A.K. from outside of Connecticut writes:
Dear Mister Condo,
My condo association has 5 residential units positioned across the street from a train station / Chamber of Commerce center with a little parking lot. The Chamber of Commerce has signs posted on five spaces in this lot reserving the spaces for them. There are four businesses below me which all use the street side parking (with sign designating hours and limit) and the parking in the little lot which has been designated “mixed use”. In the past 8 years, there have been events at the park next to the train station / Chamber of Commerce in which our solution was to stock up on needed supplies for the duration of the event and not leave our condo via car to avoid losing our space. It’s an annoyance but we figured it’s only one week out of the year so it’s not too much to sacrifice for the sake of the view and location of our condo.
Recently, the Railroad company has decided to put on an event for kids. While this is great for them, they decided to take complete control over the little lot we were previously told by the town that we could use for parking. To make matters worse they have gone as far as towing our car when parked between the two lots costing us $337 dollars and a sick day from work.My husband has looked into it and has received a letter from the state saying that the Railroad has the right to do whatever they wish with the parking spaces while they are hosting events. My fear is if they expand their event hosting to summer time as well it will mean more frustration for us and potential loss of value of our condo. I know it’s illegal to sell a condo without parking and that’s precisely what I feel was done to us even if it’s only a few weeks out of the year. Is there anything we can do?
Mister Condo replies:
A.K., I am sorry for your predicament. I have to take exception to your closing comment that you know “it’s illegal to sell a condo without parking”. Really? I am unaware of any law that makes it illegal to sell a condo without parking. In fact, I know of many condominium associations that offer no or very little parking. Unless you have some special laws in your neck of the woods, there may be nothing illegal for you to complain about. As far as who owns the parking, it looks like you have researched the situation and found that the railroad has the right to use the lot as they see fit. If you have not already done so, you might want to speak to an attorney to make sure that your own rights aren’t being violated but short of your association actually owning or purchasing parking for unit owners, you may just be out of options other than parking further away from your building than you would care to. Sorry I don’t have better news for you. All the best!