replacement application. When
you receive the application, fill it out, have it notarized, and return it to
the DPW. Then be prepared for a long wait. The list is years long, but once
money is appropriated (and it will be if you are patient enough), the city will
pay most of the cost of having the work done. Meanwhile if cracks and broken
pavement are severe, call this same number and ask that they send a crew to
patch
the worst spots with asphalt.
Regards,
Nick and Nora
Dear Nick and Nora Neighbor:
A tractor trailer cab (sometimes complete with trailer) is often parked at the
end of our street. Not only does it create problems for drivers, but when it
starts up in the middle of the night, it wakes up the whole street and its exhaust
smells awful. Is a tractor trailer really allowed to park on a residential street,
wake everybody up and pollute the air?
Signed, Good Buddies Make Bad Neighbors
Dear Buddy,
Nick and Nora read you loud and clear. A tractor trailer parked in a residential
neighborhood may be effectively approached in several ways:
1. If parked in the street, as a traffic problem (the cab alone is too heavy to be parked on a residential street and police will issue a $50 parking ticket)
2. If parked on private property, as a noise problem. A problem noise is one that is Aplainly audible at a distance of 100'@ and a heavy truck certainly qualifies. If a police officer hears the noise, a ticket ($100 for a first offense) may issued.
A good way to begin might be to ask the community police to pay a courtesy visit to the driver=s home and explain the laws and the potential for heavy fines. Another strategy that has worked has been to take down an address or phone number from the side of the truck and call the business to explain the problem. Often the trucking company has paid the driver to park in a properly zoned lot and is unaware that the driver has pocketed this money and driven the truck home.
Over and out.