Parking Lot Shenanigans

People doing doughnuts in the parking lot after snow. Neighbors complaining! Anybody else dealing with this?

gstubbs47 wrote: Sat Nov 23, 2024 9:30 am People doing doughnuts in the parking lot after snow. Neighbors complaining! Anybody else dealing with this?

It will be a Church liability if they crash and someone is injured or worse. Call the local police and ask to have them removed.

Members or not, that is reckless driving and potential property damage could result as well. If the parking lot is clearly marked no trespassing they could be cited for that also.

We did put up “NO PARKING” signs. Had to soften those by removing “VEHICLE WILL BE TOWED AT OWNER’S EXPENSE”. Don’t think “NO TRESPASSING” signs would pass for sure. Neighbors have called the police. They know about the problem. Surely with as many parking lots as we have in snow country, the church would have found a solution to this problem by now. We did position the DI box in a strategic place, but we would need three more boxes to do the job! Thanks for the input.

You might have your PFR ask the FM group to install "Church Parking Only" signs--like the ones that were installed all around my meetinghouse parking lot some months ago.

I doubt if signs will do much good. Depending on the layout, some wheel stops could make the parking lot far less attractive for donuts.

Signs would likely not reduce traffic levels, but they might possibly be effective at limiting Church liability. (Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer.)

Yeah, we’ve had that happen around here too, especially after a good snowfall. It’s fun for a bit, but I totally get how it can get annoying for the neighbors with the noise and tire marks. We’ve had to talk to a few people in the past, just to let them know it’s causing a bit of a headache for everyone. It helped to set some kind of informal boundary, just so things don’t get out of hand.

Assuming your church parking lot doesn't have a gate, it might be worth reaching out to your local church leaders to see if a parking lot gate can be installed.