Board Does Not Want to Enforce Byalws/Rules & Regs on Parking

I will try to keep tis short and to the point. Our development in a condo/townehome development of 40 homes, three priviate streets. No parking on the street allowed. For several months now one of the board members have parked cars on the street (son and girlfriend who now live with him). One of the homeowners have been taking pictures of his parking in the street and sending to MC and MC sending to me President of Board to report to the board. I have done so. This has infuriated the board member.

The board member says he has no other place to park because everyone takes up the visitors spaces (which they do). One car is in the garage and two on his driveway. Only one is suppose to park in a cutout but we have many residents that refuse to park in the driveway. He said he does not want to enforce parking rules/bylaws any longer and has one other board member agreeing with him.

Can the Board not enforce the bylaws/rules and regs? My understanding of the duty of a board member and I have been one for almost 9 years is that is what our duty is. Can a board member just refuse to not follow the rules and remain on the board? We cannot continue sending warning letters & fines to residents but not the board member!!!

thanks for any advice you can give me.

Yes, but they won't ticket vehicles parked in the street because we own the roads, not the town. The only time they will step in is when a vehicle is not registered or the registration has expired.

Maureen

since the board member does not want to abide by the rules, he wants the board not to send letters or fine residents for parking violations. You can't pick and chose which bylaws/rules you are going to enforce and so far one board member agrees. I sent an email stating that if these board members do not want to enforce the bylaws/convenants then I want it in writing and it to be documented. There are five board members. 2 are in agreement. Have not heard from the other 2. .

Our Management company sent out an email stating that residents have been fined and asked me to send him my emails when the violations were reported!!! He is adding fuel to the fire. he would like it if he didn't have to send violation letters, less work for him to do and he doesn't do that much as it is.

The board is meeting on parking in February. Should the board member who is breaking the rules, due to his own circumstances changing and he now has five vehicles on property abstain from voting on limiting vehicles that a unit can park on property. He does not have the developments best interest in mind. Just his own. Our attorney is researching whether the Board has authority on this decision or we need to have our membership vote.

thoughts?

MaureenM1,

You are free to enforce any restrictions found in the Covenant yourself.

There do exist courts of law.

However, it is much easier to 'pawn off' the enforcement and sit back and complain.

? Why have YOU not run for a position on the BOD ?

! I am sure that your neighbors would be thrilled to have a parking enforcement agent as a director !

I have been a board member since 2007 and President since 2009 to present.

My neighborhood has 132 townhomes and 34 parking spaces (1 in 4 homes has access to visitor parking) so it's not ample parking. We had residents using our visitor spaces all the time, and a previous board created 3rd vehicle "exception" passes. It was a mess! We have cleaned it up somewhat. It's tight, but better than when I got onto the BOD.
Here is how it works:
1)If you have a 3rd vehicle (and a true necessity) you can ask for an exception pass. Meaning, that you can't have 2 drivers in a house and a 3rd car as a collection piece.
2)The maximum number of exception passes allowed for the neighborhood is 11. After that people are told they go on a waiting list. No household can have more than one exception pass.
The next item is what I want to introduce this year:
3) For the wear and tear to the visitor spaces, the people holding the exception pass pays monthly for the space. The money collected goes to the paving fund for repairs.

If I may suggest something. When I first came onto the BOD, we had all visitor spaces used by residents ALL the time. They had a volunteer "parking committee"...long story short, the system did not work. We changed it by mailing the new rules to all homeowners.
1) All cars had to be registered with the MC. They got a decal to display in the windshield.
2) Visitor spaces are for visitors ONLY. If a random tow comes through and sees a resident in a visitor space, they are towed. They are towed for blocking the sidewalk too (it's against all City, County and Federal laws in the USA.
3)If a vehicle is parked without a visitor pass displayed clearly, they are towed. Our passes are good for 3 days, 3 nights. If you need an extension, call MC.
4)No street parking. Again, they are towed. Tapping someone's wallet gets their attention. We cleaned the place up within a month. Renters said they weren't told anything. Our response was that your homeowner is responsible for giving you information. They were taking the $200. tow fee out of next month's rent.

In my area, there was a neighborhood where people parked on the street, against their bylaws. Someone called 911. The fire trucks and paramedics could not get to the house. They had to stay at the gate and run in because of street parking. The patient passed away. The family sued the County for a slow response time. The County countered and sued the HOA for allowing street parking thereby blocking access. The County won and the HOA is broke. DO NOT ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN TO YOU.
And finally! In FL you are now required to sign an affidavit saying that you understand that as a board member, you will uphold the CC&R. Maybe you can get something like this going in your neighborhood even though you may not have to. It gives people a sense of responsibility. As President, you must lead the clean-up campaign. Those rules are there to keep your property values up.

However, such a decision would be that of the whole board.
If the other 4 believe that the rules should be enforced, it doesn't matter what this individual wants to do. The Board makes decisions by majority voting.