School bus parking gives birth to Web site, complaints

I noted with some humor the MoveThatBus.org site is closed with two words posted: "Mission Accomplished". Somehow I doubt that's true, otherwise I would think the webmaster would have posted just how they succeeded. Based on many of the postings in support of the bus driver, the site was probably shut down for one reason only – things just weren’t going the way the anti-bus neighbors wanted. It's a shame - most of the posters FOR moving the bus seemed more concerned about aesthetics, how it was almost criminal the bus driver could afford a $300k house, a boat, RV, and a pool (jealous maybe?), and how rude the bus driver was to them (maybe a response to this neighborhood's gang mentality?).

I don't believe this neighborhood belongs to a home owner's association. Also, if I'm to understand, there are some very stupid laws in Chesapeake that states people aren't allowed to park such things as boats, campers, RV's, even jetskis in any area of their yard except the rear - out of view. That aside, I still believe the bus driver is well within her full and legal rights to park the bus on her own property.

I left this same comment on the “Move the Bus” website....
I understand that people have a legitimate concern about safety, but you must consider a balance of rights. For example: if you state that it is a problem but it is legal, the homeowner’s association should address it. If the homeowner association states that it is not a problem then you should drop it. But I have a couple of questions,
1. Has anybody tried to work out something with the bus driver? Give a neutral area for the bus to be parked?
2. Has anybody compared this bus parked at the home to a Winnebago? They are the same size (in some cases) and they are quite a deal to make a three point maneuver. Yet people have the right to park that in their yard.
To sum it up, one person can not tell another how to live without due process. And if the authorities can not change it and the Homeowner’s Association can not change it. Then maybe it is because of

I visited the movethebus site referenced in the article. Repeated remarks state that the issue is all about safety. That the bus parked on the street and obstructed the view of the intersection and children would dart out, etc.

The image provided by the Pilot and on the movethebus site both show this bus parked on a driveway at the rear of the home. Did the bus driver build a pad for the bus to get it off the street to appease the neighbors at his/her own expense? If so, why are they still upset? There is no safety issue - the intersection is not obstructed - the bus isn't even parked on the street.

I would have more respect for the movethebus people if they had been honest about this problem in the first place. All they appear to care about is aesthetics - not safety.

So far it's 36 in favor of leaving the bus driver alone(support)and 17 complainers. That says a lot. And I really agree with all of ricm's comments. He makes some very good points. More power to the bus driver!

If we stored the kids in the schools in cages at night, then there would be no reason to bus them around in the morning and in the evening.

As a former bus driver in Chesapeake who drove for six years, I just cannot keep my mouth (fingers) shut! I parked my big cheese on the side of my property (on the "neck" of the culdesac behind me) almost the entire time I drove. I live on the corner of a cul-de-sac and main road in our subdivision. I made sure it was far enough from the corner so my neighbors behind me can turn safely. No one complained, almost, until my fourth year when a neighbor parked her work truck where I park my bus right before school opened. She told my husband it was an eyesore, but we won the fight. The other neighbors never minded. It is convenient, especially to those of us who started when it was still semi-dark. The reason for parking at home and not at the bus lot is this --if you have over 300 bus drivers coming to work, there were not 300parking spaces for them to park. School lots are great, but if one bus gets vandalized, all 8 or 10 get messed up. Do the math and see that hundreds of students do not get picked up on time. Who pays for the repairs? You do, I do, we all pay. If the newer buses are made with locks, then it is okay to park them at the schools. And if they tell one dr

O M G, are these people serious!? I viewed the website and saw more details on how this bus is parked, and there is NOTHING wrong with the way the bus is parked and where it's parked. First of all its on the bus driver's PERSONAL PROPERTY. Where she pays taxes and mortgage. Second, the only time this bus would be operated is when the kids aren't playing in the street. It seems these neighbors don't want to take the time and wait while she backs out. If it's such a pain for them to pause of 30 seconds, then they should park their car at the beginning of the cul-de-sac, so that way they have a clear shot out of there. It should be illegal to spend so much time and such and asinine issue!

As someone who lives in a "revitalizing" neighborhood, I can sympathize with people who are trying to keep their neighborhood up to a reasonable standard.

Once one type of large commercial vehicle is considered ok, it is reasonable to visualize a slippery slope that eventually allows other types of large commercial vehicle, trucks, RV's, boats, parking on the grass, parking on the sidewalks, etc.

