Eastern Swiss stirs up Hünenberg ZG New neighbor suddenly demands 250,000 francs for visitor parking spaces

A dispute over visitor parking spaces escalates in Hünenberg ZG: A new owner is demanding 250,000 francs - and threatening legal action. Before that, the land could have been bought for 10,000 francs.

On Rebenweg in Hünenberg ZG, there is normally a harmonious coexistence. Hedges and flowers bloom in front of the brick houses, there is a playground, a viewpoint - and cats that move trustingly between the neighbors.

But at the beginning of June, a letter clouded the idyll, as reported by the Zuger Zeitung newspaper. Two residents received mail from their new neighbor. Even the subject line sounded anything but friendly: "Avoiding possible legal escalation."

A threat instead of a greeting

The sender introduced himself as the new owner of an adjoining plot of land. This only comprises four and a half visitor parking spaces - which, however, were repeatedly used by residents on a regular basis. "For example, when I came home briefly between two appointments and had to park the car for a few hours," one of the residents told the Zuger Zeitung newspaper.

This is now a thing of the past, writes the new neighbor and imposes an "unmistakable parking ban". Permanent parking by residents is unlawful. At the same time, he submitted an "offer to sell": The two women would have the exclusive opportunity to purchase the plot for 250,000 francs. If they did not respond within nine days, he would obtain an official parking ban from the individual court and impose fines for misuse.

"I see this as a threat," says one of the women who wrote to the Zuger Zeitung. The price is "beyond good and evil".

Property was once ownerless

The resident has lived on Rebenweg for 18 years. It was only later that she found out that the parking spaces did not originally belong to anyone. The construction company that had built the neighborhood had inadvertently not transferred the plot at the time. When the company was later dissolved, it offered the plot to the residents - at an estimated price of no more than CHF 10,000 for the land register transfer. Today, the new neighbor is asking for 240,000 francs more.

At the time, however, the residents decided not to purchase the property - also on the recommendation of the land registry. It was assumed that this would have entailed sole maintenance obligations. "That was a mistake," says the woman looking back.

New owner from eastern Switzerland

Now the maintenance obligations lie with all entitled parties - including the new owner. According to the resident, he bought the plot in January 2025. As he lives in the canton of St. Gallen, the journey to Hünenberg takes around 90 minutes. In his letter, he announced that a "representative from Cham" would carry out weekly checks in future.

However, he apparently takes care of the monitoring himself: the resident reports that she recently parked a replacement car in the visitors' parking lot for a short time. A short time later, her garage called and told her to move the car immediately. She met the new neighbor on site. "He's obviously here in person and checks every parked car," she says.

The woman was irritated and the conversation with the man ended quickly. She found clearer words in writing: it was a shame that he didn't want to maintain a "respectful and friendly neighborly relationship".

The neighborhood agreed that buying the plot was out of the question. The only thing they might be willing to talk about is the price at the time. She does not dispute that visitor parking spaces may only be used as such: "We park our vehicles elsewhere."

The owner from eastern Switzerland did not want to comment to the "Zuger Zeitung".