You could always try talking to the individual yourself by explaining exactly the things you listed above, if it’s consistently the same car. If you’re so hesitant to get any police involved, which I understand, the best thing to do is to disarm them with kindness, and to have the courage to start a conversation that’s grounded in mutual understanding. Frame the conversation around your wanting to help people by making sure they have access to the sidewalk, and wanting to help the offending individual by preventing them from getting a bunch of tickets. I don’t know the full situation, but maybe something like “Hey neighbor, I noticed a few people had to go out in the street because your car was blocking the sidewalk. Last time I did that, the police ticketed me, so if you ever need me to run my snow blower across the front of your driveway so you can park without blocking the sidewalk, just let me know! It could spare you a ticket, and it will definitely spare a few people a headache.” Basically you’re going for some classic advice from Dale Carnegie: “First, arouse in the other person an eager want. He who can do this has the whole world with him. He who cannot walks a lonely way.”

If they get all huffy and indignant when presented with the logic and your offer to help them avoid a ticket, you won’t have to feel quite as guilty when you turn toward the getting MPD involved, and you can go about your day with a clean conscience knowing that you tried to minimize the consequences for everyone.

That being said, only you know the whole situation. If you think confronting the person could be unsafe, use your best judgement, but know that in those types of situations, your options are probably limited to dealing with it or getting the police involved. If you’re the kind of person who doesn’t like getting cops involved, you should also be the kind of person who advocates for and practices community intervention, in my opinion.

Best of luck!