Commercial vehicles

Our CCRs state “no commercial vehicles” may be parked in the development overnight by residents, but now our board is conflicted because some members only want vehicles requiring a class B license to be covered. Neighbors have complained about the vehicles with company logos and phone numbers parked in the streets. How do you define commercial vehicles?

Brett

My last HOA ((Mount Pleasant SC) were single family homes with oversize double car garages. We also did not allow outside, overnight parking of commercial vehicles. Any vehicle with any signage was considered commercial. Two identical vans. One had no signs. One had Airport Shuttle sign. We ruled the Airport Shuttle one to be commercial. The shuttle guy was smart. He bought a magnetic backed, blank sign to cover his sign. We had a real estate agent with a sign on the back window of their SUV. We ruled it commercial. They were real upset and threatened all sort of crap. Our attorney wrote them a letter and they stopped complaining. They cleaned out their garage and parked in there. We had someone complain about a Police Car being parked out overnight in a driveway as it had signage on it. We ruled it a safety vehicle and allowed it to park outside. We also did not allow any vehicle to be parked overnight on a street.

Bottom line is we enforced the parking restrictions and not all were happy.

My present HOA consists of standalone patio homes and not every home has a garage. We have no restrictions about parking commercial vehicles in ones's driveway. We do not allow any vehicle to be parked overnight on a street.

try this from 'my' CCRs:

ARTICLE VII

USE RESTRICTIONS

Section 1. Land Use. All Lots shall be used for residential purposes only. No Lot may be
subdivided or its boundaries changed where the result would be a decrease in the size of any Lot,
without the written approval of the Board of Directors.

Section 2. Parking.
(a) All Lots have parking spaces for a minimum of two (2) vehicles. Parking of any
vehicles on lawns, by residents or guests, is prohibited.
(b) No commercial vehicles*, campers, trucks and vans over 3/4 ton, recreational vehicles,
trailers, boats, tractors, motorcycles, motor scooters (other than electric wheelchairs)
or ATV's may be parked or kept overnight where they are visible (covered or
uncovered) on any residential Lot;

(c) Temporary parking is available at the Clubhouse parking lot and long-term parking is
available in the RV Storage Area for the vehicles described above. Parking in these
areas is at your own risk. Owners of vehicles parked in the RV area are required to
identify such vehicles on a form provided by the Board of Directors for the purpose of
insurance protection.

* A commercial vehicle is any vehicle outfitted with utility/tool boxes, equipment
racks/devices, as well as stake bodies/beds used for the storage/transport of
machinery/equipment/supplies.

Probably a good question for the HOA attorney, but I would fine her and let her police union attorney fight the fine. She probably has some statutory ability to park her police car in her driveway contrary to any HOA prohibition against other placarded vehicles. But that doesn't apply to parking on the grass because she wants to.

Who said for the HOA to go up against the PD? This is a civil manner involving the HOA and that particular owner. If the PD got involved they would likely be breaking laws. The HO is claiming she can park on the lawn based on her unions lawyer (not an attorney contected to the PD).

It is likelu that neither the union nor the PD will want anything to do with this, in fact her chief may rebuke her

And you say that the PD would get involved in defending one of their officers from a civil fine for parking on a lawn? In fact, a better way for the OP to go would be take a photo and talk to the local newspaper.

Nice passive aggresive answer on your part too

That makes no sense in regards to the question by the OP

Point taken

Unless your governing docs or local/state laws provide for an exception, then those vehicles would not be allowed. If the association were to allow them, other members who are denied the ability to have their commercial vehicles could use selective enforcement as a defense against any action taken by the association.

No problem with parking on the grass...yet.
We are looking at the possibility of changing the definition of commercial vehicle or allowing commercial vehicles under a certain tonnage.
Right now no trucks/vehicles over 1.5 tons are allowed. The vehicles in question are 1 ton dual wheel with a bucket or a box.
This is the first subdivision with an HOA in this small country town so we've got some growing pains going on.
This tight rope is a fine line for sure.

A commercial vehicle is any vehicle outfitted with utility/tool boxes, equipment
racks/devices, as well as stake bodies/beds used for the storage/transport of
machinery/equipment/supplies.

