NSW: Can strata schemes change visitor parking to resident use or impose time and access restrictions?

Question: Can we change our visitor parking to residents only parking or place restrictions on use?

In a Strata complex with 8 Villas. We have 2 council approved Visitor Parking spaces.

Can we:

change both parking spots from visitors to residents only?

put a time limit on the visitor’s parking spots?

say no visitors cars on premises after 9 pm?

Answer: Check the Council’s development consent conditions.

The development consent from Council for the building will usually include conditions such as the required number of visitor parking spaces. Development consent conditions can be amended with Council approval, but it may be unlikely if the building is relatively new.

Firstly, check the development consent conditions. You can contact your local Council to find out the best way to check these. If the building is old and the Council haven’t digitised records, you may need to sift through boxes of old records.

Here you are looking to see what (if any) conditions there may be around the minimum number of visitor parking spaces required for the building.

It’s then a good idea to speak with the relevant officer at Council about it as you may gain insights into their appetite as well as the process to amend the development consent.

If it looks achievable, planning or legal advice should then be sought to ensure the process is properly executed to change the development consent.

With regards to regulating the use of your visitor parking (such as time limits or hours of use) – a well thought out by-law will help to achieve this. Legal advice should be sought, and the solicitor will guide you through the process, including their insights on what is considered reasonable (bearing in mind, by-laws cannot be harsh, unconscionable or oppressive under section 139(1) of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (NSW)). They will also have experience on enforcement of the by-law and what elements are worth including.

This post appears in the April 2022 edition of The NSW Strata Magazine.

Tim Sara
Strata Choice
E: tsara@stratachoice.com.au
P: 1300 322 213