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Settling Car Park Storage Wars

One of the most contentious issues we see dividing committees and owners relates to car park storage. Requests to install storage structures and enforcement of by-laws when items or structures are put in place without approval, requires careful consideration to maintain harmony.

In this article we delve into the common storage request types, terms of approval considered and factors to consider when either approving requests or enforcing by-laws.

There are many different scenarios that can occur when it comes to storage in car parks and the war that often breaks out when someone doesn’t get their way. The most common scenario relates to common area exclusive use car park spaces often found in the basement of building format plan buildings, which is the focus of this article.

To deal with this scenario, we break the common issues down into a series of questions to guide you through the process for approval and enforcement.

A resident is storing junk (their property) in their car park – What do I do?

Step 1 – Check the by-laws. Is the exclusive use area designated as a car park, storage or both?

A common outcome is that the car park is allocated as exclusive use for the purpose of parking a vehicle only. This means that storage of items, particularly without approval is a breach of the by-laws. Alternatively there may be a cage or similar structure within the area for storage which is permitted, provided the items stored do not breach another by-law relating to storage of hazardous materials.

Step 2 – By-law enforcement – Simple (but not easy). Read more about the enforcement process here.

Alternatives – The occupant of the lot allocated the area may have the opinion that the items in the car space aren’t bothering anyone so why all the fuss? An effective way to communicate the reasons for enforcement is to highlight that it is not only the by-law that is being breached, but also safety regulations putting the scheme at risk of liability for the items causing a potential injury hazard.

Providing a copy of the Workplace Health and Safety (WHS) audit report is also an effective communication tool as it is likely to highlight items stored in an unsafe of hazardous manner. If you don’t have a WHS audit report to manage potential risks, you should arrange for this to occur at least annually and ensure the inspector is made aware of the issue.

A resident has put a cupboard/cage in their car park – What do I do?

Although this scenario is getting closer to an acceptable solution, terms of approval need to be carefully considered. Following steps 1 & 2 as described above can be an effective way to simply prohibit the placement of storage devices all together, if that’s what the majority owner view is.

Alternatives – if the exclusive use by-law allows for storage within the exclusive use area, a set of standards can be adopted to maintain a uniform approach for either the entire car park or for particular car park types.

By-laws that allow storage as well as car parking in the same space are usually allocated on the basis that there is sufficient room for both. If there isn’t enough room to park a standard vehicle and install the storage device proposed, declining the request for an improvement to the common property exclusive use area would be considered reasonable in most cases.

If there is sufficient room for vehicle parking and the proposed improvement for a storage device (which is determined by vehicle parking standards set by the local Council at the time of granting development approval), then a reasonable approach would be to consider approval of the improvement request subject to adherence to approval terms.

We want to set standards for storage in car parks – What should they be?

This is where it can be tricky to accommodate different car park types and it’s important to be careful not to set conditions that are too rigid for potential changes to future needs, such as installing electric vehicle charging stations that may not fit within the criteria set!

For this reason, if the by-laws are to be updated to include storage installation terms, they should only include conditions that are unlikely to change or simply reference applications requiring committee approval. Examples of some of the terms we see adopted that have settled the storage war include but are not limited to:

  1. The storage device is to be over bonnet type with specification the same as or similar to the product called “The Storage Box”, no wider than the allocated car park
  2. The colour is to be cream unless an alternative is approved by the committee to match the surrounding building colour scheme
  3. The lot owner will be responsible for any council, building, fire safety or any other required certifications which must be obtained and provided prior to installation
  4. All items are to be stored within the approved device at all times and must be non-hazardous general household items only
  5. Any requirements to park vehicles outside of the car park to access the storage device is to be limited to 1 hour maximum per day, within a visitor space if available
  6. The device shall not restrict access to any surrounding car parks
  7. The device shall not obstruct any infrastructure
  8. The device shall not cause any vehicle parked within the allocated car park to protrude beyond the car park boundary
  9. Only car parks with solid boundary walls are permitted to install a storage locker at the end of the car park space against the wall
  10. The device must be safely secured to the wall so that it cannot fall or be knocked over
  11. Any fixing points are to be reinstated to their original condition upon removal
  12. Should the locker need to be removed due to non-compliance with approval terms, removal is to be at the owners cost

As you can see from these scenarios and the subsequent answers, there are many considerations to making reasonable decisions which unfortunately will not please everyone.

