Parking Within A Strata Scheme

Building Managers need to clearly communicate to Owners; by-laws are there to protect everyone's best interests.

Owners or occupants wishing to park their car on common property (i.e. visitor parking, etc.) must seek prior approval from the Executive Committee. The written request will then be voted on at an Executive Committee meeting.

Understandably, with an undersupply of car spaces within strata schemes, requests are declined in most cases. This is exacerbated by greater numbers of vehicles on our roads today.

I have seen Building Managers struggle to control the misuse of the visitor car spaces. Some Executive Committees have resorted to outsourcing wheel clamping companies or are teaming up with local council parking wardens to better manage these issues. Both strategies can be implemented once a by-law is passed and adopted accordingly.

In most cases, car spaces have been designated from the inception of their development and forms part of their DA approval. This allows any visitor to park in the designated visitors car space. Additionally, if a visitor is unable to find a visitor car space, they need to park their car outside the boundary of that complex and not park on the common property.

Building Managers need to remember that owners have no jurisdiction in deciding where a visitor can park other than a visitor car space or the respective owners' allocated car space.

Parking is an ongoing issue for Building Managers. Here are a few tips below to keep the peace;

• Ensure all allocated carpark boundaries are clearly marked
• Remind all residents of the rules around car parking on common property through circulating a newsletter
• Leave a friendly reminder letter on the offending car
• Strategically placed "no parking" signage may be required in some cases
• Report repeat offenders to the Strata Managers for record keeping and breach notice processes.