Commercial Vehicles and Emergency Vehicles

Regarding Commercial vehicles and California Law:

We have had issues with what is considered commercial vehicles in our community the Rules and Regulations clearly state in the eyes of vehicles. Most homeowners do not have any issues with a truck that has a rack or a box in the back, but there are one or two that do.

One of the homeowners has been cited for a commercial vehicle, however a letter from their attorney states that since the Rules are ambiguous and this is not included then they are ok.

One of my concerns are that the board has ben directed from legal to change the rules to include this vehicle, mind you we have been in numerios meetings with this homeowner. I do not think it is a good idea to change the rules mid steam. Legal has also stated that the variances that were previously given to Emergency vehicles once expired should not be renewed. It is my understanding that AB 1760 (FRAZIER). PARKING: EMERGENCY VEHICLES.
This bill would add Civil Code Section 4721 to make a prohibition or restriction in the governing documents void and unenforceable as it relates to the parking of an emergency vehicle owned or under the control of a member.

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB1760

Is there any reason why the board can not allow these types of vehicles and only disallow the ones cited below in the rules?
It is my opinion that if the Board makes this change they will be setting themselves up for a lawsuit.

PREFECT: The Board has already given a variance for Campers and Toy Haulers TO BE PARKED IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD FOR A 7 DAY PERIOD

RULES AND REGULATIONS:
Parking, Vehicular Restrictions, and Garages Pursuant to Article 8, Section 2.5 of the CC&R’s, the following criteria applies to parking and vehicular restrictions:
a) Prohibited Vehicles: None of the following shall be parked, stored or kept within Briarwood: any large commercial type vehicle, including but not limited to, any dump truck, cement mixer truck, oil or gas truck or delivery truck, any recreational vehicles, including, but not limited to, any camper unit, house/car, motor home or off-road vehicle; any bus, trailer coach, camp trailer, boat, aircraft, mobile home; any inoperable vehicle or any other similar vehicle; or any vehicular equipment, mobile or otherwise, constituting a nuisance. No prohibited vehicle shall be parked, stored or kept on any Home Site except either; (a) wholly within an enclosed garage, and then only if the garage door is capable of being fully closed; or (b) in the case of a motor home or similar recreational vehicle of reasonable and customary size, in the side or rear yard of a Home Site only and out of view from any street or other Home Site behind a privacy screen (comprised of fencing, walls, landscaping or a combination thereof) approved by the Architectural Committee. Prohibited vehicles shall not be allowed in any driveway or other exposed parking areas or street, except for the purposes of loading, unloading, making deliveries or emergency repairs, provided that no Transitory Use shall extend over more than twenty-four (24) hours during any seven (7) consecutive days.
b) Garages: Garages shall be used for the purpose of parking the number of vehicles permitted, if and when an Owner has fewer vehicles than the garage will accommodate, the extra space in the garage may be used for temporary uses that would not prevent the garage space from later being used for parking of a vehicle. Street parking shall be permitted for guest parking or for the Owner or resident of a Home Site as long as the vehicle is not a Prohibited Vehicle; provided, all other vehicles of the guest, Owner or resident of a Home Site are first parked or stored in the garage and then the driveway.

I can see how neighbors playing loud music or loud yelling or wild parties can be considered a nuisance, but how does a vehicle become a nuisance?

I would want an 18 wheeler in my neighborhood, but our economy has changed over the past 40 years or so and more and more people have become independent plumbers and electricians, who do what they do to pay the mortgage, put food on the table and pay their HOA dues.

The vehicle is a Chevy Silverado HD Work truck Like attached, it has no markings or logos just plain.

Melissa, it is just because they think it is considered a commercial vehicle, but they have also considered a dually truck a commercial vehicle.

Is it wise to change the rules when the board is currently in lawyer notices with the residents. The vehicle is not an eyesore nor is is blocking traffic, the owner typically Parkes it in the driveway so it is not on the street.

Where I live has one of those monsters in the parking lot pretty regularly. I think it might be worth your while to read the following California Supreme Court opinion,
Bernardo Villas Management Corp. v. Black (1987), https://law.justia.com/cases/california/court-of-appeal/3d/190/153.html . Richard may have had the latter in mind when he posted.

Every few months we go round and round on what is a commercial vehicle and we never arrive at a one size fits all answer and we never will.

My last association was more into signage and rigging than actual vehicle style. A Ford F450 (6 wheels) with no signage nor equipment rigging was not considered a commercial vehicle. An Austin Mini with a sign on it was considered a commercial vehicle.

We had two identical mini-vans. One had a sign saying Airport Shuttle and the other had no signage. We ruled the Airport Shuttle was a commercial vehicle.

Basically a commercial vehicle is what an association says it is until their decision is legally challenged.

Probably wouldn't stand up in court if challenged.

You need to read the case above, as it become case law when challenged. These times are a changin.

@richard:

the case in point involved a p/u WITH A 'SHELL'



from ca dmv:

An "automobile" is a passenger vehicle that does not transport persons for hire. This includes station wagons, sedans, vans, and sport utility vehicles. Vehicle Code Section 465.

A "commercial vehicle" is a vehicle which is used or maintained for the transportation of persons for hire, compensation, or profit or designed, used, or maintained primarily for the transportation of property (for example, trucks and pickups). Vehicle Code Section 260. (a 'shell' installed unto a 1/2 ton p/u enables registration EITHER as commercial or passenger vehicle)

I have a 2018 RAM 3500 registered as a passenger vehicle

It's the reasoning at the end of the 1987 California opinion that holds my attention:

"Beauty--even with cars--is in the eye of the beholder. In this world where those persons concerned with upwardly mobile status frequently drive off-road vehicles including well-appointed jeeps or pickup trucks, we think the trial court's ruling is eminently sensible. The pickup truck, often both comfortable and economical, has become for many the equivalent of the convertible in earlier years. As times change, cultural perceptions--including society's acceptance of certain types of vehicles--also change. The pickup truck no longer has a pejorative connotation. One person's Bronco II is another's Rolls-Royce."

It is not binding on other states, of course. However from my reading, nationwide from time to time covenants are thrown out as being unreasonable. I am not talking about covenants like savagely oppressive, and now long outlawed, racial or religious restrictions. I am talking about covenants that reflect the physical accoutrements of old lifestyles.

I think the points in the California decision are sound. Richard's elaboration on this is consistent with my own take. If I were on the board faced with these decisions, I would be giving attention to people needing to make a living; how pickups and SUVs have become fashionable and sometimes, are needed for income; how it seems everyone in the Texas and the U. S. Southwest has a pickup; and so on. I'd try to weigh this against the fact that the covenants are a contract, people having bought into the HOA on the assumption the covenants are Thee Law. But of course, some covenants issues are not always that black and white. Significantly, one can roll the dice on a trial court and sometimes even an appeals court. It's best to avoid both. As many here have noted over the years, it is hard to say what a court would say in similar situations in any given state.

You have PROVEN your ability to reason