Condo Media - May 2019 - 30

SPACE JAM
RESIDENTS ONLY
Owners with deeded spaces may also
be able to sell them (if the documents
permit), by conveying the property
rights they hold in an easement to
another owner in the community.
Most communities prohibit sales to
non-owners, Brady notes. Many communities also allow owners to rent
their deeded or licensed spaces, usually
only to residents (owners or tenants)
living in the community. Some associations permit rentals to non-residents
who are not owners in the community,
but Brady advises against that, because, he explains, they would be using
common area space without paying the
association's fees that finance maintenance and operating costs.
Language barring rentals to "nonresidents" created a complicated issue
at one community Brawley managed.
It involved the owner of an investment
unit, who did not live in the community. During a period when the unit
wasn't rented, the owner parked his
car in the assigned space so he could
walk to work. This violated the association's rules, Brawley says. "As a
non-resident, he technically wasn't
allowed to park there." But the association's attorney pointed out, "He owns
the unit and he owns the space."
The attorney's advice: "Don't fight
him on this." The board resolved the
issue by having the owner agree not to
park in the space when it was snowing
or snow was forecast. "We'd put a notice on the car, so he'd know not to
park there the next day," Brawley says.
WHOSE PARKING SPACE IS IT?
The answer to this question isn't
always clear, Brady says, because the
paperwork for parking easements
and licenses doesn't always match the
allocation of the spaces. "The deed
may say an owner has space 5," Brady
observes, "but the developer may have
conveyed that space to another unit,"
without noting the change in the association's list of assigned spaces.
This issue usually arises when a new
owner discovers that someone else is

30

CONDOMEDIA May 2019

parking in the space assigned to his or
her unit. The solution: Have the trust
grant the owner an easement for the
use of another space. That works if
there are additional spaces available,
Brady says. If not, "this owner has a
problem." It is the owner's problem,
he emphasizes, and not the association's. "The association didn't create the
problem," he points out. "The owner's
attorney didn't do a good title search."
The most complicated parking issues result from the need to provide
parking for handicapped residents and
guests. Federal and state Fair Housing
laws, the Americans with Disabilities
Act (ADA) and (in Massachusetts)
Architectural Access Board regulations
establish these requirements. The
ADA, which requires that a specified
number of the total spaces available be
designated for handicapped parking,
applies primarily to government buildings and commercial buildings open to
the public. It does not typically cover
private residential properties, unless
they have spaces that are open to the
public. A condominium with a leasing
or sales office on the premises, or a
high-rise condominium with commercial space on the ground floor would
be subject to the ADA, Brady says,
but most associations are exempt
from that statute.
The Architectural Access Board
(AAB) regulations, which apply to
Massachusetts condominiums (but
don't seem to have an equivalent in
other New England states), generally
track the ADA, with one exception-
the ADA requirements apply regardless of the number of parking spaces a
community has. The AAB regs kick in
only for properties with 15 spaces or
more. This chart illustrates the AAB
requirements, which range from one
handicapped space for a community
with between 15 and 25 spaces, to
2 percent of the total for a gigantic
parking area with between 501 and
1,000 spaces. Additionally, at least
one of every eight handicapped-accessible spaces (but no fewer than one)
must be accessible to vans.

ARCHITECTURAL ACCESS
BOARD (AAB) REGULATIONS
OF HANDICAPPED SPACE
BY NUMBER OF SPACES
IN THE COMMUNITY
15-25

1 SPACE

26-40

2 SPACES

41-75

3 SPACES

76-100

4 SPACES

101-150

5 SPACES

151-200

6 SPACES

201-300

7 SPACES

301-400

8 SPACES

401-50

9 SPACES

501-1000

2% OF TOTAL
Condo Media - May 2019

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