Last year we moved to a home on a cul-de-sac, and most of the snow from the street gets plowed into our front yard. We live in Minnesota and we get a lot of snow. Last year the snow mound grew to more than 7 feet high. All the neighborhood children like to play on this snow mound, but it creates a lot of problems.
The snow mound overflows onto my neighbor's property. Last year I told kids to go home, and they claimed they were in the neighbors yard and didn't have to listen to me, or they just play on the street side of the mound where I can't see them.
There are more than a dozen children who come play on this snow mound (most of them I don't know). They come without adult supervision, I do not know their parents, and have no way of contacting them in an emergency. Some of these kids are as young as 3 and have trouble even climbing it.
They play on it when we are not home. They play on the snow mound in the dark, and we purposely leave our outside lights off and there aren't any street lights.
The kids ride their sleds and snowboards down the hill and land on pavement. They do not wear helmets. Last year there were a several minor injuries.
Children leave their snow toys and garbage in the road. Last year I had to round up 6 sleds at one time that were left in my yard and in the street.
They play king of the hill, and one kid plays really rough and tried to throw the others off the mound, which wouldn't be that big a of deal, except these kids are landing on pavement.
I have witnessed the kids being mean to each other.
The kids trample our bushes and climb on our front porch to look through our windows.
Last year my kids were building an elaborate snow fort in our yard (not on the mound) and the other kids trampled it. A couple of these kids aren't nice to my kids at school.
The neighborhood children are already talking to my kids about the snow mound this winter. So I presume we will have many of to the same issues again. I tried talking to some of the parents last year, but they did not share my concerns. Mostly I heard about how that snow mound has been the cool place for kids to play for decades. Some of the parents played on it when they were a child, so they feel nostalgic towards it.
What would you do in this situation? Should I be concerned about liability?
A little more clarification: There is an actual park less than a block away. It is closer to their houses than my house is and it snow mounds too but smaller. Last year I was nice to the kids and usually let them play on it. I wanted to teach my children how to be a good, friendly and forgiving neighbor. But I should be able to tell kids it's time to go home. The kids that are mean were mean before the snow and continue to be mean. They aren't just mean to my kids, they are mean to other kids too.
Thanks everyone for your thoughtful answers. Based on responses, I am looking into a security camera, and contacting my city.
Can you talk to the the township and see if the snow can be plowed in a different pattern, so that the mound isn't in your front yard?
"Should I be concerned about liability?" Unfortunately, yes.
Back in my childhood days and at least as far back as my own grandparent's childhoods, there was a house in town with a side yard hill that was very popular with kids for sledding in the winter.
The owners allowed kids to play there for many years - until one day a kid was hurt and instead of dealing with it on their own (as parents had always done before) these parents sued the property owners. That was the end of that. Ever since, they've put up temporary fencing (the orange plastic construction stuff) in the winter with No Trespassing signs.
It's impossible to be there all day, every day to shoo people away so a physical barrier and warning is necessary. You will probably need signs at least. You might try talking to the city about the issue and perhaps they can put the snow elsewhere. You should also talk to your homeowner's insurance to ask about 'what if' situations.
Unfortunately, yes, you need to worry about liability.
Please contact a lawyer and your home owners insurance and see what you can do to help prevent problems.
I would also contact the city or county in which you live and tell them the problems of snow placement and see if they can help you.
I would talk to the city/town/contractors and get them to move the mound. Say the situation has changed, it's unsafe, you NEED it to be moved/pushed elsewhere. Just say it's currently unsafe.
If that doesn't do it, I would erect something so that they can't dump it there.
I personally wouldn't want to have to go out and monitor it, or tell kids to go home - especially if my kids weren't even outside playing.
Do you have an area/subdivision association? Maybe they could have snow dumped at the park to make a bigger hill. Perhaps they don't want the liability.
It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt and sues you.
Can the snow be stacked anywhere else off your property?
If the neighbors like it so much - they can have it!
I'd consider posting no trespassing signs and call the cops every time uninvited people come onto your property.
Video surveillance of your own property is allowed.
What and how the kids play is not your problem as long as it's not in your yard.
Talk to your town about what your options are - where snow can be put, can you fence off your property, etc.
Talking to a lawyer might be helpful too.
Your yard is your private property - you are not obligated to permit the general public to roam at will all over your place.
Some neighborhoods have a really nice kid culture while others are absolutely horrible.
If you feel trapped and there's no remedy for this you might want to consider moving.
Ugh, I hear you! At our previous house, we lived in a cul-de-sac and had the same issues.
I guess I'd go at it from a few different angles. One, I'd call the city and ask them about plowing in a different direction. Two, you could build something on that corner - like a split rail fence or something that piling snow on would damage. That would give the city a very good reason to move the pile anyways (they aren't allowed to damage property with snow removal). Three, if you have a snow blower, as soon as it starts piling up, just start snowblowing it in different directions making the hill less "viable." I know that the piles get out of control and harden up quick, though :( Four, talk to the police department about the trespassing issue/porch/looking in windows/trampling bushes. While you talking to parents isn't doing anything, I bet a police officer showing up at their door might. I'd also be collecting and disposing of any sleds/toys left on the property - not returning them. Five, invest in a million dollar umbrella policy - just in case. It is very cheap and my having one actually made my vehicle insurance cheaper and basically paid for itself. It will provide peace of mind.
