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I’d like to install a 2.4x 2m, over the bonnet storage unit in my car space. It would not be permanently fixed to the floor or walls and is low enough to ensure it doesn’t touch any gas or water pipes above.
A neighbour who is worried about the unit disrupting her parking has suggested that a DA is required for this installation. One of her main points is that the legs of the storage unit may encroach on half of the car park lines.
We have a by-law in place that allows the installation of such storage units within the car spaces in our apartment block. This has been active since 2015.
Any thoughts or knowledge on this would be greatly appreciated.
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If a bylaw exists, then there shouldn’t be a problem.
However is the bylaw in breach of DA? Do you have access to DA conditions to check? Your local council should be able to help.
In our large scheme in NSW, such a bylaw would be illegal.
I agree with Puddn. If there is a by-law permitting this type of storage then your neighbour cannot object to you installing it.
Is there a condition in the by-law about getting DA approval? If not then just comply with any conditions that are included in the by-law and go ahead and install the storage unit.
The OC may own the dividing line as they are probably responsible for maintaining (i.e. re painting it) it so perhaps you would be safer keeping the unit within your car space. This could be something about which you check with your committee or your SM.
Also perhaps worth being aware of the Australian Standards on parking spaces. If the spaces are narrow they might only meet standards if the space to the sides are unobstructed. Eg. Spaces 2.4m wide only meet the standard if it is presumed that a car door can be opened wider by ‘borrowing’ some space from the neighbouring space.
If a partition were put up between such spaces, then the spaces that previously met the standards would no longer meet standards. It might have been a condition of the scheme’s development approval that some number of standards compliant parking spaces be provided.
If the spaces are min. 2.7m wide after a partition goes up, they are OK. A space with a wall on one side and open at the other end (IE at the end of a row) should be wider than one in the middle of the bank of spaces or if there is no wall at the end and a door could swing over, for example, a kerb.
A space can be narrower where it is presumed that a car’s bonnet would be than in the middle of the sides where it is presumed the doors will be. So, it might be OK to place an obstacle against the boundary if it is only in the bonnet region. The standard, which I don’t have here, I am relying on memory, has a complex diagram of what can be where along the sides of a space. This is to accommodate posts and columns that might support roofing, bollards and the like.
My point is that getting a DA for a free-standing, removal storage unit might be a furphy but there might nonetheless be a DA-related requirement to remain compliant with standards that were relevant to the original DA of the scheme.
We have versions of this throughout our building. The cars’ bonnets tuck under the storage box and the don’t impede access. Since they aren’t attached to the floor – the just sit there – there is no need for by-laws or DAs.
We do have a by-law, however, that restricts the kind of storage box you can have, just to maintain uniformity and to avoid the situation where someone might put a small shed in their space then park overhanging common property.
The opinions offered in these Forum posts and replies are not intended to be taken as legal advice. Readers with serious issues should consult experienced strata lawyers.
@Sir Humphrey said:
A space can be narrower where it is presumed that a car’s bonnet would be than in the middle of the sides where it is presumed the doors will be. So, it might be OK to place an obstacle against the boundary if it is only in the bonnet region. The standard, which I don’t have here, I am relying on memory, has a complex diagram of what can be where along the sides of a space. This is to accommodate posts and columns that might support roofing, bollards and the like.
It’s AS2890.1.
For parallel parking, at the far (closed) end of the parking space, columns, walls and “other obstructions” may encroach on each side of the parking space as follows:
They may encroach up to 200mm on each side, for the last 1.2m to the far (closed) end of the parking space. This increases to 250mm on each side for the last 300mm to the far (closed) end of the parking space.
It would mean that over bonnet storage systems would most probably not violate the AS, as far as restricting a neighbour’s parking space, even if their legs were on the dividing line, as long as they were standing within 1.2m from the far (closed) end of the parking space.
Thanks for quoting the detail. I recalled only the general principles without the numbers.
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