Residents Parking on Street
 

I thought that we were restricted from parking cars on the street. I just called CDD Compliance, and they said they had no jurisdiction over street parking. I thought I remembered when we bought here that the realtor mentioned that residents should not be routinely parking on the street. Since few people do it, is it a rule and I called the wrong department, or is it just something most neighbors try not to do?

I believe 'no street parking' was something that used to be the norm.....until it was found to be unenforceable as the streets are all public. I asked the question of a gentleman who works for the VCDD - that's the response I got.

Bill

Rules
 

That's not the only one that's being overlooked. Trust me. Seems it depends who answers the phone or how they read the rules.

Check on this website - District Gov. - Deed Compliance
http://www.districtgov.org/departmen...drestrict.aspx

"Parking: Vehicles are to be kept in owners’ garages or concrete driveways"

courtyard villa parking
 

Vehicles cannot park for any length of time on the streets of courtyard villas. This is a fact.

parking
 

Yes you can park your car on the street,except courtyard villa.

Or patio villas, from what I understand.

Parking: Vehicles are to be kept in owners’ garages or concrete driveways. When visiting The Villages facilities and commercial areas golf cart parking is available in designated areas.
This is in the deed restrictions. Our villages look some much nicer when residents abide by the restrictions. I also wish residents would close their garage doors-looks so ugly when they are open.:sigh:

redwitch, you're mistaken.

Item 12 of the CDD restrictions states: owners shall park in garages or driveways.

when a local neighbor started parking in guest spots (since he has two vehicles and a golf cart and doesn't want to tie up his driveway), we contacted CDD last year.

That gentleman, Nick, contacted the neighbor (twice!) and had him move the vehicles since it was against CDD restrictions.

Now it's happened again, the new guy (Jim) says he only checks to make sure vehicles are parked on asphalt, no matter where.
He doesn't enforce any street parking.

So, the restriction itself hasn't changed, it's against the rules,
but the rules are not enforced now. It's basically a joke.

So, the question then becomes what can be done if someone does does park in the street in violation of the restrictions? Does TV have the authority to tow the car, fine the homeowner, what? Sounds like someone needs to make sure that TV employees know what the rules actually are and have them enforce them.

Not quite sure how I'm mistaken, since I know you can't park on the street in patio villas and, at least in my area, that rule is strictly enforced -- you park on the street, you are told to move the vehicle or else (of course, we have no clue what the "or else" is).

I re-checked the deed restrictions for our patio villa in Duval. The document states that "No owner of a Homesite shall park, store, or keep any vehicle except wholly within his driveway or garage". It goes on to mention things about working on a vehicle, no boats/trailers/campers/etc. allowed to park in parking spaces, and so on. But there is nothing specific mentioned - at least in our set of deed restrictions - about street parking.

To me, it seems to be a bit like the satellite antenna debacle of years past. There used to be a set of restrictions about how and where you could/couldn't mount a dish antenna. That all went by the wayside when the VCDD realized it wasn't within their domain to be able to restrict such things.

Regardless, I've sent an e-mail off to our friends at the VCDD to get their feedback on the street parking dealie-do. I'll post their response when I receive it.

Bill :)

As most streets are narrow.....why would you want leave your car parked out where some idiot could run into it??

The streets are not owned by The Villages, so how could T V ban street parking? Village Watch has confirmed this.

Visitors, guests, and the like. Nothing on a permanent basis.

Bill

parking
 

You can park on the street. except when it is a courtyard villa or patio. They do not give tickets.Our street is wide with ranch homes.Been parking for two years on the street,no problem.

You could always flatten one of their tires until they get the hint. Kidding!

The condo I live in has the same issue. In the by-laws, it states that there is no overnight parking on the streets. They couldn't enforce it and since our streets are narrow, changed it to one side of the street only. I cannot tell you how many cars have been backed into when parked on the street.

One of my neighbors complained to me that her car had been backed into multiple times. Really? It would take just one time for me and I sure wouldn't park there again.

There is nothing illegal about parking your car on the public street. The guest spaces in the villas are 100% different.

Your house has a double driveway. Why park in the street? Only cars are allowed in your driveway or street. No motorhomes, trailers, boats, etc.

Seems kind of silly to park in the street when the car could be in the garage or driveway. Also seems kind of silly to let it bother you so much you call Community Watch.

Your common sense is showing. :)

Are the streets in the Villa neighborhoods public?

Don't like it
 

I for one think the community looks so much nicer with the streets empty from vehicles. I think to many it was a selling point. Just my opinion. It's in the Deed Restrictions, why publish it if you can't enforce it. Car leads to truck, to motor home etc. Whats the next thing. One big problem with it is I park in the street the the guy accross the street parks opposite then what. BOOM accident. Just my opinion. I'm sure some won't agree.:spoken:

you guys can say all you want about what the written rules are,
and perhaps what common sense would be, but.. but..

but Deed Restrictions doesn't enforce the rules on parking on any street, that's a fact. been there done that and given up, park anywhere except on the lawn.

The prior CDD guy (Nick) said most of his calls were for parking.
I think the new administration just figures it's too much ado about too little and gives up on that one.

