What to do with too many cars?

Here are some documents that are relevant:

Parking Rule (regulation)
For safety and aesthetic reasons, parking on any street in xxxx Estates is discouraged.
The order of preference for parking of motor vehicles is as follows; in the garage, on the
driveway of the house, on an approved driveway extension, or on the right hand side of the
street. Parking in landscaping is prohibited. Overnight parking on the street, between the hours
1:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. is STRICTLY PROHIBITED. The homeowner is responsible for the
parking of their guests/occupants.

CC&R
4.15 Vehicles and Parking.
As used in this Section: (a) "Motor Vehicle" means a car, van, sport utility vehicle, bus, truck, recreational vehicle, motor home, motorcycle, all terrain vehicle, utility vehicle, pickup truck or other motor vehicle; and (b) “Streets” means the streets shown on the Plat.
No mobile home, travel trailer, tent trailer, trailer, camper shell, boat trailer or other similar equipment or vehicle may be parked, kept or stored on the Common Area. No mobile home, travel trailer, tent trailer, trailer, camper shell, boat trailer or other similar equipment may be parked, kept or stored on any Lot so as to be Visible From Neighboring Property.
Except as permitted by this Section, no Motor Vehicle may be parked, kept or stored on any Lot or the Common Area. No Motor Vehicles designed or used for carrying merchandise, supplies or equipment for commercial purposes may be parked on the Common Area or on a Lot, except for the temporary parking of the Motor Vehicles of contractors, subcontractors, suppliers or vendors of the Association or the Owners, Lessees or Residents.
It is the intent of this Section to limit parking on the Streets. No Motor Vehicle owned or leased by an Owner, Lessee or Resident of a Lot may be parked on the Streets if space for the parking of the Motor Vehicle is available in any of the following areas: (a) the garage or carport situated on the Lot of the Owner, Lessee or Resident; (b) the driveway on the Lot constructed as part of the initial construction of Improvements on the Lot by the Declarant; or (c) a driveway expansion constructed on the Lot with the approval of the Design Review Committee.
It is also the intent of this Section to limit the parking of Motor Vehicles owned or leased by an Owner, Lessee or Resident of the Lot in the driveway and in any driveway expansion situated on the Lot. Accordingly, Motor Vehicles owned or leased by an Owner, Lessee or Resident of a Lot must be parked in the garage or carport situated on the Lot to the extent space is available in the garage or carport for the parking of such Motor Vehicles. If space is not available in the garage or carport, then Motor Vehicles owned or leased by an Owner, Lessee or Resident of a Lot may be parked on the driveway constructed as part of the initial construction of Improvements on the Lot by the Declarant. Parking of Motor Vehicles owned or leased by an Owner, Lessee or Resident of a Lot may only be parked on a driveway expansion constructed with the approval of the Design Review Committee if space for the parking of such Motor Vehicles is not available either in the garage or carport or in the driveway constructed as part of the initial construction or Improvements on the Lot by the Declarant. The parking of a Motor Vehicle owned or leased by and Owner, Lessee or Resident of a Lot on a driveway expansion is also subject to such rules and regulations as may be adopted by the Board.
No Motor Vehicle of any kind may be stored on a Lot except in a garage, and no Motor Vehicle of any kind may be stored on the Common Area. For purposes of illustration but not of limitation, a Motor Vehicle shall be deemed stored if it is covered by a car cover, tarp or other material. Motor Vehicles owned by guests of an Owner, Lessee or other Resident may be parked in the driveway on a Lot or on the Streets or in designated parking spaces on the Common Area.
Recreational vehicles, motor homes and similar vehicles owned or leased by an Owner, Lessee or Resident may be parked in the driveway on a Lot for the purpose of loading or unloading, subject to such limitations as may be established by the Board.
No Motor Vehicle shall be constructed, reconstructed or repaired on any Lot in such a manner as to be Visible From Neighboring Property, and no inoperable Motor Vehicle may be stored or parked on any Lot in such a manner as to be Visible From Neighboring Property. Except for emergency repairs, no Motor Vehicle shall be constructed, reconstructed or repaired on the Streets or any other part of the Common Area. No inoperable Motor Vehicle may be stored or parked on the Streets or any other part of the Common Area.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this Section to the contrary, no Motor Vehicle may be parked on a driveway if the length of the Motor Vehicle exceeds the length of the driveway or if the Motor Vehicle encroaches upon or obstructs access across the sidewalk adjacent to the driveway.
The Board shall have the right and power to adopt rules and regulations governing and further restricting the parking of Motor Vehicles on Lots or the Streets and implementing the provisions of this Section. In the event of any conflict or inconsistency between the provisions of this Section and the rules and regulations adopted by the Board of Directors, the provisions of this Section shall control.

