Some rules are just plain stupid, well, this particular HOA rule featured today is one of those.
This is not the first time we’ve heard about a homeowners association (HOA) telling someone that they can’t park their pickup truck in the driveway of their own home. But here we go again. This time, a resident in upstate New York is being sued by the HOA governing his neighborhood that he must not park his pickup truck in his driveway.
The Kimry Moor Homeowners Association filed the suit, naming residents David and Arna Orlando as the respondents in a case to come before the Onondaga County Supreme Court. The suit alleges that because Orlando is parking his 2014 Ford F-150 in the driveway of Orlando’s Kimry Moor home, part of a residential development just outside the village of Fayetteville, he is violating the HOA covenant.
Kimry Moor HOA has very specific rules and regulations around what types of vehicles can be parked in their New York development, which includes eight-four houses. Cars that can be parked in the driveways must be “private, passenger-type, pleasure automobiles” not commercial pickup trucks used to make money on the job.
According to the lawsuit filed by the Kimry Moor HOA, the pickup truck is not a personal vehicle and therefore is not allowed to be parked in the driveway.
The association owns all the driveways in the development, according to court filings. “This is absolutely absurd,” according to Orlando.
David Orlando insists that his Ford 150 pickup truck is not a commercial vehicle. Instead, he said that the vehicle was registered as a passenger vehicle and that he didn’t even have a commercial license. Nevertheless, Kimry Moor wants him to pay the price for parking a large pickup truck in the driveway.
The Orlandos’ lawyer, Tom Cerio, said:
“This is a silly rule. It’s fair to say the association is definitely overreaching. And they are enforcing this rule for a personal-use vehicle, not a commercial vehicle.”
In addition, he has reported that other people are parking pickups in their driveway. When a reporter from Syracuse.com/Post-Standard visited the neighborhood to get the story and photograph Orlando’s truck in his driveway, a full-size pickup with a bed cap, large van, and a sport-utility-vehicle were seen parked in other driveways in the development.
Orlando said he feels it’s a shame taxpayer will have to pay for the court’s time to hear this case, and that “It’s ridiculous.” We can’t disagree with his assessment of the situation.
Source: AWM, Syracuse.com/Post-Standard
Just more proof that far too many HOA board members become petty tyrants. Fortunately few of them end up in higher offices, we have enough ‘professional’ bureaucrats as it is. ;-(