The holiday season will be here soon, and many of us will have friends and family who will be coming to town to visit. Extra vehicles can cause inconvenient parking situations. We ask that you please refrain from parking your cars on the streets overnight. Not only is this an eye-sore, it can become an extreme safety issue. Emergency vehicles may not be able to pass between two cars parked on a street, or this may cause your neighbors the inability to back out of their driveways safely. Most importantly, this could put children playing in danger with the risk of getting hit by passing cars as there will be a blind spot.
Please be conscience of parking in your driveway and not “sticking out” onto the street, or blocking the sidewalk. Refrain from parking in front of your neighbors home. If you have multiple vehicles at your residence, you may need to allow additional time to “shuffle” them to allow another household member to leave, or work out a parking plan so that everyone knows when and where to park.
Though the Deed Restrictions in Cinco Ranch II do not prohibit street parking unless you are in a gated community, there are many parking situations that can be deemed illegal under Fort Bend County and state laws. When parking near the corner of a street, you must leave at least 20 feet away from the bumper of your car to the corner; if that corner has a stop sign, the law requires a minimum of 30 feet instead of 20. When parking near a fire hydrant, you must leave at least 15 feet from the bumper of your car to the hydrant, on either side of the hydrant. It is also illegal to park in a manner that blocks a driveway or intersection. Additionally, when parking in a cul-de-sac, cars should be parked parallel to the curb as they normally would on a straight curb; parking with your front or rear bumper to the curb at a cul-de-sac, as if it were a “parking spot,” is also illegal.
Texas Penal Code
Sec. 42.03
Obstructing Highway or Other Passageway
(a) A person commits an offense if, without legal privilege or authority, he intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly:
(1) obstructs a highway, street, sidewalk, railway, waterway, elevator, aisle, hallway, entrance, or exit to which the public or a substantial group of the public has access, or any other place used for the passage of persons, vehicles, or conveyances, regardless of the means of creating the obstruction and whether the obstruction arises from his acts alone or from his acts and the acts of others; or
(2) disobeys a reasonable request or order to move issued by a person the actor knows to be or is informed is a peace officer, a fireman, or a person with authority to control the use of the premises:
(A) to prevent obstruction of a highway or any of those areas mentioned in Subdivision (1); or
(B) to maintain public safety by dispersing those gathered in dangerous proximity to a fire, riot, or other hazard.
(b) For purposes of this section, “obstruct” means to render impassable or to render passage unreasonably inconvenient or hazardous.
(c) An offense under this section is a Class B misdemeanor.
When parking, you should ask yourself, have I created a hazard? Would an emergency vehicle be able to get to someone’s home? Have I created a blind spot for motorist? Do you want to be the reason something serious happened to your neighbor or yourself? We are asking everyone in the neighborhood to think of these different things and protect each other before parking.
