Parking mad: Visitors, intruders and land grabs

There’s a common issue that connects many of the misconceptions about strata living in one source of irritation, conflict and abuse.

Misuse of visitor parking may seem trivial to many residents and owners but it can range from inconvenience to downright property theft and result in abuse, threats and accusations of land-grabs.

Most modern apartment blocks have parking spaces allocated as “visitors only”, enshrined in their development approval and backed by by-laws stating that residents may not park in them.

However, when a family has more cars than car parking space, the temptation to turn visitor parking into overflow spots is occasionally overwhelming. Miscreants don’t see why people who don’t live or own in the building should be able to park their cars in the block when they can’t. 

Then there is the definition of “visitor”. The health professional or mobile hairdresser attending to a client would definitely qualify. But what about the romantic partner of a resident who stays all weekend, every weekend? Or Airbnb guests – are they not visitors?

One extreme case we’ve heard about was a tradie who used his lock-up garage in a townhouse complex as his tool shed and workshop, and parked his truck overnight in the visitor spot opposite.

When a resident parked her mother’s car there for a few hours during a visit, they returned to find it plastered with notes in the most foul and abusive language threatening dire consequences if they ever parked in “my space” again.

That’s not as unusual as you might think. Many townhouse residents use their garages for storage or even games rooms and park their cars wherever they can. 

By-law breach notices don’t have much effect when the rogue parker doesn’t care. It can take months for the complaint and then the penalty for non-compliance to go through our clogged tribunal systems. A fine of couple of hundred dollars for three or four months of parking is a pretty good deal.

Apart from the inconvenience and sheer selfishness, the conflict and frustration when bona fide visitors can’t find anywhere to park can be hugely disruptive in communities.

Resident owners are often too scared of personal confrontation with car park bullies – or even worse, having their cars “keyed” – when there’s a chance they will be named in strata committee minutes (another form of bullying) if they complain. 

As for investor owners, your tenants are being deprived of a facility for which they’ve paid and your neighbours are ripping you off.

This may seem to be more about principles than the practicalities of parking, and it’s good to have some “spare” spaces to play with. 

Building management may well allow leeway for dropping off groceries close to the lifts or overnight visitors. But that depends on most visitor parking being free most of the time.

Strata committees’ options for dealing with persistent miscreants are limited in most states.  In NSW and Victoria you can’t tow or clamp vehicles that are parked illegally unless they are obstructing safe access or have clearly been abandoned.

Queensland has its own compliance system and vehicles can be towed if every avenue under body corporate law has been exhausted.

Elsewhere, visitor parking is common property so your building can write its own rules and definitions for what a “visitor” is, including limits on the length of time visitors’ cars are parked there and when they must leave if they park overnight.

Your owners can set these standards based on the needs of your specific building. Your committee should ask them what they want – one size definitely doesn’t fit all.

And we shouldn’t be too surprised when people play fast and loose with the rules. After all, we live in a time when our governments can’t tell the difference between “sharing” and commercial renting.

So be flexible but don’t be afraid to hammer the residents who are effectively stealing common property long term for their own benefit and to Hell with everyone else.

An edited version of this column first appeared in the Australian Financial Review.