Home > Issues > Parking

Much of this page is taken from my June 2017 blog post about parking rules.

Background

It seems like there are always complaints about parking, no matter where you live. A lot of times I think there is come confusion about what the rules really are, and I want to take a look at just the facts relating to parking in our community.

Penalty Terminology

First, let’s be clear about the terms ticket, violation, and fine.

Your HOA can’t write you a “ticket”… only a police officer (or sheriff or other duly authorized official) can do that.  For infractions of government regulations, though, you can be ticketed.

Government Regulations

Here is a summary of the government related rules, with duplicates consolidated and non-relevant sections removed.  The text is paraphrased slightly for ease of reading, and duplicates have been consolidated.  If you want to see the source for these, I’ve copied references to the Arizona statutes and Avondale code at the end of this page.

  1. You can’t park:
    1. On a sidewalk
    2. In front of a driveway
    3. In an intersection (Arizona)
    4. Within 20 feet of an intersection (Avondale)
    5. Within 15 feet of a fire hydrant
    6. Within 30 feet of the approach to a stop sign
    7. In the opposite direction of traffic flow
    8. On the roadway side of another stopped or parked vehicle
    9. In areas officially designated and posted as no parking
  2. You must park:
    1. With right-side wheels within 18 inches of the curb
  3. You can’t park on a public street for the principal purpose of:
    1. Displaying a vehicle for sale.
    2. Washing, greasing, or repairing the vehicle.
    3. Displaying advertising or commercial exhibits.
  4. You cannot park any of the following on a public street:
    1. a tractor
    2. a semi-trailer
    3. a trailer
    4. a bus
    5. a mobile home
    6. a recreational vehicle
    7. a farm implement
    8. a livestock trailer
    9. or similar equipment
  5. Overnight parking for habitation is prohibited (temporary or permanent)

If anyone finds a vehicle parked in violation of any of the above restrictions, your recourse is to call the Avondale Police Department, preferably at their non-emergency number of (623) 333-7001. The Rio Crossing HOA has no authority to ticket or tow any vehicle for violation of state or city regulations.

Rio Crossing Restrictions on Parking

All members of Rio Crossing should have access to the Covenants, Conditions, & Restrictions – commonly referred to as the CC&Rs. If you have not been provided a copy, an unofficial copy of the filed document is available for free download.

For a copy of the CC&Rs, go to the Maricopa County Recorder’s office web site search page, at https://recorder.maricopa.gov/recdocdata/. Enter 2004 in the year portion of the recording number, and 616015 in the next box, and press Search. Click on the “50” link in blue under the Pages column, and the document should appear.

Here is a summary of the items related to parking from the CC&Rs, paraphrased slightly in some areas, with all references to Declarant language removed (it’s no longer applicable).  Note there are specific definitions in the CC&Rs for capitalized terms.

  1. You can’t park or store any of the following on any Lot so as to be Visible from Neighboring Property, nor on the Common Area:
    1. Mobile home
    2. Travel trailer
    3. Tent trailer
    4. Trailer
    5. Camper shell
    6. Boat trailer
    7. Other similar equipment
  2. Vehicles owned or leased by an Owner, Lessee, or Resident or any guests should:
    1. First, be parked in the garage on the Lot, to the extent space is available for parking.
    2. Second, if there is no space in the garage, then parked on the driveway that was originally constructed for the house.
    3. Third, If there is a driveway expansion constructed with the approval of the Design Review Committee and there is no space in the garage or in the original driveway.
    4. Lastly, if there is no space in the garage, in the original driveway, or in an approved driveway expansion, then a vehicle can be parked in the street.
  3. No vehicle can be parked in a driveway if the vehicle encroaches on or obstructs access across the sidewalk or curb adjacent to the driveway.
  4. Vehicles over 8 feet tall or more than 24 feet long can only be parked as follows:
    1. Temporary parking of the vehicles of contractors, subcontractors, suppliers, and vendors is permitted.
    2. Temporary parking in the driveway on a Lot for recreational vehicles, motor homes, and similar vehicles for the purpose of loading or unloading is permitted.
  5. No overnight parking for any contractor, subcontractor, supplier, or vendor vehicle. [This rule does not apply to vehicles belonging to an Owner, Lessee, or Resident… only to their contractors, etc.]
  6. No vehicle can be parked on any part of the Common Area except a Street or a designated parking space.