In our experience, the most productive way to settle the storage war has been for the decision-making process to be flexible enough for individual needs and future circumstances with a consistent approach to by-law enforcement when the standards set for all are not met.

 

This article was contributed by Grant Mifsud, Partner – Archers the Strata Professionals

Leave a Reply

  1. Greg Anderson

    Can you provide an article regarding unsightly acculturation of stored items within exclusive use car/storage spaces.

    Unsightly meaning items are:

    1. piled, haphazard, randomly placed rather than stacked and organised.

    2. Has a visual junk yard appearance.

    3. Is comprised in full or in part from hoarding e.g, for spare parts or accumulation of bulky items such as refrigerators and/or other white goods, mattresses etc.

    4. Has extreme dust accumulation.

    Can by-laws provide for:

    1. organised storage of items with plastic tub bins?

    2. Standardised installation of divider walls eg cyclone wire. For consistent appearance.

    3. Standardised installation if fire retardant screens at side walls.

    4. Standardised electric chain gate security doors with consistent colour and design.

    5. Annual body corporate safety inspections.

    1. Smart Strata

      Hi Greg and thanks for your comment. We suggest you review the information found in the link within this article referencing by-law enforcement which will provide you with the information on these issues you are seeking. Thanks.

  2. Brenley M Milsom

    Very Helpful – There is also the issue of vehicle size with larger and larger twin cab vehicles projecting into the traffic areas and hindering easy access to other residents car park spaces. What do we know about this?

    1. Smart Strata

      Hi Brenley and thanks for your comment. This issue you have described will potentially be a by-law breach. Read more on this topic in the link within this article referencing by-law enforcement as the next steps to pursue. Thanks.

  3. Deb

    I would like to see something about storage of recreational vehicles in non-exclusive use carparks. Thanks so much for your always informative and useful articles.

    1. Smart Strata

      Hi Deb and thanks for your comment. This issue you have described will potentially be a by-law breach. Read more on this topic in the link within this article referencing by-law enforcement as the next steps to pursue. Thanks.

  4. Nam Duong

    Hi.

    My storage is above my carpark.
    I attached TV boxes on the storage doors outside storage cage and hang my shopping trolley under the storage cage. Are they illegal?

    Thank you !

  5. Dennis Dowling

    The Spear type subdivision plan for our building indicates the car parking spaces in the basement garage as having the same Lot number as the apartment to which it is allocated. Is this different to an exclusive use type of parking space allocation with regard to the storage of personal items at the end of the allocated parking bay? Over bonnet cages space is provided but is access is restricted to small half doors by CO2 exhaust ducting passing in front of the cages. Would orderly storage of personal items permissable below beneath the cage structure? We have been unable to find any rule or by-law forbidding this. Thanks in anticiaption of some advice.

  6. Sandra Smith

    We live in Brisbane and want to install security cage along a border wall in our strata building car park . The cage will be at th front of the parking space and will encroach 600 cm into the car space leaving 5.1 metres long for the car to park. We have an SUV that fits comfortably within this length. Do we need council approval to install the cage? And what other criteria do I have to adhere to?

  7. Peter Denton

    Our strata scheme has a bylaw as below. The strata manager is using this bylaw as a reason to prevent owners storing items in their car spaces.
    The car spaces are in an underground carpark. There is no bylaw restricting car spaces to vehicles only.
    Is the strata manager being unreasonable, given the external appearance of the property (from the street, for example) is not impacted?

    (1) The owner or occupier of a lot must not, without the prior written consent of the
    owners corporation, maintain within the lot anything visible from outside the lot
    that, viewed from outside the lot, is not in keeping with the rest of the building.