"covered"

.....(b) No commercial vehicles*, campers, trucks and vans over 3/4 ton, recreational vehicles,
trailers, boats, tractors, motorcycles, motor scooters (other than electric wheelchairs)
or ATV's may be parked or kept overnight where they are visible (covered or
uncovered) on any residential Lot; .....

* A commercial vehicle is any vehicle outfitted with utility/tool boxes, equipment
racks/devices, as well as stake bodies/beds used for the storage/transport of
machinery/equipment/supplies.

I made the same mistake as you, and went off on a tangential subject.

But I'll follow, and you are correct, or at least mostly so.

There could very well be state or local laws which exempt off duty officers from parking (police) vehicles in a HOA due to signage prohibitions. These signage prohibitions mat appear on the CC&Rs with no mention of police vehicles, but they would be exempt by statute.

The police union normally deals with labor or behavior issues at the government level. They can also get involved if the governing body of the union feels that an officer is being mistreated by a non-government body or business solely because they are an officer. That is clearly not the case here, nobody is allowed to park on the lawn, and their almost certainly not a statutory exemption allowing police vehicles not on duty in an emergence response to park on lawns.

I also don't think the chief would be happy either. This is why you don't take legal advice from the police, they are as likely wrong as they are right, otherwise they're would be no need for courts.

The one thing the HOA can't do is tow the police car. But the officer could be fined every single day she parks any vehicle on the lawn. And to contest this she would have to appear in court with a lawyer on her dime. If she appears in small claims court, the judge won't care what the police union lawyer told her, he or she will only care about the law and the CC&Rs.

On the topic of commercial vehicles, no one has a definitive meaning of commercial.

I have a RAM 3500 with a tool box and bed, but it is not used to haul tool or equipment for business. I have a hitch inside the bed used to transport a 5th wheeler. It also does not carry commercial plates.

One of the reasons I choose to never live in a HOA again.

Commercial Vehicle: a vehicle used for commerce

Commerce: the exchange or buying and selling of commodities or labor involving transportation from place to place

food for thought:



as per: INSURE

In SC one can apply for commercial plates for their private vehicle as they allow 1/2 hour parking in a Loading Zone. Having commercial plates does not, in my view, make it a commercial vehicle.

Hey All,

Update on exceptions to the commercial vehicle issue we are dealing with through on HOA committee.
I took the advice of someone on this thread and looked into State and/or local laws which will supersede any HOA rules.
I did find this law pass by the Arizona legislature.
I haven't found one in Texas, but we are looking at the verbiage in this law and determining if we can utilize it in our own HOA situation.
We are considering expanding the exemption to include commercial/bucket trucks to a certain weight/height/length and must be parked in the driveway.

Here's Arizona's law:
https://www.azleg.gov/ars/33/01809.htm
33-1809. Parking; public service and public safety emergency vehicles; definition

A. Notwithstanding any provision in the community documents, an association shall not prohibit a resident from parking a motor vehicle on a street or driveway in the planned community if the vehicle is required to be available at designated periods at the person's residence as a condition of the person's employment and either of the following applies:

1. The resident is employed by a public service corporation that is regulated by the corporation commission, an entity regulated by the federal energy regulatory commission or a municipal utility and the public service corporation or municipal utility is required to prepare for emergency deployments of personnel and equipment for repair or maintenance of natural gas, electrical, telecommunications or water infrastructure, the vehicle has a gross vehicle weight rating of twenty thousand pounds or less and is owned or operated by the public service corporation or municipal utility and the vehicle bears an official emblem or other visible designation of the public service corporation or municipal utility.

2. The resident is employed by a public safety agency, including police or fire service for a federal, state, local or tribal agency or a private fire service provider or an ambulance service provider that is regulated pursuant to title 36, chapter 21.1, and the vehicle has a gross vehicle weight rating of ten thousand pounds or less and bears an official emblem or other visible designation of that agency.

B. For the purposes of this section, "telecommunications" means the transmission of information of the user's choosing between or among points specified by the user without change in the form or content of the information as sent and received. Telecommunications does not include commercial mobile radio services.