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[lefty]

In our block of 6 units there are 3 marked visitor parking spots. On checking the strata plan registered years ago with Land and Property Department there are no designated visitor parking spots on the plan. The ones marked at the property are designated common property on the plan.

I would be grateful for advice on the following problem:

If the owners committee wishes to take action against an owner parking illegally in this spot exactly which bylaw has been violated—-

1. Owner parking in a visitors car space or

 2. Owner parking on common property without written consent ?

  Also if the wrong bylaw violation was listed on an application to NCAT, would there be problem?

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[Jimmy-T]

@lefty said:
If the owners committee wishes to take action against an owner parking illegally in this spot exactly which bylaw has been violated.
1. Owner parking in a visitors car space or
2. Owner parking on common property without written consent ?

Are the spaces designated as visitor parking in the by-laws? Just because they’re common property doesn’t mean they are visitor spots.  Some schemes have all their parking designated as common property but owners have exclusive use of their spaces.

Your safest bet would then be option 2 – parking on common property without written consent (if you have that by-law registered).

Also if the wrong bylaw violation was listed on an application to NCAT, would there be problem?  

For sure.  How can owners defend themselves against a breach notice if they don’t know which by-law they have breached?

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[lefty]

Thanks Jimmy,  but just to complicate matters, I have just seen the Development Application held by our local council and on it 3 visitor parking spaces are specified and marked on the approval !So which takes precedent? The registered strata plan held by LAND and PROPERTY and signed off by council or the DA held by council showing something different. Do our bylaws govern what is contained in the registered strata plan only or can can a violation of a parking bylaw be referred to as a breach of councils DA. And therefore be referred to council?

For example , if an owner had written permission to park occasionally on common property and they parked in a marked visitors space , could they argue they were not in breach of the visitor parking bylaw as they had permission to park on common property as represented in the strata plan? 

I know this sounds hypothetical but in our building a similar situation is aging some legs!

 

situation has legs!

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[Jimmy-T]

@lefty said:
So which takes [precedence]? The registered strata plan held by LAND and PROPERTY and signed off by council or the DA held by council showing something different.

From what I can gather, the DA and the strata plan are not in conflict  One says common property, the other says visitor parking(?). So they are common property visitor parking spots.

Do our bylaws govern what is contained in the registered strata plan only or can can a violation of a parking bylaw be referred to as a breach of councils DA. And therefore be referred to council?

By-laws can’t supersede superior laws and Council planning laws are superior.  Your DA was granted on the basis that those spaces were for visitors, and until Council says otherwise, that’s what they are for. If your by-laws don’t specifically reference visitor parking then you need to amend the written permission to exclude visitor parking.

For example , if an owner had written permission to park occasionally on common property and they parked in a marked visitors space , could they argue they were not in breach of the visitor parking bylaw as they had permission to park on common property as represented in the strata plan? 

No.  You can’t legally give them permission to park in visitor spaces because they aren’t visitors and that would be in breach of your DA. 

This is really a lot simpler than you seem to think.  If what you say is true, then the car spaces are for visitors and permission to park on common property doesn’t change that.  There may be another area of common property where they could park but Visitor Parking is not it.

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