Baytown homeowner says he was unexpectedly arrested for parking truck on lawn: 'Absolutely no way'

BAYTOWN, Texas (KTRK) -- Baytown City Council will vote on repealing its ban on front lawn parking Thursday as part of a settlement agreement with a man who ran afoul of the ordinance.

Joseph Fallin said he briefly parked his truck on his front lawn to wash it back in 2018.

"They arrested me for that. (It was) my first time ever being arrested," Fallin said.

The city said it mailed Fallin a citation, but Fallin told ABC13 he never received it.

In 2019, police arrested him for missing a court date, which he said he didn't know about.

"I was like, 'No way. Absolutely no way.' I knew it was wrong," Fallin said.

Fallin sued the city and settled. As part of the settlement, it agreed to vote on repealing or amending its ban on front lawn parking.

After getting a $257 ticket last summer, Marga Matthews told ABC13 it's time for the ban to be lifted.

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"The pictures show I'm not even on the grass. It's just like maybe an inch, if anything," Matthews said.

But some say not having a ban would lead to eyesores and lower property values.

"If we don't have this, we're gonna become like an unincorporated area where people park multiple cars in the yard, they don't work, they're taking parts off of them," Frank McKay said.

The ban doesn't appear to stop everyone from parking on front lawns.

Photos provided to Eyewitness News show City of Baytown Public Works trucks parked in areas the ordinance says are off limits.

"I think it's wrong, and everybody else knows it's wrong as well," Fallin said.

The City Council plans to vote this Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at Baytown City Hall.

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