33-1818Community Authority Over Public Roadways
The Board has called a Town Hall Mtg for homeowners for informational purposes only. The topic of discussion will be about the Homeowners Associations ability to continue to regulate the Public Roadway within our community. Should a Special Mtg be called instead of a town Hall Mtg so minutes will be taken? I ask because I’m not sure minutes will be taken for a Town Hall mtg. What is the proper forum for this discussion?
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Kathy
The town hall meeting is a good thing as a communication tool, and to allow homeowners to ask questions. Beware of propaganda campaigns that emphasize alleged safety concerns and aesthetic issues. The facts are that association never had any authority to regulate streets it does not own, and that cities have been managing safety on streets far longer than any association ever has. The law gives every community the one time opportunity to allow the association to regulate streets that they do not own. My recommendation is that no community give the association any power that they do not rightly possess. It will be used against you without oversight or checks and balances. This is a power that is especially vulnerable to selective enforcement on anyone that opposes any actions of the board. While I would have preferred that state law protect the truth and prevent any association from regulating streets they do not own. This was what was able to be passed.
Please everyone think carefully about this vote. No matter how small community streets the municipality has an obligation to ensure that first responders and municipal services can maneuver the streets safely and enforce parking restrictions necessary to ensure that capability using the police force.
Dennis
The signed 2023 HB-2298 gave the HOA membership (for planned communities with declarations (CC&Rs) recorded before January 1, 2015) the one opportunity to hold a community vote on whether the HOA is permitted to enforce road restrictions such as parking and speed. Communities must hold this ballot measure and conduct a vote no later than June 30, 2025. As mentioned, Public Safety access is a major consideration. But, there are laws that address not being able to traverse a narrow street because of parked vehicles. The downside is – will your association have to add $$ a Parking & Speed enforcement personnel thereby increasing your HOA assessment fees. If there are parking issues, the local public governmental entity has jurisdiction with their rules.
Gerald,
There is more to this issue as well. While the municipality owns the streets if the homeowners vote to give the association the power to regulate the streets that they do not own than the association will now assume the liability for any issue that occurs involving those streets. If an ambulance cannot get to a home the association is liable for damages from the homeowners family who were damaged by that action. That is why the owner of the streets should regulate them. Cities have been doing this far longer than any amateur HOA board. The police and fire department also work for the city and will make sure that they can provide the service they need when needed with the police empowered to make sure that any parking or speed regulation is enforced. All of this is besides the fact that no homeowner should ever give the HOA board more power then they are entitled to. You can bet that at some time in the future that power will be used against any homeowner that dare to disagree with any board decision or action.
Please everyone you must be given one chance to make this decision and please do not listen to the BS and rhetoric from the association. or management company or their attorney trying to scare you into approving this measure,
Please just say know and you will al, be better off. I tried to pass a law that simply removed any association power to regulate streets that they do not own, but this is the best I could end up with.
Just say no.
Dennis
Dennis….the Rules and Regulations the Board approved for the HOA Community I live in state:
Vehicles, Campers, Trailers and Boats
No motor vehicle classed by the manufacturer rating as exceeding 3\4 ton, mobile home, travel trailer, tent trailer, trailer, camper shell, boat, or other similar equipment or vehicle may be parked, maintained or repaired on any lot
or on any street so as to be Visible From Neighboring Property. Owners may bring the above listed vehicles on site for loading and unloading purposes only. The loading/unloading time limit is for a total of 48 consecutive hours.
Owners shall notify the Association or its management company of the need to have any of the above listed vehicles on site. A simple phone call or email is all that is required.
All motorized vehicles, including ATV’s, motorcycles, go carts and similar vehicles are prohibited from entering into any Association common areas (greenbelts, sidewalks, basketball courts and/or landscaped areas). No commercial vehicles shall be parked on streets or lots in the community. Vendors may park for a reasonable amount of time
while rendering a service.
Parking
The intent of the Association is to restrict on-street parking to the extent possible. Vehicles of owners and their guests are to be parked in the garage or driveway. No inoperable vehicle or those with expired tags shall be parked in driveways, streets or be Visible From Neighboring Property. No vehicle shall be parked on landscape (grass or
granite) or any other non-hard surface. No parking on the streets between 1AM – 6AM.
So Dennis, does this mean that if the parking vote fails and the Board can no longer regulate street parking, homeowners can now park mobile homes, travel trailers, campers, boats etc. on the street for extended periods of time or indefinitely? I sure hope not. If the vote fails, do the Rules and Regulations for the community need to be revised since they currently restrict these kind of vehicles from parking on the street?
To be honest, I’ve never had an issue with the current parking restrictions included in my Community’s Rules and Regulations.
