Pickup Trucks
QUESTION: Our association bans pickup trucks from parking overnight in driveways or common areas. Parking in garages is permitted since the vehicles aren’t visible when they are in a garage. Our CC&Rs date back to the 1970s, and, as I understand it, things have changed in 40+ years. Can we still legally ban pickup trucks from parking in driveways and common areas overnight?
ANSWER: Yes, a lot has changed in the past 40 years. Although associations can restrict recreational and commercial vehicles, they cannot prohibit all trucks. Noncommercial pickup trucks, 4-wheel drive off-road vehicles, and SUVs have become the primary vehicles for many owners. Accordingly, any restrictions related to pickups must be reasonable. This issue was addressed in a 1987 case, Bernardo Villas Management v. Black. The association had a CC&R provision that "No truck, camper, trailer, boat of any kind or other form of recreational vehicle may be parked in the development." Such restrictions were quite common, and boards were obligated to enforce them.
A resident in Bernardo Villas bought a pickup that he used solely for personal transportation and parked in his carport. The board did its duty and sued the resident for violating the CC&Rs. Much to everyone's surprise, the trial court found the restriction unreasonable. Convinced the court got it wrong, the association appealed. The court of appeal also sided with truck owners and agreed the restriction was unreasonable. The court noted, "As times change, cultural perceptions--including society's acceptance of certain types of vehicles--also change. The pickup truck no longer has a pejorative connotation. One person's Bronco II is another's Rolls-Royce." The court added that beauty, even with cars, is in the eye of the beholder.
In a later case, the California Supreme Court in Nahrstedt v. Lakeside Village criticized the Bernardo Villas decision for failing to apply a deferential standard to the association's CC&Rs. The Court did not overturn Bernardo Villas. Instead, it established a test for evaluating CC&R restrictions. It held that CC&Rs are presumed reasonable and will be enforced uniformly against all residents of the common interest development unless the restriction is (i) arbitrary, (ii) imposes burdens on the use of lands it affects that substantially outweigh the restriction's benefits to the development's residents, or (iii)) violates a fundamental public policy. Moreover, the restriction must be viewed not by reference to facts specific to the objecting homeowner but by reference to the common interest development as a whole. If the pickup truck prohibition had not previously been litigated and was tried today under the Nahrstedt standard, it might have produced a different result. Until that happens, the Bernardo Villas decision stands, and blanket pickup truck prohibitions are invalid.
Reasonable Restrictions. Pickups used as work trucks with signage, racks, and tools can still be banned. Associations can also impose reasonable restrictions on the size and types of vehicles. RVs, tow trucks, tractor-trailer rigs, and monster trucks can all be restricted. Such vehicles are not typical and accepted means of personal transportation. Golf carts can be restricted. It depends on the community. Some retirement communities allow them, and some do not. Each community can decide for itself what makes sense for their association.
Commercial Vehicles
QUESTION: I own a FedEx delivery van and park it in my driveway at night in a gated community. State and city laws say I can do this. My HOA says their rules trump city and state law. True or false?
ANSWER: Although the city or state may allow commercial vehicles in driveways, private restrictions in gated communities can prohibit commercial and recreational vehicles, but not all pickup trucks. City ordinances and state laws defer to recorded restrictions unless they provide otherwise. Commercial vehicles may be defined as any vehicle which:
- displays the name of a business or other commercial enterprise or employer anywhere on the vehicle (except on its license plate or license plate holder, or as a decal on a windshield or window, and except for passenger vehicles with government designations such as city inspectors, police, fire, etc.);
- has a chassis with a capacity of 3/4 ton or larger, such as flatbed trucks, tow trucks, tractor-trailer rigs, and the like;
- carries equipment, tools, or materials related to a business that is visible from outside the vehicle, such as ladders, pool supplies, plumbing equipment or materials, construction materials, landscape equipment or materials, etc.
- is over 18 feet in length, bumper to bumper.
Recreational Vehicle Parking
QUESTION: Our CC&Rs state, "There will be no RV parking on the public street within the development." Can an association control public street parking?
ANSWER: Even though local ordinances might allow RV parking on public streets, such ordinances do not invalidate private restrictions unless the ordinance specifically provides otherwise. CC&Rs are recorded covenants that members must follow. If CC&Rs prohibit members from parking their RVs on streets within the community, the restriction can be enforced by other owners, the association, or both. Associations cannot restrict the general public, but they can restrict the actions of members and members' families, guests, and invitees. If the CC&Rs restrict parking and someone buys into the development, the buyer automatically becomes a member of the association and is bound by the association's restrictions. By statute, restrictions are fully enforceable if they are reasonable. (Civ. Code § 5975(a).) Courts have recognized restrictions on RV parking as reasonable for aesthetic purposes.
The reasoning behind parking restrictions is to preserve property values by regulating aesthetics. Several cases have recognized the authority of controlling "visual blight." The cases deal with the right to restrict the parking of recreational vehicles, motor homes, trailers, boats, commercial vehicles, inoperable vehicles, and the like. California courts have ruled that ordinances enacted for aesthetic purposes are valid. (Disney v. City of Concord (2011) 194 Cal.App.4th 1410.) An association's right to enforce member parking on public streets has been upheld by the courts of at least two states: Verna v. The Links at Valleybrook Neighborhood Assn, 371 N.J. Super. 77, 852 A.2d 202 (App. 2004) and Maryland Estates Homeowners' Ass'n. v. Puckett, 936 S.W.2d 218 (Mo. App. 1996). A similar ruling was issued in an unpublished case in California: Lake Forest v. Noble (1978).
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