Imagine moving into a house with your partner. You might be looking forward to getting to know your neighbors.

What would you do if one of the neighbors stopped by with a letter and was basically trying to involve you in a neighborhood war between her and another neighbor you haven’t even met yet. How would you respond?

In this story, one couple is in this exact situation. It’s tricky because they don’t want to be involved in this drama at all. They don’t want to make any of their neighbors upset. Yet, they know they’ll most likely make someone upset no matter how they respond.

Keep reading for all the details.

Neighbor wants me to mediate a parking issue on their behalf

Late last night, my neighbor (we’ll call her Sally, about 70 years old) from across the street dropped off a letter at the door.

My partner and I are relatively new to the neighborhood, so this was the first introduction to the neighbor that we’ve had.

The letter described a conflict with another neighbor (we’ll call her Jane, about 45 years old).

Sally has a request.

Apparently, Jane has been parking her car directly in front of Sally’s driveway on the other side of the street, making it difficult for Sally and her family to pull in and out of their driveway. It’s a tight, dead-end street, so maneuvering out of the driveway with a car on the other side of the street across from your driveway is certainly tricky.

In her letter, Sally pointed out that, because the spot Jane is parking in is directly to the right of OUR driveway, it is technically illegal for Jane to park there without our permission (must be a distance of at least 5 feet on either side of private driveway, unless granted permission).

Well, Sally is asking us to report it to the police and have signs put up on either side of our driveway that say “No parking within 5 feet of driveway” so that she no longer has an issue backing out of her driveway and so we have “more parking for our guests.”

Sally has apparently already asked police and the municipality to do this, who told her that she must get the homeowners (us) to enforce the rule/call the police, since it’s our driveway.

They’re hesitant to pick sides in this neighbor drama.

We are sympathetic to the issue, because Jane really could park ten feet farther on the other side of our driveway, where there is extra parking, making it easier on Sally.

We don’t necessarily believe that Jane is being malicious, because street parking is somewhat limited, and where she currently parks is the next closest to her home, but she also could easily park a little further and remove the issue.

However, we don’t know the dynamics or backstory between these two neighbors, like past conflicts, and whether Sally has tried to reason with Jane or not / if Jane realizes what she is doing.

Either way, we really don’t want to get involved and escalate a situation, especially as newer neighbors just now settling in.

They don’t want to make any of their neighbors upset.

We certainly don’t want to put up signs and have the police come out!

We also don’t care who uses parking alongside our driveway. We have enough for our household and it doesn’t impede on us to have others parking there.

We would prefer not to make enemies, but someone will likely end up unhappy in this exchange– either Sally or Jane– based on how we choose to proceed.

Our plan now is to write a letter back (rather than exchanging phone numbers; in case Sally turns out to be a fussy/uptight personality, we don’t want her to have unfettered contact with us) telling her that we don’t want to escalate, but she is welcome to have her guests park alongside our home, including on either side of the driveway, and she can also use our driveway to turn around on the street, if it is helpful.

This is not the best way to be introduced to your new neighbors!

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about some renters who moved out and left their apartment in the same state of disarray they’d found it in when they moved in.

Let’s see what Reddit suggests.

This person wouldn’t get involved.

Here’s another vote for mediation.

This is a good question.

Everyone suggests not getting involved.

This is an awful way to be welcomed to the neighborhood. Getting involved will only make the situation worse. This not their problem to solve.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a man who got creative with his parking after his neighbors started using his extra spot without asking.