Commercial?? type vehicles parked

Our CC&Rs are somewhat vague on this subject of vehicles parked in our condo parking lots..... There are some vehicles that are business work vehicles.... van-type vehicles with the business markings on the side...

Some at the condo site state emphatically that they are not allowed. I suspect that one of two things are happening or both.... a) that individual is or could be on call at anytime durng the night and needs his/her vehicle to remedy a call. The other could be that that is the only means of transportation that the individual has.

During these economic times, should those types of vehicles, regardless of reason, be kicked out?

Alex,

You need to check your CCRs which should explictly state what type vehicles are prohibited from being parked on the driveway, street or in view of neighboring property.

If a vehicle is being parked in violation of the CCRs then the prop. owner needs to receive a violation notice. Even if it is a vehicle that is being used for trans, either personal or for work, that doesn't matter, unless the BOD has granted a waiver. Our BOD will NOT grant waivers because if you grant one then you'll be open to granting more. We have a member who we've been working with for a number of months. Her husband drives a co. p/u with ladders -- he's on call 24/7 for emergency situations but his type emergency is not covered by the applicable state law. The vehicle is too large to fit in the garage and is not allowed to be parked on the driveway or street. They bought their home knowing about the parking restriction, but perhaps thinking it wouldn't be enforced as it wasn't in their former HOA. I feel sorry for them, but our hands are tied. They've been given 30 days to come up with a solution. The BOD has give them several suggestions. It will be interesting to see what happens.

I have to agree with John. How petty. Is it really a big deal? We had a gentleman who had the wrong kinds of curtains installed, he was told to replace them or he would be fined. He said he didn't have the money to replace them to the kind specified, they told him "too bad". But other rules the BOD would themselves violate, and still do.

Alex,

Our Association has similar rules on what vehicles may park in the common area parking lot. What we encourage for those that have vehicles with corporate markings is to have the markings be magnetic. This way they can be removed at night. If they forget to remove them they get a warning, followed by fines if continually repeated.

Economic times or not, the CCRs need to be properly enforced or changed. I actually brought a motion to allow corporate vehicles to park in a specified area and with the reaction given you would have thought I suggested removing all pets from the complex. As I discovered, some issues are very, very important to people.

Hope this helps,

Tim

Kim,

What you say in your last para may be true, however, in an HOA there are rules and they must be enforced -- and enforced equally. If you grant a waiver to one person what happens when you have 10 wanting a waiver. If a rule is objectionable to a majority of the members it can be changed or just removed.

I agree the BOD must be consistent in their enforcement and cannot show partiality, especially to a fellow board member. I also believe board members need to set an example and that example is not by breaking the rules because they know they won't be noticed for a violation. I don't agree with a rule againt children riding their bikes. I've heard of assn's that have rules against children playing in the common areas which in some assn's may be a large expanse akin to a park. I certainly do NOT agree with these type rules and would have to mount a campaign to have it removed and don't even have small children any more.

You say telling people "no" w/o good reason is poor management. To me it sounds like good management as it is enforcing the CCRs which a board is obligated to do. I like to think you are only thinking of your errant board and should know that not all boards operate as yours. Why not mount a campaign to have them removed? Look for people to serve who will enforce equally and not show partiality to fellow board members.

Great answers.... many things to T H I N K about... Regrettably, the CC&Rs are somewhat vague and this/that is unfortunate.