SAN DIEGO (CBS 8) - Drive around most San Diego County residential neighborhoods, and you're sure to come across portable basketball hoops. Sometimes they're in driveways, but when they're on sidewalks or streets, some believe they're actually a nuisance, blocking the public's right-of-way.
Before most neighbors pick and roll out of bed, William Cavanaugh and his buddies have turned their cul-de-sac into a court.
"If somebody were to move into this neighborhood and look for peace and quiet, they picked the wrong neighborhood, because there are so many young kids in our neighborhood," a resident said.
There are also a lot of portable basketball hoops. In fact, we counted 9 hoops within a 60-second walk of the Cavanaughs' home. So why not just shoot hoops down at the neighborhood park?
"The courts in this neighborhood are usually pretty busy with adults," a resident said.
Sure enough, the basket down the street was being used by some bigger kids. These days, impromptu hoops are wheeled out onto the street, but are they legal?
"Portable hoops are legal on your own property, not on the street," Tony Khalil of the City of San Diego Code Enforcement Division said.
Yet, Khalil says citations are rarely written.
"It's an item that is very difficult to regulate," he said.
Even on blocks where there are side-by-side hoops. That can lead to two different types of complaints. First of all a lack of parking, and secondly, the potential for balls denting cars.
"They do present a hazard, there is no question about it," Khalil said.
Most parents in Scripps Ranch agree it's not a big deal, but what about people like Shae Mills, who don't have children?
"I don't think they are too much of an eyesore. I think there are other eyesores in the neighborhood that are bigger than a basketball hoop -- people's yards," she said.
As for the Cavanaughs' hoop, as long as neighbors don't complain, the city's policy is no harm, no foul.