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Man Takes On HOA Over Parking Restrictions

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May 12, 2009 4:48 pm US/Mountain

Man Takes On HOA Over Parking Restrictions

Reporting
Raj Chohan

LONE TREE, Colo. (CBS4) ―

Click to enlarge 1 of 1: Shawn Howell works in the concrete business and has a construction trailer he parks in front of his house. Neighbors say they don't like it.
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A Lone Tree man is battling his homeowner's association over whether he can park his construction trailer in front of his house. He lives in a subdivision called Carriage Club Estates. It's a covenant-controlled community with an HOA.

The question is whether private HOAs can enforce covenants on public-owned city streets. Some cities, like Parker, don't allow it. And other cities like Lone Tree haven't taken a position. As for the courts, the rulings have gone both ways.

"They don't want to see my vehicle out here in front of my home," Shawn Howell said.

Howell works in the concrete business and has a construction trailer he parks in front of his house. Neighbors say they don't like it.

"As a commercial vehicle there's a limited amount of time he can park on the street in this HOA and I support that," neighbor Scott Boynton said.

Howell has received fines and eventually battled his HOA in court over whether the home owners association could enforce its parking covenants on city-owned streets.

"It's a city street, they're regulated by the city and owned by the city and I follow the city guidelines and the code and so forth," Howell said.

Whether an HOA can enforce private covenants on public streets is still an unsettled matter in Colorado. Different courts have come to different conclusions on the issue. The trial court in Howell's case ruled that the HOA could enforce its covenants. Attorney Jerry Orton says such rulings are typically based on theories of contract.

"The rationale is that owners agree to the covenants when they buy their property, and so they can make agreements that relate to what they do even off their property, like parking in the public street," Orton said.

Howell says he disputes whether the covenants actually banned street parking for his vehicles, and even if they do, he still questions whether private HOAs can enforce covenants on streets they don't own.

While Howell lost in court on the question of whether his HOA could enforce covenants, the trial court also ruled that HOA was selectively enforcing its covenants against him.

There are an estimated 12,000 HOAs in Colorado.

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