I have to agree with the neighbors, I am afraid. A residential neighborhood is no place to park large commercial/quasi-commercial vehicles.

Sell and move to A. HOA that bans boats, trailers and large vehicles with a demonstrated history of enforcement across the entirety. B. A 50 and better community C. A condominium or high-rise with compact spacing or parking deck.

childish can you get? Someone is that vindictive that they spend making a website over some asinine non-existent problem? People, you need to grow up.

At least the bus is parked in their driveway, off the street. During school, there is a bus parked across the street from my friend's driveway, on a street that doesn't have enough room for two cars to drive down it at the same time. Try getting around that one!!

Why don't city buses get parked in the driveway of the driver then? Wouldn't that save fuel too? I don't think fuel savings was a concern in school bus drivers taking their buses home. They've been doing it decades, long before diesel cost $4.50/gal. Wouldn't it make more sense to have a few strategically located bus lots rather than clutter our neighborhoods with these huge yellow behomoths? Most residential streets around here are one-lane roads as it is, what with every household owning 3 or 4 vehicles. The buses just compound the problem.

I have no issue with the bus being parked in the neighborhood. However, if this is about saving taxpayer money via saving fuel, then why are bus drivers allowed to sit at schools with the bus running for 30 minutes to an hour while waiting for their next run? Also, bus drivers are allowed to use their buses to drop their children off at a school not on their route. I don't necessarily have a problem with that, either, but it negates the $ saving argument.

why can't the bus driver park at the school? well lets see they can't park at some high schools because they have drivers ed on the bus ramp. and the elem. schools don't like them to park on the bus ramp because they use them for P.E.

You ask why the driver can't drive to work like everyone else. Here's a logical and fiscal answer. Depending on how far the bus yard is from the driver's route, it would be a waste of fuel. Let's say the bus yard is five miles from the beginning of the driver's route. Buses might get 7-8 mpg at best. So in one day the bus cost an extra $6 is fuel. Multiply that by 180 school days - not counting field trips, and that one bus now drained $1,080 of your tax dollars. Now multiply that by the number of buses in the Chesapeake school system, and it adds up to quite a number. Since most driver's live close to or at the actual start of their route, the extra fuel cost is nearly zero.

Why can't the school bus driver just park the bus at school and take her car to work like everyone else?

As was stated earlier by the person who drives a tractor trailer I to drive one and can not park my tractor in my driveway without being in violation of a city code pertaining to commercial vehicles in residential neighborhoods. What's the difference of the bus being a commercial vehicle for the city you need a commercial drivers license to drive one.

The garbage trucks that come into the cul-de-sac are in and out. They do not make three point turns or back up. The truck is here once a week for less than five minutes. This particular bus is in and out of the cul-de-sac four times a day, five days a week. It isn't completely contained on the driveway, so the gate is left open (off its hinges actually), exposing a swimming pool that is not properly secured. The parking of the bus is just one of several disasters waiting to happen.

After looking at the site, this whole thing seems like a blown up issue were neighbors don't like neighbors. How the bus was parked has been declared legal. Now the neighbors are using a website to attack their neighbor. How childish can they be?

So-called 'professional' transportation services often aren't that professional either; cutting corners as much as they can typically to make as much money as they can. Neighbors who are bus drivers are at least linked to their community and actually care about what they are doing and are going to take those extra steps to make certain all their neighbors' kids get to and from school safely. The neighbors should count their blessing!

Bus driver, the domain records for "movethatbus.org" contain deliberately falsified information. The phone # on record is 7575551234, the Street Address is P.O. Boz 1... You should be able to report them to ICANN (www.icann.org) and the person behind it will either have to take real credit for their work (which they don't want to do obviously), or the domain name should get revoked from them. Have fun!