You’ve stated a lot but the most critical issue is does the association own the streets or not. If not then the vote applies. If the vote loses the city will be responsible to regulate the streets and will do so effectively to ensure the safety of the community. If you’re not happy with any situation then you simply go to the city and ask that they address the issue. The cities focus is safety not aesthetics. But if the association wants to control the aesthetics the associations should simply ask the city to transfer the streets back to the community and they will gladly do that for you. You will from then on be responsible for the maintenance of the streets along with the liability of the streets. Are you willing to pay $100K every 7 to 10 years to repair or repair the streets to be able to control the aesthetics of the streets. That up to all of you. I’m simply telling you that if you give control of the streets to the association that power will be used against all of you in the future. If you don’t mind being fined because someone else parks their car on the street in front of you house totally unrelated to your house hold because the community manager does not have access to dmv information. Give them that power it is your community not mine just don’t complain to me after the deed is done. I’m simply trying to warn you now before the vote while you have a chance to make a difference. Never give the association a power they do not deserve.
Dennis
The HOA has regulated parking on the streets in my community for a long time and during that time the City re-paved the streets throughout the community. Are you suggesting that if the HOA retains their ability to regulate parking after the vote is held, the HOA will now be fully responsible for maintaining the streets and paying all expenditures to maintain the streets? I didn’t see any language in the new law that indicates this.
I’m worried that if the vote fails, homeowners are going to start parking trailers, campers, mobile homes etc in the street indefinitely and that’s a problem. It’s not a problem in our community because the Rules and Regs prohibit it. I’m sure the homeowners that pay to park their motor homes, campersetc at a facility would much rather park on a community street instead of paying to park offsite.
You’ve indicated if the vote fails the city will be responsible to regulate the streets and will do so effectively to ensure the safety of the streets. It doesn’t seem likely the City’s Code Enforcement will be driving through the neighborhood on a regular basis to enforce the City’s street parking regulations.
Kathy,
No, I did not say that if you vote to have the association regulate the streets that you will be then responsible to maintain the streets, What I said is that if you want to regulate the streets simply for aesthetic issue than you can always ask the municipality to transfer the street ownership to the association, but with that action will come the responsibility to maintain those streets forever.
As for your concern about the scare tactics used by association to try and convince homeowners to allow the association to retain control of the streets to prevent RV, mobile home, trailers or boats etc. on streets I’ll give you this advice. Drive down any municipal street and count all the trailers, mobile homes and campers etc. that you see on those streets, than ask yourself why do you either find none or only a very few? The reason is safety and municipal code enforcement. These large vehicles cause congestion and safety concerns on the streets and are prevented by the city itself. You do not need code enforcement to drive around your community, if someone were to try that, a simple call to the city will dispatch either the police to ticket the violator of code enforcement to fine the specific violator. This happens every day throughout the miles and miles of all municipal streets across the state and the results are that no campers or RV are ever parked on city streets for any amount of time other than as necessary to load or unload those vehicles. The same applies to moving vans and commercial vehicles to service your homes. In non-HOA’s you might find these vehicles in driveways or on the property of the home but never on the streets. This does not prevent the association to regulate the presence of these large vehicles on the driveways or private property of homes or the common property of the association. The Declaration established those restrictions on private and common property and remains valid. We are only talking about streets that were not owned by the association and in which the declaration was never contracted between the city and the initial developer. The developer gave the streets to the city and in doing so had to spend more money to build the streets to city code requirements, you all paid for those extra cost when you bought your home in the first place. When he did that he gave up all right to regulate those streets, but often still included provision in the CC&R’s that allowed the association to regulate streets that they he actually had no authority to do. What the law does in this case is establish that any provision in the CC&R’s that regulate streets not owned by the association are invalid and void unless the community specifically votes to retain those restrictions in perpetuity. You get one chance to reject this and if you do not, you will be forever bound to allow the association to regulate the streets no matter how bad your association gets. NEVER VOLUNTARILY GIVE THE ASSOCIATION POWER THEY ARE NOT ENTITLED TO HAVE.
Dennis
Thanks for the clarification. I do understand your point of view.
If the HOA continues to regulate the street parking and the City will continue to maintain the streets regardless, why would any association ask the municipality to transfer the street ownership to the association? They wouldn’t because if they did they’d incur street maintenance expenses.
I am checking with the municipality to determine if motor vehicles, boats, trailers, campers, etc are permitted to park on residential streets and for how long.
I agree and it is exactly my point if you want to regulate streets any way you want you need to own them and then maintain them. You cannot have your cake and eat it too. While this legislations give every community the authority to regulate the streets without owning them you will then be subject to the fickle nuances of a totalitarian board hungry with power and the ability to use that power to silence opposition or to retaliate against anyone that disagrees with their positions, who then use your money to sue you or to defend themselves against anyone trying to enforce the laws of this state.
Dennis