PARKING

We are a brand new Board, of a California association never having served on a Board before.

We have 45 units, all with two car garages. There are 22 common area parking spaces and a number of residents were monopolizing them; some homeowners were parking several vehicles in the parking spaces; because they had turned their garage into a rec room or their vehicle (SUV) was too tall to fit inside their garage. So we recently adopted new parking regulations allowing only ONE VEHICLE PER HOMEOWNER to park in the common area parking spaces. We ordered numbered parking stickers and published two dates for homeowners to drop by our clubhouse and pick up their new sticker, the new parking regulations, etc. They were required to complete a form registering the license plate numbers of all their vehicles. Most homeowners have complied and the new parking system appears to be working. There is free street parking outside our Complex and so far the families who owned multiple cars are utilizing either their garages or street parking or both.

However, we have a homeowner who has three vehicles; parks one in his garage and TWO in the common area parking spaces. He refuses to put two cars in his garage (even though they fit...) . This homeowner has a friend inside the Complex who doesn't need his parking sticker so he gave or loaned his sticker to his friend so he could park TWO vehicles in the common area parking spaces. The new parking R&Rs, to be fair to everyone, clearly states only one ONE parking sticker permit to a homeowner.

We are considering doing an addendum to our new parking rules adding that homeowner's may not give or loan their sticker to another homeowner within the Complex, allowing them to park more than one vehicle. And, if they do, there will be a citation/fine.

Who is the offending party, and gets cited/fined in this case?
The homeowner who loaned or gave away his sticker?
Or, the homeowner that is using it allowing them to park TWO vehicles in the common area parking spaces?

THANKS!

I would treat it the same way that many states treat their handicap parking permits. If a person loans his or her permit to another individual to whom it was not issued, they forfeit the permit.

Millie,

Let me put it this way,

If you had guests coming in from out of town and needed the use of an extra parking space and your neighbor said "Use mine, I'm not using it during that time frame" would that be allowed?

If it would, the premise of this issue is no different. The guests (i.e. the member) is just staying a little longer.

Since your rule is specific - one car per homeowner - I would say the sticker is non-transferable because the rule is clear. If someone doesn't use their sticker then too bad. There are more properties then spaces so this area is not to be treated as a permanent parking place and more of a temporary overflow lot. If anything I would adopt rules requiring homeowners to primarily park their cars either in their garage, driveway, or street. I would also include a limit on consecutive days a car could be parked there and state the consequences - fines, suspension, towing, etc.