AITAH for telling people to stop parking at my house?

A Reddit user lives near the beach and has allowed several people to park at their house in the past when the public beach lot was full. However, after their home was severely damaged in a hurricane and construction work began.

They asked the regular beachgoers to stop parking at their house due to safety concerns and the inconvenience it caused with the workers. One person, annoyed by this, still tried to use the yard. The Redditor now feels guilty about their decision but wonders if they were in the wrong. Read the original story below…

‘ AITAH for telling people to stop parking at my house? ‘

AITAH for telling people they cannot park at my house anymore? I live on the beach and have met some people over the years who enjoy the beach but struggle to find parking. I told them they could park at my house and use my yard when the public beach lot is full. They are nice people and used it often.

I was friendly with them, but our relationship never went beyond them using my driveway and yard. My home was extremely damaged in the hurricane. It’s so bad that we had to move to a rental home, and we’re facing over a year of repairs. Within a week they started asking if they could park at my house to enjoy the beach again.

I let them and they came often, but when it started to become a problem due to construction workers and demo work I asked them to stop because they were interfering with the workers and because my whole site is so unsafe. This week one of the girls rode her bike to my house to check it out, and she let me know that there was parking available there. It annoyed me.

There was also plenty of parking at the public beach. Since the hurricane, I’ve become more protective of what’s left of our house, and because it’s a dangerous active job site I really don’t want people there.

Sure I’m not using it, and they probably won’t get hurt when using my yard, but it’s another problem I don’t want to deal with. I don’t want to have to coordinate having people use my yard with a construction schedule and workers. I owe these people nothing. Yet I still feel guilty.. AITAH?

Here’s the feedback from the Reddit community:

Tangerine_Bouquet −  NTA. You don’t owe them this favor, even if you’ve done it many times in the past. It *is* an inconvenience and a hassle now, because you need to have access for construction, and they’re at least failing to read the room, if not just presumptuous AHs, for pushing it. Say no.

toosheeptheorist −  NTA – for one, it’s your property and you can do with it as you like. For a second, you have contractors coming and going, doing construction work on the property, therefore it is actually dangerous for someone to be near the property at the moment.

Third, if anyone gets injured on your property while you are absent can get you in a world of legal trouble because of liability issues. Fourth and final, if your insurance company is paying for the rebuilding of the property, THEY are the ones who can authorize who can and cannot be on the property.

(the last one I say because I had a house fire a number of years back and even I, as the homeowner, was not allowed on the property unless I was supervised by the contractors rebuilding my home, so your mileage may vary on that one)

SoImaRedditUserNow −  Nope. Its your place and you do as you see fit. Plus its not like you’re doing this on a whim. Your house was severely damaged and people are taking advantage, so much so its interfering with fixing the damn house.

I think your bigger problem is figuring out how to keep people from parking there in the first place. And that you might be inconveniencing people who aren’t taking advantage, well… feel guilty or don’t. I don’t think you should feel guilty. You gave some folks easy access to the beach.

So you created and spread some joy into the universe when you could. Thats awesome. That you can’t now for legitimate reasons is perfectly reasonable. If people get pissed that you can’t give out free parking for a while, that is on them being utterly entitled jackasses.. NTA

Alibeee64 −  NTA. Your home is now a construction zone, and you are right to be concerned about the liability of having people on your property. Invest in some no parking and no trespassing signs to let people know it’s no longer okay to access your property to park.

catladyclub −  I would put up no parking signs and signs saying cars will be towed. Then if people park, have them towed. They will learn not to park there. NTA

Ok_Homework_7621 −  NTA. Put up a sign not to park there and that you’re not responsible for vehicles damaged due to works or any other cause.

throwmeawayoffacliph −  NTA. Especially if it is your property, they shouldn’t park there if you don’t want them to. You did a nice thing for them, but it seems they are taking advantage of you now. Firmly tell them that you don’t want them parking there anymore, and if they don’t listen, I’d pursue legal actions if possible.. Don’t feel guilty.

Lanky-giraffe-100 −  NTA. Get them to install a construction fence. Surprised there isn’t one already.

Sandman0312 −  NTA. Tell them you need the open spots reserved for construction needs. There will be no parking until construction is complete. No exceptions.

WarpedHumorIsTheBest −  NTA. First and foremost, it’s your property. You can say no at anytime and feel comfortable with that decision because of that reason alone. Second, right now it’s also a safety issue.

Do you think the Redditor is justified in telling people to stop parking at their house given the ongoing construction and safety concerns, or is there a way they could have handled the situation more tactfully? How would you manage boundaries in a situation like this? Share your thoughts below!