#20419
Cosmo
Flatchatter
    Parking is obviously a very touchy subject. I guess each Strata needs to make up its own mind about how it enforces parking and other bylaws for that matter. Let me outline why and how our practices work in our strata.

     

    Our Strata was built over 30 years ago, before the days when it was mandatory to put aside dedicated parking. We have no visitor parking, nor is the street parking readily available, there is some but it is on a steep hill and then only a few spots.

     

    There are a few locations on the common property where parking does not cause inconvenience to other owners. One of these is beside the driveway where there is space for three cars. These unofficial visitors parks are used for short periods by owners at times. Also there are are a few units where owners parking directly outside their garage present no obstacle or nuisance to others owners enjoyment of common property. There are other owners where to park directly outside their garage would cause obstruction and nuisance to others. So we only allow some owners to park directly outside their units.

     

    If the Strata were to strictly enforce the “no parking on common property rule” it would result in everyone being treated the same but a lot more inconvenience to everyone. This is because such enforcement would result in:

     

    1. no visitor parking at all; and

     

    2. no owners ever being able to park on common property even when they could safely and unobtrusively do so.

     

    So even the owners that don’t get to park outside their garages get the benefit that when they have visitors they can tell them to park in the ‘visitors’ parking spaces. Also such owners often use these ‘visitors’ spaces themselves for short periods. The owners who are allowed to (maybe I should use the word “tolerated”) park outside there garage VERY RARELY use the ‘visitor’ spaces.

     

    I think all owners accept, some more begrudgeingly than others, that there are benefits in the parking practices we live under. Having said that if we got one or two owners who insisted that “if I can’t park in front of my garage no one can” we might be in deep trouble … but so far so good! .