The administration gave up because the streets are publicly owned. They have no authority to regulate parking, except in the villa neighborhoods.
This argument isn't isolated to TV. Up north I've seen this battle many times in suburban neighborhoods. When one neighbor has company the visitors grab a spot wherever they can find one. It gets comical when people come out of their houses hollering and yelling. Sometimes visitors are intimidated and move their cars. Usually they just ignore the screams and threats to call the cops and go on about their business.
These things make life entertaining. They can't be taken seriously.

I have neighbors who park on the street just on a rise of a small hill, so when I'm coming down the street, I can't see if another car is coming toward me or not. Now the neighbor on the other side of the street is starting to park THEIR car on the other side of the street. With narrow streets, I think it's a safety problem, let alone the fact that it doesn't look as nice as when all the streets are kept clear. The one car parked on the street usually is parked heading the wrong way, which REALLY ticks me off. It's frustrating when it's in the deed restrictions and yet these aren't being enforced. I have another neighbor who parked a big truck they used for hauling a small trailer in their own driveway. CDD told them that wasn't allowed, and they had to find another place to store their truck. I'm not advocating having big trucks in your driveway, but if CDD can tell you what the heck you can park in your OWN driveway, I don't know why they can't enforce their own restrictions on streets. In my neighborhood in Virginia, it says in our neighborhood covenants that we can't have fences in our front yards. No one does, and it's been that way for the 35 years we've had a house there. I guess I don't understand why street restrictions in the deed in a planned community can't/won't be enforced. The CDD cars cruise through my neighborhood on a regular basis, so it's not as if they have to go out of their way to ask the owners to put their car in their driveway. I live south of 466 and I was told that we had restrictions on what we can put in our yard - yard statues, etc. So far no one I see has done that, but if our private yards are regulated, how is it that public streets can't be regulated in the same way, especially when it's a safety issue?

Komoros, Why not just talk with your neighbors about your safety concerns? It is very possible they do not realize it is an issue with you. Face to face communication (in a civil manner, of course) sure works better than siccing the Community Watch on them.

Of course, they are doing nothing illegal.

It does seem strange to me that so, so many Villagers are against policies set forth by the Morse family but when public streets in The Villages have neighbor's cars, it is terrible that nothing is done by the Developer to punish offenders.

I am very happy that at this time none of my neighbors park on the street unless they are having company, I agree it takes away from the ambiance in the hood.

I did find some interesting (IMO) reading on the subject. It is in AZ and a case in MO, but makes the point.... In summary it talks about the fact that residents cannot park on the streets even though the streets are public.

Check out paragraphs three and four in the article below.

http://www.carpenterhazlewood.com/re...h-one-controls

I am sure there are others documents in the Internet on the subject if you are interested....

We are trying to apply different rules to different situations.

Parking on public streets is a county issue. If it is a safety issue bring it to the attention of the county.

Parking on your own property is a deed restriction issue.
Basically, deed restrictions prevent you from parking on your lawn, parking RV's for extended periods, etc. It's all there in the deed restrictions document. Some might not agree with some terms of the restrictions but we all signed on at closing.

Someone mentioned open garage doors. Some sub divisions have restrictions preventing open garage doors. As far as I know The Villages has no such restriction. I agree with the poster who thinks they are an eyesore. Although there is no restriction here it is up to us to to practice common sense and common courtesy.

Downeaster hit the nail on the head. Deed Restrictions are part of your deed and apply to your land, your lot, whatever. They would not apply to a non-resident on public property and oven a resident on public property. Public roads, like most of our streets, come under the county. There are a few (very few) parking restrictions in Lake, Marion and Sumter Counties on the books today, usually concerning how near fire hydrants you can park, etc.

Seems to me there is precedent for deed restrictions disallowing parking on streets
 

I am no lawyer, but sure seems that there is precedent for deed restrictions being used to prevent parking on public streets by residents if TV wished to enforce that.

This paragraph comes directly from the article at http://www.carpenterhazlewood.com/re...h-one-controls

While there are no published cases in Arizona about the enforceability of association restrictions against parking on public streets, there is an appellate case on the subject from Missouri.1 The Missouri Court held that the association could control street parking on a publicly dedicated street because owners contractually gave up their right to park on the street. This is consistent with the general view that private covenants, such as deed restrictions, can be more restrictive than ordinances, and that such covenants are enforceable as contracts. Arizona law clearly holds that recorded CC&Rs are contracts. CC&Rs govern and restrict the use of land within a given community and constitute “a contract between the subdivision’s property owners as a whole and the individual lot owners.”2

Some snippets by a Florida attorney from an article here http://www.hg.org/article.asp?id=6969

The case went to court and the homeowner argued that the municipality controlled the streets: not the association. The court disagreed. The court found that the association’s parking regulations promoted a neighborhood scheme which was created by the deed restrictions. Furthermore, the homeowner as a matter of contract agreed to additional regulations restricting parking.

and another case from the same article.....

