How to fence your own parking space in your yard
The number of cars on the nation’s roads is steadily increasing every year. In addition to constant traffic jams and increased exhaust emissions, there are a number of other problems.
Caused by increased traffic. And one of them – parking zones, especially in residential areas.
Cheeky car owners illegally take over sidewalks, playgrounds and flower beds. Fortunately, you can arrange your own parking space in your yard in a way that is legal and aesthetically pleasing.
A legal parking space in your yard
To make it legal in your yard, there are certain requirements that must be adhered to, as follows:
- A site plan for the house contains a section of the yard for parking.
- A resolution of the meeting with the signatures of all the neighbors and clearly stating the location of the future parking space in the yard.
- The lease agreement specifies the terms and location of the parking area.
There are a few more conditions. For example, the parking space for 15 cars should be 15 meters away from the nearest residential building. If the parking space is supposed to accommodate 50 or more cars, the distance must be at least 50 m.
It is imperative that a correct plan of parking location is drawn up. Fences for parking must not interfere with the free entry and exit of vehicles from the yard. The dimensions of vehicles such as ambulances and fire trucks are taken into account.
Types of parking fences
Modern manufacturers offer a fairly wide range of solutions for parking space fencing.
When choosing a suitable option, it is necessarily necessary to consider such their characteristics as durability, reliability, the material from which the parking space is made, the possibility of transportation, shape, design, as well as dimensions. Let’s consider their main types and designs in more detail.
Mechanical type
You can make a parking lot fence from mechanical fences. Mechanical parking barriers are an uncomplicated design made of metal, which is blocked by a simple padlock. The cost of the barrier depends on the size and materials of manufacture. The main element of the mechanism is a hollow iron tube.
The principle of operation of such a barrier is a folding design. The principle is that before entering the parking lot the driver opens the lock and folds the barrier to the ground. After parking or after leaving the parking space the driver has to raise the folding fence structure again and fix it in an upright position with a padlock or a special key, which comes with the lock. This is the most primitive type of parking fence in the yard.
Automatic parking barriers
You can enclose a parking space in your yard with automatic parking barriers. This is the most functional, practical and expensive solution. The main advantage of the system is that in order to open the barrier, the driver no longer needs to leave the car – it is controlled from a remote key fob!
In order for the automatic barriers to fully perform all their functions, they must be provided with electricity. This, in turn, entails a number of additional activities, including installation and laying of wiring, as well as connection to a power source. This explains the high cost and laboriousness of installing automatic parking fence equipment in the yard.
Obviously, it is the most convenient solution for parking in the yard. But when handling the equipment you need to adhere to certain rules. You can get all recommendations from the manufacturer or supplier of automatic fencing. Pay special attention to the issue of wiring insulation and the ability of the equipment to work in conditions of low temperatures. Wiring will need to be carefully protected from frost, icing and water penetration and exposure. The same applies to the automatic mechanisms themselves – it is better to check the insulation of the system ahead of time.
Fencing posts
You can also protect your parking space with special fencing bollards, which are widely used for parking in various parts of the city. The problem of increasing the number of cars is directly related to the outdated road schemes that were developed more than 50 years ago. That is why parking spaces in yards and on city streets (near shopping centers, offices, airports, supermarkets, etc.) are so scarce today.
The easiest and most affordable solution to fence your own parking space (or the entire parking lot) are fencing posts. Most often they can be seen along the sidewalk, displayed in a row and indicate the parking area. There are 2 types of fencing available today:
- Portable.
- Stationary.
Portable fencing posts are quite popular. Only galvanized steel is made of this material. This is a guarantee of their reliability and protection against corrosion. Their size and weight allows you to store them in the trunk all the time and use them immediately if necessary. To install the post it is not necessary to fasten it to anything. There are also telescopic models that fold out to a length of 1 m. with a standard value of 0.7 m.
Additionally on such posts you can place information about the owner of the parking space or parking area. For convenience, many drivers leave personal information on them, including a contact phone number. This is especially convenient when it is necessary to move the car for a short time to allow other vehicles to pass or due to other circumstances.
Stationary fencing posts can be divided into several types:
- Simple posts, which are mounted in the asphalt;
- Bollards-barriers – between them may be stretched an additional fence in the form of a chain or rope;
- Ribbon fencing.
The most primitive posts are usually large in size and weight. They are permanently mounted into the asphalt and serve as a permanent fence of the parking space. There are no strict requirements for the appearance of such fences or for their functionality. However, there are many different designs and materials to choose from today.
Barrier posts are the same posts, between which an additional fence is stretched. Here you can use chain link, pipes, metal profiles, rope, etc.
Ribbon fencing for parking is a barrier posts, between which a wide color band is stretched. This is the most attractive and convenient option of such fencing.
Other Types
There are other, less popular types of fencing for a parking space in the yard. One of these is the “crab” system. The fence is a metal structure consisting of two parts. One of them is permanently mounted in the asphalt, and the second is attached with a special clamp.
As fixation, you can use either a built-in lock mechanism or the usual padlock. To unlock the fence, you need to open the lock and remove the upper part of the lock. After parking, you need to put the removable part back in place and close the lock.
