Take a look at this remarkable post by George Staropoli, and the even more remarkable video that he links to, where you hear Arizona legislators actually discussing whether private corporations should be able to enforce their rules on...public roads. The bill in question is SB 1113.
Read this. How does subsection B grab you?
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section 1. Title 33, chapter 16, article 1, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding section 33-1817, to read:
33-1817. Community authority over public roadways; exemption
A. Notwithstanding any provision in the community documents, after the period of declarant control, an association has no authority over and shall not regulate any roadway for which the ownership has been dedicated to or is otherwise held by a governmental entity.
B. This section does not apply to a planned community located in an unincorporated area of a county.
5 comments:
I've never understood the circumstances that gave rise to this bill. How could an HOA effectively annex public roads and streets and claim the right to regulate them? And why would a bill be needed to state the obvious: that these rights of way are under public jurisdiction.
I watched some of the video and I guess people are complaining to their legislators that HOAs are enforcing their governing document parking rules on public streets that run through their subdivisions. As my Dad used to say, they have more nerve than a country stud horse.
The bill is a non-sequitur--there is a fundamental legal conflict in a declaration that purports to dedicate yet control the same piece of real estate. Either it's a public dedication or it's not. If it is then the public entity sets the rules. Like Fred, I don't see any basis for the legislation. The law is already in place. The public entity needs to step up and assert its authority. If an association can set the rules for a public street, I can put a parking meter in front of my house.
Why should an HOA corporation have the authority to do this in an unincorporated area of the county? If it's a public road, it's a public road.
Why should an HOA corporation under declarant control have express authority to control public roads? If it's a public road, it's a public road.
This bill does not appear to limit purported authority of individual members to sue - so why should this authority of the HOA corp to regulate be permitted to exist during the period of declarant control? This just illustrates that the developer is using the HOA corporation as a liability shifting device - at homeowner expense.
From George's blog, "The bill was defeated 2 – 6."
http://pvtgov.wordpress.com/2012/03/08/az-house-supports-hoa-dominance-over-municipalities/
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