Condo/Townhouse parking on street in front of home

[wardpr68]

Hey everyone,

So... our units are currently getting their roof redone so the contractor has placed a large garbage bin on our front driveway... blocking our garage.

We were supposed to be given 2 days notice of this which we were not (I ran outside as the fucker was putting it on the driveway to tell him to let us get our cars out)

Now, supposedly our condo board does not allow people to park on the street in front of our units. On the OTHER side of the street there is a no parking sign... however there is none on this side.

So basically... I am sending out a big fuck you to them because they expect us to park wayyyy the fuck down the street.

A) they did not 2 days notice as promised
B) there is no sign stating u cant park on this side


So basically I was just going to park on this side of the street and if they say i cant I will say "sure i can... there is no sign saying i can't" to which they will then state its a rule at which point i say "well i don't own the place (I don't)"

Maybe its written the condo laws... but by the time all these steps have happened and i get a copy of the laws I will be gone to the states.

thoughts? Are they being complete pricks? I should just say i have a leg injury and walking long distances like that is quite painful.

pricks :whipped:

edit: if it matters at all... the owner does own this unit. It is not rented.

[dexlargo]

Originally posted by wardpr68
if it matters at all... the owner does own this unit. It is not rented. ...but you and the owner are not the same person? I'm confused.

Anyway, what can happen is that the condo board could get pissed off by your parking and call by-law services (or parking authority - I can't remember) and have them come out and issue you a ticket. This happened in my townhouse complex a few times. If they issue you a ticket you can fight it in by-law court and I have been told (warning: possibly unreliable information to follow) that to prove the ticket someone from the condo board would have to appear and establish that the area parked in was a no parking area designated by the board, and properly posted.

What I do know for sure is that a parking ticket would be issued by, and be payable to, the City of Calgary.

It really does suck about the loss of parking. Maybe you could talk to the condo board and get approval from them to park in a posted no-parking area for the duration that your driveway is blocked. Worth a shot, I'd say.

[wardpr68]

See... they could get a bylaw douche to come but then what is the ticket for? It is not a no-parking zone.... THERE ARE NO SIGNS!

[dexlargo]

Well, there's your answer then.

But be careful that there really is no notice given: there are no signs around my complex, but there is a sign at each entrance and it lists in the big block of text that on-street parking is prohibited. Based on that, they have tickets issued.

[ChappedLips]

Take the no parking signs down and park across the street

[dannie]

Ok, so if I read this right......

They did not give you notice and blocked your exclusive use area (the garage pad). There are signs on the other side of the road that say there is no parking on that side. But there are no signs on the side in front of your unit that say no parking.

If the parking is on the street, the condo board has no rights to it. Which means they cannot tell you that you cant park there. If the parking is on common property like a laneway that belongs to the condo corp; they STILL cannot tell you that you cant park there unless they have signs up stating that.

If it is a laneway type situation, the best example I can give you is like at a mall parking lot. The parking lot is owned by the land owner. If the land owner does not have signs up (ie: fire lane, no parking), they have no way to ticket and tow.

[DayGlow]

is the street a public road or within the complex. If it's a public road the board has no power, if it is a private road inside the cimex then the condo bylaws apply.

[TDA]

I'm on a condo board. Not your's though. I am actually the board member responsible for parking. So given your situation:

1. Sounds like your laneway is private property. Is it private or public property?
2. There needs to be signs up saying that no parking allowed, that it is private property, etc, which you sound like you do have.
3. what dexlargo said, there may be signs at entrance.
4. CPA isn't necessarily condo board's dogs. It is a pain to get them to do something sometimes. For example on more than a few occasions, someone was parking in someone else's unit for 4 days..! And it was a numbered stall. CPA came, saw sign, said it wasn't worded right, and wouldn't do anything.
Situation 2, someone parked in the middle of the underground parking laneway, blocking several people from exiting the underground parkade. CPA officer said the board member would need to call it in. Now, sometimes we're not always around..! They're not supposed to do that, anyone can call something like that in. (Confirmed with CPA themselves) All I'm saying is that its not so easy to get tickets/tow on your car.

Here's another angle:
Placement of the garbage bin. Is it blocking access to your place, or other places? Is there room for a wide vehicle to get reasonably close to your house, or if there are units further down, get access to those places?

By wide vehicle I mean ambulance, fire truck. Then it is a Illegally parked garbage bin.

CPA will jump on it really fast if its the case. Same for idiots parking in front of garbage bins (for household waste), and handicapped spots. Seems like those three are their piorities, from my experience. We've had cars towed for parking like nutfucks and partially blocking access to the entire complex. Sure, compact cars would have gotten thru but no way an ambulance or fire truck. There was no signs at that particular spot.

Keep in mind that it has to be really obvious to the CPA officer that It's blocking emergency vehicle access, not just inconveniencing you, otherwise they'll come out, and tell u that you're SOL and leave.

Assuming its private property and you park on the side that has no parking signs. Then AS LONG As there is no big signs at entrance of your complex that state no street parking allowed, you should be ok.

OK in the sense that CPA probably won't ticket you.

NOT OK in the sense that you'll have the condo board on your ass, and they can fine you directly. That's different from a CPA ticket however.

[TDA]

Originally posted by dexlargo
If they issue you a ticket you can fight it in by-law court and I have been told (warning: possibly unreliable information to follow) that to prove the ticket someone from the condo board would have to appear and establish that the area parked in was a no parking area designated by the board, and properly posted.


Wrong. The CPA officer will come out, assess the situation on his own, check for proper signage, and based on his observations, issue the ticket or not. Then if you fight it he's the witness. Condo board member does not need to appear.



What I do know for sure is that a parking ticket would be issued by, and be payable to, the City of Calgary.

Correct.

[wardpr68]

Awesome. Well there is no signage ANYWHERE indicating that you can't park on this side of the road. So if they get bitchy and say i can't park there I will just say HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW?!?! (all my id, registration, etc is written as a different address... so they wont know i live here)

So ya... Its parked out there right now and will continue to be. They can blow me.