Your post states "on an approved driveway extension". Is there room to add parking on a driveway extension which is beside the existing driveway? If so, is it acceptable? If not, they need to find an acceptable parking spot (perhaps rent a driveway space from a neighbor).

I just looked. They do not have enough room for an extension to their driveway.

I am not sure what you are asking, but there is a driveway up to the garage. The driveway is big enough to allow 2 cars to park side by side without being over the sidewalk. Parking in this area is how you get the 3rd and 4th car parked.

Please read the regulations. Both owners and guests must follow the same rules. There is no parking overnight.

Mary, et al. For the record, there are 2 vehicles in the garage (all the room taken), 2 in the driveway and the 5th on the street. Apparently there are adult family members living at home, thus all the cars.

I would not grant a waiver.

I would, however encourage them to build a parking pad parallel to the street.

Or, do as one of our neighbors did, branch the driveway off with a single-car width arch thingie.

They had a lot of cars and re-did the driveway like this. Sorta.

You stated that, I know.

But I find it quite difficult to believe. There are very few lots, even in the smaller lot section of our neighborhood, that can't somehow accommodate some driveway renovation that will allow for one more car.

Even if it's a pad on the opposite side of the house.

I would love to see the lot layout with house placement.

Either way, if it cannot be done, then, just as someone who has a boat or a trailer or an RV, they must fine another option, offsite, for the fifth car.

I would not grant a waiver unless forced to in court.

I'm not talking about expanding it to the side, but rather adding a turn-around lane that goes to the center of the lot.

We have at least 3 homeowners here who have done that. The use the turn-around for their extra vehicle.

It IS doable if one is creative enough.

I'd ask an architect.

The most important word is IF. We have a similar clause and parking is permitted by the city on city streets in our HOA. Our attorney said we would most likely lose if we went to court so we would grant a one waiver per residence on a specific vehicle.

The CC&R's intend to "limit" parking on the Streets, but do not seem to "prohibit" street parking except 1:00-5:00 AM.
In this time of foreclosures etc. it is not unusual to have multiple generations "cocooning".

If you can verify that all 5 cars fulfill the ownership/reisdent rules, it may be worthwhile to consider a time-limited or temporary vehicle-specific exception to the overnight rule, perhaps on a month-to-month approval basis. It may be worthwhile verifying first that the property is violation-free otherwise.

As pointed out by someone else, there is a restriction on parking. As I stated, the extra car belongs to an adult son who also lives there on a regular basis.

The strife might not be with this homeowner, it would be with all the others who see the car parked when they aren't allowed to or have been fined for doing the same thing.

That seems to be the rule (regulation) that the Board adopted and I believe that's inconsistent with your CC&Rs.

I'm not trying to be difficult here. It seems to me that the board made a rule inconsistent with the cc&rs. In the above quoted text the cc&rs allow for on street parking in some circumstances.

Even though the docs give the board authority "further restricting the parking of Motor Vehicles on Lots or the Streets" those rules shouldn't be inconsistent with the intent of the doc to permit over-flow parking on the street.

That's simply the way I interpret it. I believe my position would be defendable as well, especially if I took ownership prior to the enactment of that rule.

FYI - The board voted to not allow the homeowner any exemption.

I'm not.

I would be immensely worried about you if you did.

