SARASOTA, Fla. — We’ve told you about the new state law that prevents homeowners’ associations from banning pickup trucks and work trucks from parking in driveways.
It took effect July 1, and already, one Sarasota HOA is saying it will continue to hand out fines and tow vehicles under its existing regulations.
The I-Team is breaking down why the association is still enforcing parking rules despite the new law.
“You can imagine how ecstatic I was”
Ryan McIntire, who goes by “Mac,” loves his 2014 Chevy Silverado pickup.
“It’s functional hauling things most of all,” McIntire said. “Also, there’s the extended cab. I do have a wife and daughter.”
But his truck doesn’t easily fit into his garage.
“I cannot park my own truck in my own driveway,” he said.
McIntire’s subdivision, The Meadows, doesn’t allow pickup trucks or commercial vehicles in their driveways between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m.
That’s based on rules written in 1976 before Jimmy Carter first took office.
Violators caught by the association’s nightly safety patrol face warning letters and fines and can be towed out of their driveways.
McIntire agreed to the rules when he moved into the neighborhood in 2019, but he hoped a new law would change that.
“You can imagine how ecstatic I was when I heard I can park it at my own house,” McIntire said.
“Everybody’s paying to park in here”
McIntire and his wife now make twice-daily trips to drop off and pick up his truck at a fenced-in lot eight-tenths of a mile from his home.
He and his neighbors pay $500 per vehicle per year to park there.
“We all know each other. We see each other every night and every morning,” McIntire said.
“If you come back at night, it’s full. Everybody's paying to park in here,” neighbor Melissa Siet said.
She lives on the opposite side of the 1,600-acre neighborhood.
“The schlepping, the back and forth. It’s hot,” Siet said.
She runs a mobile esthetics business out of her $200,000 custom Mercedes van.
“I've got my own power, water, everything,” Siet said.
Her husband also parks a pickup in the lot.
“We’re ending up with more questions than answers”
Siet welcomed the new law, which says:
“Homeowners' association documents, including declarations of covenants, articles of incorporation, or bylaws, may not preclude... a property owner or a tenant, a guest, or an invitee ...from parking his or her personal vehicle, including a pickup truck, in the property owner's driveway.”
“I thought it was for everybody. We got so excited about it when it got signed, and we thought, great, this is going to save us $1,000 a year, but that’s not happening,” Siet said.
Meadows residents received this email days before the law went into effect: “All current parking rules and regulations will remain the same.”
“They got ahead of it and said, ‘no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. We’re gonna keep everything the same way.’ So we’re ending up with more questions than answers at this point,” McIntire said.
Kaufman language
The general manager for the Meadows Community Association declined an on-camera interview but said in an email that the application of the new law depends on the governing language of the community association and the time it was recorded.
The email referred to something called “Kaufman language.”
Some restrictions have what’s known as Kaufman language, which was sort of a famous case.
Attorney Jonathan Ellis said some HOAs incorporate the language “as amended from time to time” in their bylaws and other documents.
“That’s indicating if the legislature changes the statute, that would apply. Most homeowners' associations don’t have that language,” Ellis said.
That includes The Meadows.
Both McIntire and Siet plan to abide by the existing rules.
“We don’t feel like we have a voice. We don’t know really what to do,” Siet said.
But they hope someone will challenge them.
“It got the governor to sign it into law. So I cannot be the only one with this concern,” McIntire said.
If you have a story you’d like the I-Team to investigate, email us at adam@abcactionnews.com
