Garage and controlling it's use

We're in Virginia and have noticed that in the newer communities (regardless of whether they are S.F, Garage T.H., non-garage T.H., or condo garage), that the CCR's spell it out very clearly that the garage must be used for a garage and used as a primary space. Unfortunately, whenever you have a mix of garage and non-garage with open visitor spaces in a 15 year old community, the Garage townhome owners are adamant about using the visitor spaces as convenience spaces and do not use their garage as a primary space. . We know that with the Condo's that this is a limited common element, so the space is subject to inspections by the COA; but with Fee-Simple, S.F. attached Townhomes, how would you write the resolution, or structure the language, so that it forces the residents to use their own garage as a primary space? It's unfortunate that many of our garages aren't really garages any more (Storage etct) and those owners are effectively trampling the rights of the other residents in our community. Does anyone live in a newer VA community with DOCS that force the owner to use their garage as primary space instead of using the visitor spaces as primary parking? If so I would love to see any language that spells this out and how difficult is this to enforce.

Mike, one suggestion towards an end... most local/state municipal agencies, have "density" criteria for builders/developers with regards to parking. There must be "X" number of available spaces, for "Y" number of adults residing in a structure. I think that the "magical" number that I keep hearing is "2.3" spaces for a structure. If this applies to your jurisdiction.. having all owner's register their vehicles with the HOA may relieve some of the issues. It will not stop abusers from parking in guest/visitor parking spaces, but it will tell the HOA how many vehicles you have in the community. Any vehicles which are not properly registered with the HOA are subject to enforcement actions. From there you would need to set-up how you want your community's parking policy to read. Not a "bulls-eye" solution, but one that often gets residents to thinking about parking and the number of vehicles they own versus the spaces they have. Outside of parking policies, you would be required to "police" the number of garages turned into "other" spaces by residents.

Another problem controlling use of garages is that most CC&Rs forbid outside storage buildings, so that owners are forced to store Christmas stuff, sports and garden equipment, etc etc in the garage. If you really want people to use their garage for storing vehicles the CC&Rs need to become more lenient with outside storage buildings. Harold

Yes, Brad I seen it all as well. From rooms, Exercise rooms, childrens Play areas, routine Professional automobile repairs (including engine R&R), furniture restoration, you name it.. I've seen it. I will put an end to this.

Hi Jade - Yes, we've been done the "registration road". It was a nightmare and yes, unfornately, the Zoning dept is fixated on 2.3 spaces which includes the garage and driveway. Lesson's learned here is... Don't ever buy a townhome in a community that is a mix of garages and non-garages in the same general area. Another problem now is that a lot of country cadillacs would fit in some of the small garages. Now they are parking large SUVs, Yukons, Tahoes, EXpeditions, Navigators, Hummers and such in the visitor spaces. These spaces were never sized for this type of vehicle and it's almost impossible to open a door without dinging another vehicle.

Mike not an issue on the spellcheck, most folks here are getting to "bifocal" age anyway. I was going to suggest that you require owners to enter/exit via "Dukes of Hazzard" style (windows) instead of using vehicle doors.

Parking is a nightmare in some communities, because the developer/builder (as with just about everything else) builds to the minimum of code, and often times nothing more. This free's up space for additional homes/units and greater profit - but causes inconvenience for owners once they move in. In our community, the sales staff NEVER parked their personal vehicles in the model's garages, and they all had euro/asian imports, not caddies or trucks.

I would suggest the parking decal system, but then you would have the headaches of towing charges, "refereeing" towed vehicles, tow operators, and owners/residents - if there was a questionable hitch. Depending on size of your community, you could move parking to "ARC" committe for enforcement/inspections. Also there is the option of having a separate "parking enforcement" committee.

If all else fails, NYC just audtioned of a $225k parking space in Manhattan, so maybe "selling" reserved spots in the community might move folks to understand the parking issues, and how it relates to usage of garages for parking and not "other."

LOL - AMen on the $30,000 truck parked outside in the elements.

Jade - We tried the permit system, and unfortunately it failed out. Here in VA, here's how our CCR's work with single family or townhomes (This does not apply to condos). If the board passes a rule that the member's don't like, the can get a petition with 10% of the members signatures and make the board call a for a special vote where all the members vote. Whoever wins usually is the most motivated (or obsessed). In this case, there was a great deal of proxy fraud and even though most folks liked the permit system, they were asleep at the switch and never voted. It wasn't until after the vote that some folks said "what happened to the permit system"? Next year, I'm trying to get the HOA to move toward a secure web-based voting system. I'm sure that more states will outlaw proxies and more HOAs will move in this direction.

Well, here's the only language so far that I can find on use of garages, but I think that it may be a little weak. The biggest problem stems from owners that use the garage for junk storage and I suppose that we can term this use as simply "Storage". Here's what I would like to try to use and there is no conflict with our CCRs. "Garages. No garage on a Lot shall be converted to living space or altered or used for purposes which would prevent the use of the garage for the parking of the intended number of vehicles for which is was constructed without the prior written approval of the Covenants Committee."

sooooo ...... are now the NAZIs telling us where to park ?

next ...... what color to paint our home !

where our children may or may not play !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

hooray for freedom and its pursuit

let the debate begin

ps. this began with a question, not a statement

;)