Security, parking, garbage irk Ivanka Trump's D.C. neighbours

Residents of a posh Washington neighbourhood sayIvankaTrump and her family don't make for very good neighbours,takingup much of the parking on an already crowded street andleaving trash bags at the curb for days. A big part of thecomplaint: a huge security presence, with even a trip to theplayground requiring three vans.

Neighbours of Trump, her husband JaredKushnerand their threechildren have groused that sidewalks have been closed, publicparking overrun and that the family and their staff haven't learnedthe trash pickup schedule outside their $5.5-million US home.

"It has been a three-ring circus from the day that they've movedin," Marietta Robinson, who lives across the street, told with TheAssociated Press.

The house in the Kalorama neighbourhood was bought in December bya company with ties to a Chilean billionaire. The company is rentingit to Kushner and Trump, who moved in just after the inauguration ofher father, U.S. President Donald Trump. Both work in the White House asadvisers to the president.

Residents of the enclave of four- and five-storey townhomes andelegant single-family properties about three kilometres north of the WhiteHouse are accustomed to VIP neighbours. Former president BarackObama and his family have lived there since he left office, and theSecret Service closed off their entire block to traffic. Amazon CEOJeff Bezos bought a home there, and Secretary of State Rex Tillersonalso moved in recently.

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Yet no one has raised the ire of the community like the Trumps.At a recent neighbourhood commission meeting, Fox News anchor ChrisWallace was among those who showed up to complain about parkingproblems.

Some in the neighbourhood have also complained about the family'srental arrangement. The company that owns the house didn't obtain arental licence for two months, securing one just this week after itwas warned by city regulators.

"Maybe some of the upset has to do with politics a little. Icouldn't say for sure, but I know that people don't seem to be upsetabout Tillerson's situation. It's much less intrusive," said EllenGoldstein, an elected neighbourhood commissioner.

Secret Service outside 'staring meanly'

The Secret Service has sole responsibility under law for protecting the family, but neighbours have noticed what they describe as an unusually large and aggressive security presence.

Ivanka Trump arrives and departs in a four-vehicle motorcade,Robinson said.

"There are more of them than I have ever seen," Robinson wrotein a letter to Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser and other cityofficials. "Frequently several of them are milling outside of thehouse at all hours, having conversations and staring meanly at anyonein view."

The letter which also complained about parking, trash and noise spurred the city government into action. On Friday morning, D.C. transportation crews were outside the house,removing "NoParking" signs.

The department said no permits had been sought for parking exemptions or sidewalk closures on the street since Trump moved in. Yet vehicles associated with the Trump-Kushner house have been seen parking in the restricted areas for hours at a time, and barriers have been erected on the sidewalk in front of the house, forcing pedestrians to cross the street, next-door neighbour Rhona Wolfe Friedman said.

Even without extra restrictions, street parking for non-residentsis limited to two hours.

"The parking patrol on Tracy Place has always beenultra-vigilant," Robinson wrote to the mayor. "Suddenly, the
parking enforcement has disappeared."

A Secret Service spokeswoman, Nicole Mainor, said agencyofficials met with neighbours and city officials on Friday morningand addressed their concerns about parking and other disruptions.She declined to answer specific questions about the level ofprotection the family receives, citing agency policy.

It's not clear whether Ivanka Trump is aware of any complaints,saying in a statement emailed Friday afternoon by an aide: "We lovethe neighbourhood and our family has received an incredibly graciouswelcome from our neighbours."

Christopher Chapin, president of the neighbourhood council whodoesn't live as close as the neighbours who've complained said allthe attention is good for Kalorama.

"We are delighted to have political figures like the Obamas, theKushners and the Tillersons living in our neighbourhood," he said.