I think they should have granted a waiver. If they have a good reason (and one not many homeowners can claim) such as owning five cars, then that should not give homeowners without need an excuse to demand the same. The policy does not have to be inflexible (no cars for any reason), just consistent (waivers only for real need, such as nowhere else to put the car -- not for convenience, such as wanting to not put all cars where they should go). The policy should not result in a large number of exceptinos or crowding of cars on the street; this policy would not.

As long as the homeowner getting the waiver is still putting four cars in the spaces where everyone else is putting four cars, they are not really getting away with anything -- just dealing with a more difficult circumstance. Yes, it may mean the Board has to respond to more requests and deal with people who don't want to accept this logic.

The underlying function of the HOA should be to improve quality of life and property values for the Members. Does one car on the street (and maybe a few more in similar circumstances around the neighborhood) detract from the quality of the Membership as severely as one family not being able to park their fifth car in their neighborhood? That's the question the Board should have considered: very light drag on many members vs very heavy drag on one member -- which is worse?

In some homeowner's opinions, you made 1 homeowner happy and angered the 9 others that recently got fined for having a car on the street and don't see the difference nor know there was a waiver given. . Also there are those that think it is a safety hazard having cars parked in the streets when there are children playing. Apparently quality of life is in the eye of the beholder.

Robert,

If the board were to decide to grant waivers that would mean a rule change. Anyone who received a violation notice b/4 the rule change doesn't have a valid argument and shouldn't even be listened to. The waiver wouldn't just be for one h/o, it would be for any h/o who qualifies, so the idea of making 1 person happy and angering 9 others is not valid!

As for parking on the street posing a safety issue. I believe the real safety issue is if cars are traveling down a street, cars are parked on both sides and children at play then a safety issue occurs. If there is no traffic on the street and cars are parked there is no safety issue for children at play.

I think everyone that lives in an HOA realizes that. That isn't at issue in this case. I believe not allowing parking on public streets in a single family neighborhood is a discrimination issue. Hopefully someday the courts will weigh in on it...probably not though as only poor people have to park on the street.

You guys want to turn this into a political debate about rights?

Me, to a Director of my HOA: Gimme the ballots.

Director: You asking for the ballots is like the Democrats in MN using conflicting rules to count votes in different counties in order to get what you want. You should just trust us.

Me: Me asking for the ballots is not like me using any rules to count anything or even accusing you of being untrustworthy. That is just me trying to determine what rules you used. But you withholding the ballots raises obvious questions about trust. And since you bring up trust and rule-bending, your conduct in the election is like the Democrats picking and choosing the rules you like, when you like them. Actually, it's more like the Democrats in MN running the entire election and getting 100% of the House and Senate seats and then saying "trust us -- we don't have to tell you the rules we used." Did your demon Democrats even try to do what you did?

That's me learning how to talk to a Republican. So far, I have not had to learn how to talk to a Democrat.

I'd prefer to keep even the political commentary relevant to HOA matters, but I haven't looked around enough to see how things are done, here. Sorry for getting off-topic for this thread and back on my high horse.

Tony,

Sorry but I don't think financial status has anything to do with it. In my HOA most of the homes have 3 car garages yet the assn sent 50 parking violations last month. Most of these violations will be cured w/i the time given, however they are still violations. I have several neighbors who never park their vehicles in their 3-car garages. The garages are full of boxes, etc and their vehicles are parked on the driveway.

It's nice to hear that your board was able to show some compassion toward the guy with the work truck. I don't think approval of the neighbors was needed since the board alone should have the authority to grant a waiver. When boards feel the need to get approval from neighbors, IMO, it's a way of taking the monkey off their back.

Tony,

Trust me, the people in my HOA can very easily afford a storage shed or even a storage rental for all the "clutter" in their garages. This is far from being a "low" or even "moderate" income area. Also, all the homes in question are 2-story, 2,600 to 3,400 sq ft - 3 to 5 occupants. Belive me, the garages shouldn't be needed for storage -- where there's a will, there's a way.