Parking restriction policy

Started by GaryB11 • 5 replies • 1642 views

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GaryB11 (California)
Posts: 66

Posted:

Association is divided into private and public streets. All residents are SFR with 4 to 5 bedrooms. Houses have 2 or 3 parking spaces. The hoses with 3 parking spaces have driveways.

Association by-laws have been re-written to allow parking on driveways, but prohibit parking on private street. Parking on public street is regulated by city.

Issue: The association has not been able to provide overflow parking for tenants with 2 parking spaces and no driveway living on private streets. Those tenants with 3rd or 4th vehicles are resorting to parking their vehicles on the project's public streets. The public streets are lined with vehicles 24 hours a day; and threatening legal action.

Is the association liable for the member's congestion on private streets? If the association finds fee based overflow parking, but members still park on the public street is the association liable?

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,059

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By GaryB11 on 10/07/2012 6:15 PM

Issue: The association has not been able to provide overflow parking for tenants with 2 parking spaces and no driveway living on private streets.

I don't think that this is the Associations responsibility.

I'm also interested in your use of the word tenant.
Are these individuals actually renters?
Do you consider owners to be tenants of the Association?

Quote:

Posted By GaryB11 on 10/07/2012 6:15 PM

Those tenants with 3rd or 4th vehicles are resorting to parking their vehicles on the project's public streets.

This is very typical.

It continually surprises me how a family with multiple cars continue to purchase or rent a home or live in a development that doesn't have enough assigned parking for the number of vehicles they have.

It also continues to surprise me that developers refuse to design a development that provides ample parking. Often I see town home developments that don't even provide 2 spaces per lot (when in reality there should be 3 or 4). I have seen condominiums that claim to have ample parking but only assign one parking space per unit (if they had ample parking why not assign at least 2).

Quote:

Posted By GaryB11 on 10/07/2012 6:15 PM

The public streets are lined with vehicles 24 hours a day; and threatening legal action.

I am confused, who is threatening legal action (the city, the owners or the Association)?

What is the basis for the legal action?

Quote:

Posted By GaryB11 on 10/07/2012 6:15 PM

Is the association liable for the member's congestion on private streets?

How do you think they would be liable?

The Association didn't design the development. This was done by the developer and approved by the city/county. The Association didn't write the governing documents. This was done by the developer and amended by the membership. The Association is simply fulfilling the responsibilities as outlined within those governing documents.

Per your posting, the governing documents specify the parking restrictions. Since the Association consists of members/owners, if the membership doesn't like those restrictions, they may amend the governing documents. Until that happens, the Association is only enforcing the documents parking restriction which specify that vehicles may not be parked on the private streets. It's the individual with the extra vehicle who is deciding where to park the vehicle (public street, parking lot, etc.). Therefore, I believe that if there is any liability associated with where the vehicle is parked it is born by the driver/owner of that vehicle.

Here is a link to Davis-Stirling.com parking page that may provide some more information (as the Association must also comply with State and local laws).

Quote:

Posted By GaryB11 on 10/07/2012 6:15 PM

If the association finds fee based overflow parking, but members still park on the public street is the association liable?

I think renting guest spaces to owners would be a huge mistake. What would determine who gets the rentals? Would the rentals be limited? What provisions would be in place to rotate the rentals to everyone who wants one? How would the Association verify who is using the space? What provisions would the Association have to enforce compliance with the rental agreement? What additional liability would be incurred by renting the space vs. offering extra spaces on a first come basis)?

No - renting the spaces, in my opinion, would crate more of an issue than the Association currently has.

GaryB11 (California)
Posts: 66

Posted:

Thank you for the feedback.

The previous parking policy limited parking to garages. No parking on the street or on driveways. However, while the developer controlled the board, the policy enabled homeowners or tenants to receive a parking permit to park on the public or private streets. The permits were issued for up to a year, once the requestor provided proof that they had a 3rd vehicle or couldn't get their vehicle into the garage (4 door pickup trucks won't fit in the garage).

When the developer relinquished control of the board (2011), the policy began to change. First, the board stopped ticketing vehicles parked on their driveway. Then, they stopped renewing the parking permits to homeowners with 3 vehicles or oversize vehicles. The homeowners that could no longer get permits were forced to park their vehicles on the public streets, which are part of the association.

