Revising Parking Policies

Started by DavidW40 • 6 replies • 355 views

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DavidW40 (Pennsylvania)
Posts: 1

Posted:

Our HOA committee is thinking of revising our parking policy in order to deal with a limited but present reality of people with more cars than parking space. We have a policy that street parking is for guests only and owners must park in their own garage/driveway (overnight, etc.). But we have at least two owners that have three cars while only having two spaces (single car garage and driveway). Therefore those in need of extra space for any period of time are in violation and end up having to pay fines. We are thinking it makes more sense to develop a policy that allows people to purchase a parking permit to use what is otherwise designated as guest parking rather than continue to fine them. I'm looking for others who provide for such exceptions to parking policy, how you work it, and potential reasonable amounts to charge people for a permit to park the extra car in spaces other than their own driveway. Any suggestions or policies?
thanks.

ElleN (Idaho)
Posts: 4,420

Posted:

I believe studies will show that allowing owners to rent a part of common area such that they have three or more spaces (personal driveway and garage + any other rented common area space) to park vehicles en masse only //promotes// people owning more vehicles. This leads to parking congestion. The poor dolts who believe in simplicity and are happy with one or two vehicles per home get to suffer from the greedy's desire to take ownership (in effect) of more of the common area. It's an example of the Tragedy of the Commons.

CathyA3 (Ohio)
Posts: 6,299

Posted:

Things we considered when we amended our parking restriction:

* The revised restriction had to be both workable and reasonably enforceable.

* Consider traffic flow, safety (parked cars blocking views) and potential issues if emergency vehicles are delayed.

* Per our attorney: people knew there was limited parking when they bought in our community. The burden is on the buyer to choose housing that meets their needs - if their housing doesn't meet their needs, it doesn't become someone else's problem to solve.

* I agree with ElleN: whatever behavior you reward, you'll get more of.

* Assuming your streets are common elements, if you give someone permanent access to a portion of that space you're converting the space into limited (exclusive use) common elements. This amounts to an unapproved/unlawful amendment to your CC&Rs. Any parking policy has to be consistent with your CC&Rs.

I sympathize: parking issues are a pain in the keister. Our CC&Rs forbid street parking, period. We have signage throughout the community saying "No Street Parking". People park next to the danged signs... /smh

KerryL1 (California)
Posts: 14,550

Posted:

Cathy wrote: "* Assuming your streets are common elements, if you give someone permanent access to a portion of that space you're converting the space into limited (exclusive use) common elements. This amounts to an unapproved/unlawful amendment to your CC&Rs. Any parking policy has to be consistent with your CC&Rs."

To her point, allowing any individual home to have permanent access to parking, "renting' it from the HOA or not, that should be available for all residents is simply unjust. It privileges some at the expense of others who may want a spot for their true guests as specified in your CC&Rs.

Wait. Is this "Parking Policy," simply a policy? Or is it in your CC&Rs? Or is it in your Rules & Regulations? Who Owns the streets? What is the "HOA committee?" The board? Or a committee with a name?

KerryL1 (California)
Posts: 14,550

Posted:

Cathy wrote: "* Assuming your streets are common elements, if you give someone permanent access to a portion of that space you're converting the space into limited (exclusive use) common elements. This amounts to an unapproved/unlawful amendment to your CC&Rs. Any parking policy has to be consistent with your CC&Rs."

To her point, allowing any individual home to have permanent access to such parking, "renting' it from the HOA or not, that should be available for all residents is simply unjust. It privileges some at the expense of others who may want a spot for their true guests as specified in your CC&Rs, but none are available nearby.

Re: a different matter, our HOA attorney advised us in writing that the Board should not support any policy that is unfair to any group of owners.

Wait. Is this "Parking Policy," simply a policy? Or is it in your CC&Rs? Or is it in your Rules & Regulations? Who owns the streets? What is the "HOA committee?" The board? Or a committee with a name?

CathyA3 (Ohio)
Posts: 6,299

Posted:

This will probably be very dependent on what the CC&Rs say.

For mine (condo community) there doesn't appear to be anything giving the board the right to do something like rent out common area. In fact, the article dealing with homeowner rights and responsibilities says that all owners are entitled to use all of the common area for any purpose for which it's designed, and that *no owner may interfere with another owner's rights to so use the common area". This last bit I think would forbid renting out common space to individual owners.

The other difficulty we'd have is that limited/exclusive use common area must be maintained, repaired, and replaced by the individual owner who has the right to use it. I know other condo communities do this differently (ie. the association maintains common area and limited common area) - these communities may be able to reserve space for individual owners.

This is why I said that any parking policy has to agree with the CC&Rs - the board can't take away rights or grant rights that don't exist.

(This is one of those questions that would be perfect for an AI "lawyer".)

MaxB4
Posts: 3,513

Posted:

I have a few HOAs I manage that have boilerplate language that restricts RVs, trailers, boats, etc. But the CCRs also give the HOA the right to create its own set of parking rules. Some have taken maybe 8 of the guest parking spaces and allow cars within specific criteria to rent the space for about $25.00 a month.

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