The second case in support of the association’s right to restrict parking is Maryland Estates Homeowner’s Association v. Karen Puckett and Chris Schallert. The case essentially held that a homeowner must abide by all restrictions including restrictions against parking in the street. The homeowner cannot pick and choose which rules he will obey.

PS. :mornincoffee: is better today with TOTV. thanks

Not a person mentioned salt trucks.

I will mention salt trucks, Gracie. I am tired of them driving by my house and am ready for some Spring weather!

[ Public roads, like most of our streets, come under the county. There are a few (very few) parking restrictions in Lake, Marion and Sumter Counties on the books today, usually concerning how near fire hydrants you can park, etc.[/QUOTE]

It's that simple .... parking on the street is a County matter and is permitted unless there is a safety issue! I personally feel the ambiance is much nicer if everyone parks in their garage. But of course there may be times you need parking for guests.

By the way, if you have a temporary need for additional parking, you can request a pass from a Rec Center to park in their parking lot for 3 days, or a Regional Rec Center to park for a week.

Without a county ordinance, I don't believe that parking can be restricted on a public street. In areas where there are non dedicated streets, the contracting parties ,ie property owners subject to restrictions because of covenants etc. can be bound to each other to follow the " rules" but these agreements would have no effect on non contracting parties as to the use of publicly owned property. Usually govt bodies will only restrict street parking for real( not imagined ) safety considerations.
If my statements are correct, it would be difficult to determine what car was or wasn't subject to enforcement action on a public street.

It's that simple .... parking on the street is a County matter and is permitted unless there is a safety issue! I personally feel the ambiance is much nicer if everyone parks in their garage. But of course there may be times you need parking for guests.

By the way, if you have a temporary need for additional parking, you can request a pass from a Rec Center to park in their parking lot for 3 days, or a Regional Rec Center to park for a week.[/QUOTE]

Barefoot and Challenger - I believe you nailed it.

An attorney recently told me that at some point in time, most developer roads are turned over to the county. Clouding the issue are some roads North of 466, possibly in Marion County, that were not turned over. My guess is on those roads not turned over, parking restrictions might be enforceable through the covenants. There are very few in this category. This might explain why parking restrictions may still be selectively enforced in certain neighborhoods.

The county can pass what is equivalent to an ordinance to establish restrictions such as; no parking in roadway at anytime, parking on one side only, alternate side parking and time restricted parking ie: No Parking between 12am and 6am. They usually require a notification to the property owners of the street effected and a public hearing to allow residents to express their views. I have seen parking restrictions established based on a petition from a specific neighborhood but never one on a jurisdiction wide basis for obvious reasons.

One potential drawback to petitioning for parking restrictions in your neighborhood would be the mandatory posting of signs defining the restriction. Many believe the required signage is a worse eyesore than parked cars.

You are not going anywhere if you are in compliance.
 

"Parking: Vehicles are to be kept in owners’ garages or concrete driveways"

I would like to point out that this language does not even mention streets.
The only thing it says is once you get your vehicle in your garage or on your driveway, you can never move it off your property. It also means that in order to be in compliance you had to have your vehicle in your garage or on your driveway before you signed the deed restrictions. Hope you don't have brick pavers because if you do you are stuck in the garage forever. And don't forget that a golf car is a vehicle... so is a bike.
So forget about driving or riding to the square or anywhere else from now on.. because you agreed that vehicles are to be kept in owners garages or concrete driveways.

Who the heck wrote this? ... could it be the same person who did not get a private opinion letter from the irs before they sold tax free municipal bonds?

I have read the deed restrictions. You should too. The content and language varies from village to village.. If you want a laugh or worse, read them carefully, line by line, and ask yourself, what does this say, not what do you "think" they meant.
JJ

hi bluedog103,
your quote on the parking issue:
"The administration gave up because the streets are publicly owned. They have no authority to regulate parking, except in the villa neighborhoods."
--------------
I'm talking specifically villa neighborhoods since that's what I contacted the CDD guy about, there is no enforcement there - no violation in their view regardless of how the rule reads, just to clarify

parking
 

I park on the steet everyday, 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Do not see a problem,maybe because I have a nice car to look at.

I am still not convinced...
 

This is for discussion sake only, I have no issues I am trying solve. I still am not convinced The Villages could not enforce the parking deed restriction if they wanted to, based on the items I cited in post #28. These opinions and cases did not address a parking violation for the county, but rather a "breach of contract" by the homeowner not abiding by the deed restrictions.

I am not advocating TV spend any resources to address this issue, but it seems to me there is precedence to enforce this without the county changing anything.

Am I missing something in the cases I cited that could never apply here?

The owner of the car being parked can only breech a contract he is a party to.

I answered your point.
 

I answered your point. This language is so ridiculously worded no court would enforce it. It does NOT say you cannot park on the street... it says once your name is on the deed you cannot move your car, golf car, bike, or any other vehicle anywhere in the universe if it is not parked in your garage or on your driveways (if you do not have brick pavers) if you have forgotten to park it IN the garage before you signed it.. and then you must keep it there until you get your name off the deed. Do you really think that language is enforceable?
JJ

Other than a nice car, why?