Every driver knows how much of a problem parking is today. All the more so when it comes to parking in the yard of your own house. Fencing your own parking space is a civilized, aesthetic and practical solution to the problem. If you have already faced the issue of fencing your own parking space at work or in the yard of your home, share with our readers in the comments under this article.
Supreme Court Explains Yard Parking Rules
The Supreme Court considered an appeal from a motorist who was barred from entering a yard equipped with a barrier because she was “parking improperly.” The judges did not agree with the decision of the lower courts which had ruled that the restriction was lawful
The Supreme Court made an interesting decision after reading the materials of the case of a resident of an apartment cooperative house whose neighbors forbade her to park her personal car in the yard.
It is known that the yards of apartment buildings in almost all major cities have been closed to vehicles of unauthorized citizens for several years now. In contrast to the cars of the residents, who are allowed to drive in and leave their cars under the windows of their apartments.
When the yards began to be massively closed to unauthorized cars, many had hope that now the citizens registered in the house no disputes and conflicts in the yards with transport should not arise.
However, the hopes quickly dispelled. Instead of some problems arose others. Now tenants began to conflict with each other about parking.
In our case, what happened was this – a lady, in the opinion of neighbors – car owners, parked in the yard incorrectly. So they decided to forbid the lady to enter the yard at all. That was the decision of the general meeting of car owners of the block of flats. In response, the car owner went to court and demanded to provide her with unobstructed passage.
In court it turned out that the barrier at the entrance to the courtyard of the house was installed lawfully. There is a parking lot in the yard. In order to get a space there, the car owner should submit an application to the HCC, enclose a copy of the documents for the car, pay the fees for parking spaces, get an entrance pass and a key ring to the barrier. Who is allowed to enter the yard and park and who is not allowed to park, was decided by the general meeting of car owners of the house.
Our plaintiff legally has an apartment in the house, she is registered and lives there with her family. She, like everyone else, was given a cherished key fob and shown a place for her car. And two years later at the meeting the neighbors decided to deprive the lady of her parking space inside the yard. The cause was written down in the report as follows: “for infringement of parking rules and rules of entrance”. And they also decided to take away the key ring from the neighbor and return her parking fee. The lady who was deprived of her key fob went to court.
She lost her first trial. In its decision it said that “the evidence of the defendant’s obstruction of access to the plaintiff’s dwelling was not presented. And the restriction on the use of parking is established by the decision of the general meeting of car owners. The appeal agreed with this verdict. But the Supreme Court did not. In its opinion, the conclusion of its colleagues “does not meet the requirements of the law.
Here are the arguments of the Judicial Board for Civil Cases of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation. First, the Supreme Court cited the Civil Code (Article 262) – a person has the right to freely walk on state and municipal land, if there are no restrictions prescribed by law. And, although the land under this apartment building has not been registered as the property of the HCC, in any case, under the law, citizens have the right to demand “the elimination of violations of their rights.
Then the high court turned to the Housing Code and cited several articles thereof. In particular, Article 37 states that it is forbidden to allocate in kind the shares in the right of ownership of the common property in the apartment building. And the general conclusion is that the owner of the apartment in the house has an “unconditional and inalienable” right to use the common property in the house. And addition to the said – “any ways to restrict or deprive the owner of the premises of such right are not provided for by applicable law”.
The facts that the plaintiff was hindered in her desire to enter the yard, the court had many. Beginning with the statement from the protocol – to exclude the parking violator the right to enter the yard – to the return of her money for the improvement of the parking lot. The plaintiff had that amount transferred to her personal account.
The Supreme Court stressed that it did not take into account the district court which had denied the citizen’s request. The first instance referred to the decree of the city government and the general residents’ meeting that stipulated the rules of entrance and parking in the yard. To this the Supreme Court noted that this decision of the city government said nothing about the order of creation and use of parking spaces in the adjacent area nor about “imposing any restrictions on the right” of the plaintiff as the owner of premises in the house, and to use the territory adjacent to the house.
The apartment owner has an “unconditional and inalienable” right to use the common property in the building. Including the parking space.
One more curious point – the right of the plaintiff for unimpeded access to her yard is fixed in the minutes of the general meeting of the tenants. The citizen was deprived of her right to park at the meeting of homeowners. The local court for some reason did not pay attention to this fact and agreed with the restriction of the owner’s rights. Therefore the Supreme Court reminded of its plenum (No. 25 of June 23, 2015). There it was explained what is meant by a decision of a meeting of citizens – it is a decision of the civil legal community, i.e. “a certain group of persons empowered to make decisions at meetings”. From all the above norms the Supreme Court draws this conclusion. One of the obligatory conditions for recognizing an assembly decision as a basis for the emergence or termination of civil rights and obligations is the presence in the law of an indication of the civil-law consequences for all those concerned by the assembly. There is a list of cooperative management bodies. It is given in the Housing Code and is considered to be exhaustive. No general meeting of car owners in this list is not listed. Therefore, the decision of such a meeting can’t have any civil consequences for the tenant, and it is not provided by the law.
The Supreme Court told the local courts to review the dispute in light of their explanations.