While I live and work as a school teacher in Virginia Beach (which after reading all of this I am very grateful for) I begin to wonder about a few things:
1) Why is it that these competent drivers, with whom you place the safety of your children with, can at one moment be unqualified to make a 3 point turn in a cul-de-sac but moments later can be trusted to shuttle kids through what we all know are crazy rush hour driving situations and at times in lovely winter weather?
2) How quickly will you be in front of the school board when your taxes are raised to cover the WASTED fuel that would be required if this driver had to park the bus at an alternate location (which would more than likely be further away from her routes). Or will you celebrate your success in winning this battle by donating larger sums of your hard earned paycheck to cover the costs.
3) If you aren’t willing to cover the cost of extra fuel– how soon will you be requesting a time slot in front of the School Board to whine about how your children can’t take field trips any more because of the rising fuel costs– yes that is their solution!
Things to think about as I sit FOR ONCE happy knowing that the Virgi

As long as it's legally parked it shouldn't be a problem. plus it's on the drivers property. you say it's a safty issue when backing out. well is it a safty issue when these drivers have to pick your children up in a cul-de-sac when you all have your cars parked every which way and your basketball hoops are in the street? sometimes it takes more than a three point turn just to get out of there. all because the parents want door to door service. maybe you could build them a parking lot that will fit 400 plus buses. It seems to me bus drivers never can catch a break from parents. they don't even get a thank you or job well done for getting there children safely to and from school for 12 years of there life.(thank you to the parents that do appreciate them). if thats all you got to do all day is look at that yellow bus maybe you should get out and get a job. I know there looking for Bus drivers.

Now the MoveThatBus web site is quoting the Preamble of the Declaration of Independence as an argument for their cause:
"2.1 We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." Hey MoveThatBus - I'm still looking for the "bus clause"!

They also added a bunch of pictures of what I assume are preferred parking areas for buses, all of which are "remote" locations. Just another example of what I said before - "move the buses anywhere but near my house!". Talk about grasping at straws.

Pretty soon they'll allow dump trucks to be parked in front of your house...face it...a big ugly yellow school bus parked in any neighborhood devalues the property...say what you want, but it does. Those in favor should offer their driveways and see how long you'd want that monstrosity in or near your property!

I applaud the individual who uses her time to address such issues that will protect their neighborhood and ensure a better quality of life. City vehicles such as school buses do not belong on any public street, residence, residential drive-ways within a neighborhood during non-operating hours. During non-operational hours the city school buses can be parked in the school parking lot or another non-residential area. A bus driver can certainly drive to the location where the bus will be parked. For those of you thinking it is perfectly OK to park the bus at home, please provide your address and we will see if we can add you to a list of alternate locations for school bus parking and thanks in advance. The bottom line is clear, the City School Board needs to relocate our city school buses outside of neighborhoods, and bus drivers need to drive to their bus just as many of us commute to work everyd.

You were there so you know the bus *used* to be parked in the street. That was not mentioned in the article, so that is not being discussed here. If the folks who started the website had still been concerned about that, they would have mentioned it to the reporter. Cheers, MGM

In my post somewhere in these comments there are 2 buses parked at an area school within walking/visual distance of the persons who drive them. They are vandalized all the time. THOUSANDS of dollars worth of damage is done to just these 2 buses repeatedly. You can't imagine how much 1 bus window costs us ---- the taxpayers. Big buses in neighborhoods can be an eyesore but, on the other hand, they do need some protection. Part of the problem may lie with our law-suit happy society and 'forgotten' kids which is why they're no longer locked -- but locking them sure would keep the vandalism rates lower. Can you imagine driving a bus and having to scrub it every morning before the bus run because teens have left used condoms and other 'stuff' all over the seats, smeared on windows, etc? Blech.

The dimbulbs who complained about a bus being parked on private property are like the local civic-league busy-bodies who assume their neighbor's yard is theirs to scrutinize and control.No doubt they poke around others' property using their too-abundant free time wishing that they had more power over others,while the rest of us thank the founders for re-affirming individual property rights.Unless their cell-phone blocks their ability to look around while driving(a frequent problem in that neighborhood and elsewhere),the bus in a driveway,or even on a street creates no hazard for someone of anything approaching normal vision or intelligence.Which do the whiners lack?

First off, I would like to say thank you to all stay at home moms. Been there and know how difficult that is. I could go for hours in their defense but that is not the issue.
The issue is that the City of Chesapeake has grown and made many changes over the past years. We have seen huge growth. With growth, laws must be re-written to protect the tax-paying citizens. While buses were once accepted in neighborhoods, it is now a law that needs to be changed. The routes of these drivers have become shorter due to this growth. It is time for the city and school board to acknowledge this and take responsibility for the housing of these buses. It is time for the bus drivers to drive to work like every other tax-paying citizen in Chesapeake.
What I see in this particular case, is that one family has taken the dated Chesapeake laws