As many in the neighborhood have seen, there were no parking signs placed throughout Lowe Estates in Gilbert, AZ. The Board of Directors and Spectrum Association Management tried to pass the blame on the Town of Gilbert. The Town of Gilbert quickly responded and said this was requested by the Board of Directors and Spectrum Association Management. 

There are several issues here. The first is the no parking CC&R. This is the HOA’s rules. We all agreed to follow the CC&Rs when we bought our homes. The CC&R for street parking hasn’t been enforced, therefore street parking has become common and, for many, needed. The no parking CC&R should’ve been enforced all along. Spectrum Association Management and the Board of Directors decided not to enforce the CC&R (do a quick search for selective enforcement).  There has to be a certain and rather large percentage of homeowners who disagree with a CC&R to have one removed. The hardest part of this is getting our neighbors involved enough to either show up to a meeting or reach out to Spectrum Association Management.

The next issue is the no parking signs. These were put up by the Town of Gilbert. The details are still blurry, but it’s sounding like the Board of Directors had Spectrum Association Management go to the Town of Gilbert and requested the signs. Fire access was the reason provided. This may be a real issue. There are restrictions for roadway widths and distances wide enough for fire trucks to fit through written into Gilbert’s codes. We can’t do much about that. It hasn’t been an issue for 40 some years, but you can thank the Board of Directors for making it one now.  That said, it looks like there are streets where no parking signs were placed that don’t fall under the fire code. 

The board of directors pushed things too far. Instead of using the tools at their disposal to enforce the CC&Rs, they instead decided to use the Town of Gilbert to put up signs and the Gilbert Police to enforce their wishes. A board of directors who will call the police on their neighbors for parking in front of their homes is unacceptable. This board needs to go and people who actually represent the majority of the homeowners need to take over. Spectrum Association Management needs to go for allowing things to get this for. In the short term, however, let’s get these signs down and remove the no street parking CC&R.