Parking Woes At Heritage Hunt
In interest of "full disclosure", let me say that this particular post is inspired by the fact that I know residents who are adversely affected by the recent decision to enforce the measure that I'll be writing about.
I've received quite a few calls & e-mails regarding the festering parking controversy that is brewing at Heritage Hunt. It seems that the Heritage Hunt Homeowners Association has decided to begin enforcing a policy that was adopted a couple of years ago that restricts resident parking in visitor spaces.
One may ask why this move is causing any controversy at all, right? It makes sense, after all, that visitor parking is for visitors. Well after lengthy discussions with homeowners, I have some observations on the impact of such a "common sense" decision.
1. Heritage Hunt is an "Active Adult" Community - While many residents of Heritage Hunt may be very healthy and vibrant, there are residents of Heritage Hunt who don't enjoy the health that many of us take for granted. I believe it's also accurate to say that many residents of this community that is designed for residents 55 years of age and older will find it more than challenging to have to go out & move a car out of the driveway (because it doesn't fit in the garage!) so their spouse can take the car that is parked in the garage to work, to run errands or to a medical appointment. This is exacerbated by the fact that in many instances, the visitor parking that is available to a homeowner's location sits empty and unused for the majority of the time!
2. As of the date of this post, I am unaware of a sustained pattern of homeowner parking abuse that results in visitors to the community being unable to park in the designated areas - While I will continue to investigate the issue, I don't expect anyone on the Homeowners Association's Board of Directors (or their proxies) to be able to provide me with any documentation that such a problem even exists. In all of my years of being a "visitor" in the community to list homes for sale and to show homes that were / are on the market, I have never encountered a problem finding a visitor's space to park in.
3. Finally, taking the first two points into consideration, I find myself asking the following questions:
- Where is the benefit to homeowners of Heritage Hunt by the years delayed enforcement of this measure?
- Why is the process of obtaining an exception / exemption to the measure so difficult for homeowners who clearly have health (and other) issues that make adhering to this measure extremely difficult if not down right awful?
- What process will the Board of Directors accept as "defining the will of the community" to overturn this unnecessary measure?
Please feel free to comment and even to "set me straight" on the issue. That's what this blogging thing is all about, right?