Creating Parking Rules

Hi. I've been lurking here for a while and have learned a lot. Thank you for that. I am on the Board of a new Townhouse community in Oregon. We have 139 units and each has either a 1 or 2 car garage. We only have 33 outdoor spaces in the complex for overflow and visitors.

Our current rules state that owners must use their garage for parking only - no storage. We have several owners that have more cars than they have room for in their garage, so they are taking up the overflow spaces which leaves no room for visitors. Parking outside the complex is very inconvenient.

We want to write a rule that limits how many overflow spaces each owner could use. For instance, we have 3 owners that have a total of 10 cars, but only 4 garage spaces. That means they're parking 6 cars outside in the overflow area. That is just one example, there are several like that.

If we limit each owner to only 1 overflow space, how difficult is it going to be to enforce? We can't assign spaces because we only have 33 spaces for 139 units.

We're confused on how to word the rule. Do we say that if an owner is using an outside space and the car isn't registered, we will tow after 2 warnings? And if there are 2 cars outside that are registered to the same unit, we will tow after 2 warnings?

Then, how do we keep track? Just keep walking the complex writing down license plates?

All the Board members are quite inexperienced and our Management company is only a little help. I appreciate any advise. Thanks.

How many residents are causing this problem?
Are these teen or young adults in the home?
Is this going to be a growing problem, or does the overparking problem ebb and flow?

You only have 33 extra spaces, but there are 139 residents. That does not even begin to meet visitors needs.
you said that it is "incovenient" to park outside the complex. I say that SOME people are going to have to be inconvenienced, so that the others can have some kind of normalcy.

Put up a few of the extra spaces for a large fee. The needs of the larger community should take precidence over those who are outside the "norm" of your community.

We have the same problem in our townhome (condominium) community. We have 110 units and 23 overflow/visitor spaces. The developer originally only gave us 21, with 2 handicapped spaces, but we converted one of the handicapped spaces into 2 general parking spaces giving us 23. I know of another townhome community in our area that actually restricts each unit to only 2 vehicles...I only wish our covenants did.

We do have a rule requiring residents to park in their garage and their driveway before being allowed to park in the overflow spaces, but it is a constant battle to keep up with. If they’re parked in the overflow, then you have to check their driveway, and if their garage is closed, how do you know whether a car’s in there or not? We’ve never actually towed anyone for this particular violation, but we have ticketed cars of repeat offenders and then they go back to following the rules…for a while. We also require that all residents submit their vehicle information and display a decal. We have a nightly security patrol and one of their duties is to record the license tag & decal of each vehicle parked in the overflow spaces. I’ve included our parking rules for your reference. Hope this helps!

Parking and Commercial Vehicles:
• Residents may not use garages for storage or any other purpose, making them unusable for parking. Overflow/visitor parking may not be used by residents instead of garage and driveway parking. Residents with more than two cars may use the overflow/visitor parking only if vehicles are parked in the garage and driveway of their unit. 1st offense – warning, 2nd offense – towed.

Violations of the policies listed below will result in immediate towing without warning.
• NO parking on the street, sidewalks or in the grass (Refer to sign at entrance).
• NO obstructing a resident’s ability to enter or exit their driveway.
• NO parking within 15 feet of a fire hydrant.
• NO motor homes, trailers, recreational vehicles, boats, campers, commercial vans or trucks may be parked on the premises unless fully enclosed in the garage.

Please also note that parking at the end of the streets is not allowed and violators will be towed without warning. Signs are posted.

All residents are required to complete a vehicle registration form and display a parking decal in the rear window of their vehicle.

No maintenance or repair shall be done to any such vehicles.

You might be able to use bits and pieces of the following to write your rules.