Hopefully we won't get much snow this year and you won't have too many issues :)
These kids are trespassing on your property.
You need to post signs stating “no trespassing private property”
If they get hurt or injured and parents come to get them then you can get the parents for trespassing on your property.
This is a massive liability issue for you.
You could tell the parents you will call Child Protective Services is they leave there children unsupervised on your property.
Get video camera on your home and record the mound so that the parents are held liable.
I think you're going to have to embrace this. If your yard happens to have the spot that kids have been using for decades, that's not going to change without more effort than seems worth it. I'm guessing that the parents don't expect you to supervise their kids or anything. If they leave stuff, just throw it on the street side (public property) and they can either retrieve it or live with the consequence of having their sleds destroyed by passing cars or snow plows. If they get hurt, too bad for them. In a true emergency, with no way to reach a parent, you would call 911. Anything else isn't really an emergency.
That's not to say they should run roughshod over your yard or invade your privacy. I would maybe post something in the ground behind the mound that indicates private property (with that much snow you don't have to install a real fence, you could just stick some cheap garden fencing in the snow or something) and reinforce with the parents that their kids are not to go past that point. There is no reason for them to be trampling bushes or going further into your yard or near your house. If they want to see if your kids are home, they can of course come to the door but anything else gets a prompt tossing from your yard and a call to the parents if you know them.
Maybe also talk to the neighbor whose property this is also on and find out how they handle it.
Aw, it's too bad the kids are mean. In a perfect world I would totally embrace this and love being the snow mountain house where all the kids play. My kids would LOVE that and would be so excited if our house was the fun snow pile house. So....if this were me I would not ask the city to move the snow pile. I would work on getting to know all the kids. But I would also work on teaching the neighbor kids that if they play in our yard there are rules. Such as being nice. No mean-ness allowed. No pushing. Only kindness. Whatever. If I heard a kid break the rule I would send them home. I've done this with a neighbor kid who cussed in our house (he and my son were both about age 10/11). He was shocked I sent him home. I know kids will cuss on the playground. But that is our house rule. He has played over here many times since then and has never cussed again.
Call the police. Technically, this is not trespassing but could be child neglect. These kids should not be able to play in your yard and are damaging your property. It is unsafe to sled into a street at any time a car could come by and hit the children.
I think it's just great that kids still take time to be kids, and that they unplug from their laptops and video games to go play in the snow! I don't understand why you can't support this. Having them in your part of the street is a great chance to show that you're a good person and perhaps they will even want to be nicer to your kids since you're kind of the "host" family.
What I would do is buy some of those wooden tent-like structures to protect the bushes. With that much snow, the bushes are at risk anyway, even without the snow pile. You can maybe put something around your kids' snow fort, and let kids know that they are welcome if they are respectful.
Are you afraid of liability? Kids playing in the street or landing in the street are not your problem. Should parents supervise, especially with 3 year olds? Sure. But they don't always do what you want. Kids are mean? Sometimes - but kids have to fight their own battles and negotiate their own friendships without adults needing to police every disappointment or bump.
Why in the world are they climbing on your porch and looking in your windows? Either they want your kids to come out and play (a good thing) or they are reacting to you being bossy and mean (in their view). What I would do is making up a big coffee urn of hot chocolate, set up a card table and a trash can, and provide warm drinks for all kids who are respectful while being fun-loving. If they're able to line up, take turns getting a drink, and throw their cups in the trash, you'll be the hero of the neighborhood in their eyes. Anybody who pushes and shoves is just calmly (CALMLY!) directed to the end of the line until they can control themselves. That's how teachers control groups of kids - I'll bet you can do this too.
i guess liability is always an issue in today's society, and i get why it's a worry.
but what a pity. i loved it when we lived in a neighborhood full of kids, and they played in our yard. yeah, there are always mean ones and nice ones and most who go back and forth between the two.
but i'd certainly take a dim view of having my kids' snow fort get trampled by the others. that's about the time i'd march out there and evict, and call parents.
and trampling your bushes and peering into your house is uncool.
most of the time most kids and most of their parents can make this manageable. if you call parents relentlessly when there's actual trespassing and property damage, that might help. fencing shrubbery and tossing stray sleds into the street would make sense. providing hot chocolate and cookies when all is going well might make it go well more often.
but if it's a source of stress, and the danger outweighs the fun, you get to make the call. literally. call the police. call CPS. call the city and make them pile the snow somewhere else. (take a picture of it and threaten legal action.) call the parents remorselessly. it may make you unpopular, but if you stick with it, the problem will go away.
khairete
S.
