Cars parking on the sidewalk is unacceptable. City should issue a citation. Also who do these people think they are? Using the public sidewalk for their private parking lot, telling people to walk in the street is selfish and inconsiderate...

All of the above is true- however the selfishness and inconsiderateness should be laid at the feet of the developer/builder!
Unfortunately, ordinances have to be upheld and cars blocking driveways should rightfully receive citations---

I see your point. If the city allows the builders (or owners) a permit to place a garage door adjacent to the sidewalk (like shown), they invite the next owner to park on the sidewalk? On the other hand, if the city didn't grant permits for this configuation, it seems to me would needlesly increase driveway lenths that could be used for something more useful (like living space). As inner loop land becomes more expensive, I'd think most people would want more living space and less outside car storage...

And with desire for more living space comes a pesky little dividend ---- perpetual citation for blocking a public sidewalk with your car-
I'm sure that endeared them to their unsuspecting friends who will also be cited whenever they visit.

Hold on a moment. 1) Not everone has a car 2) No one's telling anyone to park on the sidewalk rather than the street or the garage. 3) If people need a reminder, mount a sign on the garage door that says "don't park on the sidewalk"

Also what do you make of city comment: "Is violation near senior citizen residence?"
1) How could it not be?
2) What on earth has that got to do with the violation? Are they asking if there are any wheelchair users or children or parents with strollers, or public who want to use the public sidewalk to walk rather tan be forced to walk in the street?

What's surprising to me is that in this state of Texas, a place with a general high regard of private property rights, there can be violations with such impunity. The owner of the car has no right to use the public sidewalk as his private parking lot. Where's the outrage?

Outrage seems to be short supply especially for sidewalk conditions on that particular block---- the tree roots have made the sidewalks toward Whitney all but impassable.
However if enough citations are issued- i bet you will see some squawking on this issue!

8323938664 is the after hours number of hpd parking dept- they are a good resource for residents who are fed up with parking violators.

Indeed. However if you get a ticket, I would't know how you'd complain!

Fair enough-
Perhaps you could approach the Avondale civic association with the proposition of pamphlets that list the top 10 violation that 1) will probably prompt a citation and 2) drive residents crazy. Once these helpful pamphlets are distributed to residents- they could be left on windshields as we stroll thru the neighborhood, using our 3-1-1 app and taking pictures of violations. ;}

Agreed. One person's selfishness blocks the sidewalk for everyone, and this forces people (and pets) into the streets where they can be hit by heavy machinery. While the city has allowed for short driveways to be built which leads to this, a property owner can still be a responsible and good neighbor by parking in the garage or on the street. And, anyone who purchases or rents a property does so knowing about the driveway conditions thus not a good excuse.

This is a common occurrence around here. The City and HPD refuses to ticket or enforce the law. Last year I made over 100 calls to HPD for cars blocking sidewalks. I have pictures and phone records for each offense. Only 3 tickets were issued and only because I stood there with my child and a camera and waited for HPD to show up. Each time the officer really didn't think it was wrong for a child to be forced to walk on the street. People to who do this are human garbage and deserve to get their cars towed.

As usual the same car is parked on the same sidewalk 12 hours later.

What is ironic is that HPD will show up within 15 minutes when you call the non emergency line, but they won't issue a ticket unless you are standing there recording. It seems like a waste of resources. Give a heavy fine once or tow the vehicle and this wouldn't happen as often. Houston is one of the deadliest cities for pedestrians for a reason (see http://t4america.org/resources/dangerousbydesign2011/). City officials, including the Mayor, will tell you that this is not a priority because no one walks in Houston, but clearly people walk and pay with their lives.

