Trolley on Santee Lawn in East County Has Residents Talking

A trolley parked in front of an East County home has a lot of people stopping by and talking.

The trolley car has been on the lawn of a Santee street since Monday, and people have been stopping by ever since.

Some neighbors walking by the trolley car parked on the front lawn are wondering what is going on.

“I think it’s kinda cool,” said Kathleen Cromwell, who lives two blocks away. She walks by the sight every day.

Mary Grant can see the trolley from her front window.

“I don’t like the view,” she said. “Oh, I’m past being angry,” she told NBC 7. “I’m over it. I’m livid.”

The owner of that trolley, parked on one Santee street, says there is a perfectly good explanation for the scene.

For the story behind the spectacle, NBC 7 visited a coffee corner, owned by Duane Parks and his wife. They also own that house and now that trolley…and they have plans for it.

"Kinda the idea of a food truck, but a mobile coffee shop where you have espressos, lattes, smoothies,” Parks said.

Parks says it used to be a working trolley car in Maine. The previous owner then drove it here and turned it into a coffee shop, which is what the Parks family will start using it for.

In the meantime, it may the most talked-about trolley car in the area.

“I think it's a really great idea,” a neighbor said. “They can move it all over the place, but I hope they move it, eventually." 

NBC 7 reached out to the City of Santee, asking if having the trolley there is legal. The City of Santee has not replied to a request for contact. 

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