Parking Rules

Enforcing Parking Rules On Public Streets

By Denise D. Ige1; Esq. of Feldsott, Lee & Feinberg

Many community interest developments contain streets which are public even though the rest of the association is privately owned. This gives the homeowners association the advantage of streets which appear private, but are maintained by the city using city funds. The problem, however, is that the benefits do not come without pitfalls. The city often does not respond to requests to tow vehicles that are parked in violation of city or association rules.

What is an association to do? Well, this is a tough one because the California courts and legislature have yet to address the issue publicly. In an unpublished decision written by the California Court of Appeal in 1978, the court found that the association had the authority to enforce its own parking rules in public streets if the CC&R’s stated that the Association had this authority. Likewise, a published Missouri case came up with the same results. However, neither of these sources can be relied on as the “law of the land”, and are instead only facts that can be used to guess how a court would view this issue. What we do know is that the parking rules, like any other rules, must be reasonable if they are to be deemed enforceable.

Likewise, the Association must have the authority to adopt the rules, and the association must comply with the vehicle code if it intends to tow the vehicles for violations of the rules. The Board of Directors may also want to appeal to the city council for help. The city council may be able to pass an ordinance which is similar to the association’s rules. If this happens, the city may enforce the parking regulations instead. If the city council is uncooperative, the Board should consider contacting the local assembly person for assistance.