Same car blocking sidewalk one day later. Has not moved 517 Avondale

I've been thinking about this most of the weekend. I looked over the additional pictures of cars blocking sidewalks also. I have decided i will begin to make complaints at HPD storefront. 3-1-1 does provide a log and record of complaints but I've noticed the lack of 'paper' complaints filed at storefront is sometimes against the neighbor- This was one of the reasons for cutting back hours storefront was opened to public.So as an experiment of sorts I am going to begin filing a complaint about blocked sidewalks. I regularly attend Pip first Tuesdays at 1600 State street and will bring this subject up at June meeting.----------

@Dachmation--Last year I made over 100 calls to HPD dispatch and systematically documented their response and followed it up with public records requests for tickets issued during that time. What I found was that in 98% of calls a unit arrived at the scene. The average time was 15 minutes. Tickets were issued on less than 1% of visits. 46% were repeat violators. I have pictures of all violations and was rather forgiving on what I called on. A car had to block most if not all the sidewalk. Most of the 1% of the tickets were issued because I stood there with a young child and shamed the officer to do something about the situation. I am in regular contact with HPD, Ellen Cohen and the Mayor's office and each has said the same thing: ticketing cars blocking the sidewalk while on their driveways gets the City a lot of bad press and they would rather "educate" violators, which is another way of saying that they will do nothing. If you are interested in collaboration, feel free to contact me at sidewalks@uqlc.org.

The police attitude is really confusing especially in Texas where people take private property laws (and law and order in general) seriously. The public sidewalk doesn't belong to these people, yet they use it as there private parking lot. Unacceptable!

I understand you're point. Still, my small effort of 'piling up paper'of 'official ' complaints will give me something tangible to show the central one captain when I raise this issue. I'm not sure how the 3-1-1. Pipeline works- I do know that 5 or 6 paper complaints at the store front will give me a platform at the pip meeting.

Maybe a stencil painted on the sidewalk that says: "No Parking on the Sidewalk - city ordinance xx-xx" will be education enough. Would then be easier for the HPD to issue citation...

The local TV news did do a story on this. It portrayed angry drivers "forced" to park on the sidewalk and "victims" of the out of control goverment law enforement. Didn't interview the public that's forced to walk in the street!

@Justin Time: A group of us tried putting notes on windshields reminding violators of the law. It did not work and seemed to make the situation worse. By now most of these people, particularly the repeat offenders, known the law and that their behavior is negatively impacting members of their community.

The video you mentioned accurately captured the general sense of self entitlement and persecution complex that these folks have. They are the squeaky wheel that maintains the status quo. There is no effective group advocating pedestrian and ADA issues in Houston, so reporters rarely include an opposing viewpoint on the issue. Every now and then one of us gets results, but our victories are Pyrrhic without the City uniformly enforcing pedestrian ordinances in the urban core.

Here's the tv news story: http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/local&id=8274295.

In a story mis-titled: "Ticketed for Parking in their own Driveways"
Channel 13 interviwed upset neighbors: Question: "do you see a problem with parking on the sidewalk at all? Answer: "No, if they (pedestrians) have problem, the can go around (walk in the street). And "I park like this (on the sidewalk) all the time and never get a ticket for it." Followed by a beligured city official to defend this law enforcment outrage. Lazy Channel 13 found it easy to find violators because they were still parking on the sidewalk. Guess they didn't bother to look around to find someone walking in the street...

I went to HPD storefront and files a complaint. I guess not many are filed there as it took a while to get the right form---I notice the exact form is available in the file section of Avondale Civic yahoo group. So you could download -fill it out, the take to storefront. The storefront officer was very supportive and suggested calling 7138843131--- I recounted the comments posted about how patrol officers might respond-- but the storefront officer seemed resolved that calling was right thing. Breaking an ordinance deserves a citation.
Guess we'll see. But the next I 311 this I'll also do a call to nonemergency HPD

I spoke with someone from Parking Enforcement today. They are getting these issues and are including them in their routes. The only suggestion made on problem addresses was to include the time when the car is illegally parked in the description field.

If someone is truly parking illegally, they'll get a ticket. How is this a 311 issue?

Obstructed, missing, and broken sideawalks everywhere. Let's organize and do something about it:
http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/montrose-sidewalks-coalition.html

Case Reference updated from 11496-101001006964 to 0-101001006964