Schaumburg restricts backyard parking

Schaumburg resident Dan Rosenfeld has lost his dispute with the village board over whether backyards or front yards are the preferable place to park multiple cars.

Trustees this week voted unanimously to restrict the number of cars that can be parked on a driveway behind the back wall of a house.

The allowable number of cars in a backyard driveway will now be equal to the number that can be parked on the floor of the garage.

For Rosenfeld, that number is three. But since last year, the avid collector has been storing many more than that on the driveway he designed especially for that purpose.

Though he doesn't like it - and doesn't believe his neighbors will either - he'll now have to park the additional cars at the front of his driveway.

"People have a right to use their property," Rosenfeld told trustees at this week's village board meeting. "Where do you draw the line?"

"The village regulates all sorts of things," Trustee Tom Dailly replied. "This is not unusual."

Dailly has maintained throughout the months-long dispute that residents have a stronger expectation of open space in their and their neighbors' backyards than they do in front of their homes.

He saw Rosenfeld's use of his property, especially in light of neighbor complaints it generated, as a violation of that expectation.

"The question is, at what point do you take a piece of property and turn it into a different use?" Dailly asked.

Though Rosenfeld isn't using his property for a commercial enterprise, the number of cars he stores on it are akin to a repair yard, village officials felt.

The cars in the backyard are in addition to those stored in his 649-square-foot garage, both on the floor and hoisted above it.

Rosenfeld took advantage of a change in local laws that allowed garages that large. But the village began steps to tighten restrictions again as soon as his garage was finished and began sparking complaints.

Rosenfeld isn't affected by the new garage restrictions; he's grandfathered in. But he'll now have to abide by the backyard parking restrictions.