Now, the board has decided to rewrite the policy. The new parking policy specifically states that homeowners with oversized vehicles or more vehicles than will fit in the garage cannot park on private streets under any circumstances. Homeowners with driveways can apply for a permit to park on their driveway if they own oversize or too many vehicles for the garage. Finally, the public streets will no longer be part of the parking policy. The city will be responsible for enforcement.

Today, since permits are no longer being renewed, the private streets are vacant and the public streets are lined with vehicles. Homeowners living on the public street do not have access to their home from the curb. The board has offered to secure overflow parking and charge the homeowners/tenants a fee to park. However, the overflow parking would be approximately 2 blocks further than the public street and there is little incentive for homeowners to stop parking on the public street.

The development was designed with very wide private streets. There are no issues with parking on the private streets.

Clearly, the homeowners on the public streets are being impacted by the boards decision to eliminate the practice of issuing permits on the private streets, and stop any form of enforcement on the public streets. Access from the street and visual blight are the two immediate concerns. Long term the resale value of the homes will be impacted. The question is do they have a cause of action? Can the association create policies that harm a minority group of members? Looking at it another way, can the board create a policy that it cannot/will not enforce across the entire membership?

Thanks

JohnC46 (South Carolina)
Posts: 14,265

Posted:

Gary

First thing to do is find out what the local government street parking rules are. The answer might just be there.

Many local governments do allow a development to have harsher rules so maybe the association could ban overnight parking on the public streets. One HOA I was in did just that.

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,059

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By GaryB11 on 10/08/2012 5:58 AM

Now, the board has decided to rewrite the policy.

It sounds like the membership needs to get together and become organized.

The membership does have the right to repeal a rule adopted by the board.
See Davis Stirling Petition to Reverse Rule page.

Additionally you should read and understand your governing documents. If the rule conflicts with the CC&Rs or Bylaws, then the section that is in conflict can not be enforced.

You should also make sure that the Board is meeting any notice requirements.
See Davis-Stirling - Adopting Rules page

Quote:

Posted By GaryB11 on 10/08/2012 5:58 AM

Access from the street and visual blight are the two immediate concerns.

As you said, the city controls the public streets.
Again, those members living on public roads may need to become organized and petition the city for some controls to address these concerns.

Quote:

Posted By GaryB11 on 10/08/2012 5:58 AM

The question is do they have a cause of action?

Unless there is a conflict with the governing documents, I don't think there is a cause of action. However, I am not an attorney and I do not work within the legal profession. Since this is actually a legal question, you should take your governing documents to a local attorney and ask what your legal options are.

Quote:

Posted By GaryB11 on 10/08/2012 5:58 AM

Can the association create policies that harm a minority group of members?

The Board may adopt rules/regulations as authorized within your governing documents and State laws.

See Davis Stirling rules and regulations menu page

When the membership disagrees with a decision of the Board, the easiest thing to do is gather support and vote the bums out at the next election or recall them if the election is too far away. Once on the Board, change the rules.

As for being a minority group of members, if you become organized I suspect that you would be able to elect one or two of you to the Board. This way, you would be part of the decision process when these issues come up.

Quote:

Posted By GaryB11 on 10/08/2012 5:58 AM

Looking at it another way, can the board create a policy that it cannot/will not enforce across the entire membership?

Cannot? It can enforce it against the entire membership.

Example: If the houses with driveways have more cars than spaces, they too are stuck parking on the public streets.

Will not? - Typically the governing documents authorize any member and the Association to enforce the rules. Having the authority to enforce is not the same as required to enforce. Just like you have the authority to enforce the rules but chose not to, the Association also has that choice.

I suspect that if you got organized, you would not be in the minority. Think of all of the owners have to park on the public street vs. in front of their own property. It would be logical to think that they would support overturning the rule. What it will take is someone to become take the lead and invest the time and money (printing of fliers/postage) to make it happen. The choice is yours, will you become the organizer or wait for someone else to step up?

PaulT6 (California)
Posts: 409

Posted:

Two issues, your C&R's and the Town's codes. The Board can do basically whatever it wants to short of outright violation of your Governing Documents, which they may do anyway, legal action being the only recourse, or violating State law. Suggest you do a thorough review of the Town's parking codes and if those parking on the public streets are in violation of the codes, request the Town to take action, which they may be reluctant to do. Sounds messy.

Paul T

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