If anyone finds any violation of the Rio Crossing rules on parking, you can fill out a complaint form on the association’s web site, and the management company will handle it.  (Log in at http://RioCrossing.org, then go to Contacts, then E-Forms, then Report a Violation.)

Rio Crossing – Other Restrictions

There are some related restrictions in the CC&Rs that aren’t specifically stated as “parking”.

  1. You can’t store a vehicle:
    1. Anywhere on a Lot except in the garage.
    2. Anywhere on the Common Area.
  2. A vehicle can’t be constructed, reconstructed, or repaired on any Lot so as to be Visible From Neighboring Property.
  3. An inoperable vehicle:
    1. Can’t be constructed, reconstructed, or repaired on the Streets or any other part of the Common Area.
    2. Can’t be stored or parked on the Streets or any other part of the Common Area.

There are also restrictions in section 4.1 of the CC&Rs relating to Residential Use. If the volume of parking generated results in congestion or is in excess of what is customary in a residential neighborhood, it might prohibit the owner from conducting a business activity on the Lot.

There is a relatively inconsequential reference to parking in section 4.3 relating to Nuisances, stating that parking in connection with normal construction activities won’t be considered a nuisance.

Board-Adopted Rules and Regulations

The final paragraph of section 4.12 states that the Board can make rules further restricting parking, but that those rules can’t conflict or be inconsistent with the other provisions of section 4.12.

To my knowledge, there are no Board-adopted rules pertaining to parking in effect at this time.

References for Government Regulations

Arizona

There are a few sections of Arizona Revised Statutes that cover parking. Here is the relevant text of ARS 28-873.  Paragraphs not applicable to Rio Crossing (like parking near railroad tracks) has been removed for simplicity.

  1. [A] person shall not stop, stand or park a vehicle in any of the following places:

  2. On a sidewalk

  3. In front of a public or private driveway

  4. Within an intersection

  5. Within fifteen feet of a fire hydrant

  6. Alongside or opposite a street excavation or obstruction when stopping, standing or parking would obstruct traffic. [Note: There is rarely any street work being done in Rio Crossing.]

  7. On the roadway side of a vehicle stopped or parked at the edge or curb of a street. [Note: this translates to “no double parking,” that is, no parking alongside another vehicle.]

  8. At any place where official signs prohibit standing or stopping. [Note: at the time of this writing, there are no related official signs in Rio Crossing.]

And one relevant part of ARS 28-874:

  1. [a] person who stops or parks a vehicle on a roadway where there are adjacent curbs shall stop or park the vehicle with its right-hand wheels parallel to and within eighteen inches of the right-hand curb

Avondale

The city of Avondale has municipal codes relating to parking, mostly in Chapter 23 “Traffic” Article III “Stopping, Standing, or Parking”.  (The entire Avondale municipal code can be found online here.)

Section 23-61 has the following limitations.

No person shall park a vehicle upon any public street, right-of-way or other public property for the principal purpose of:

(1) Displaying such vehicle for sale.

(2) Washing, greasing or repairing such vehicle, except repairs necessitated by an emergency. [Note: you can do these things in your driveway, but not on the street.]

(3) Displaying advertising.

(4) Displaying commercial exhibits.

(5) Parking in residential areas designated and posted as no parking areas pursuant to the city’s residential “no parking” program policy as adopted by the city manager or designee.

Section 23-64 restates the last part of 23-61:

No person shall park a vehicle upon any public street, right-of-way or other public property in residential areas if such public street, right-of-way or public property has been designated and posted as a residential no parking zone pursuant to the residential “no parking” program policy as adopted by the city manager or designee.

Avondale code Section 23-63 repeats a good bit of ARS 28-873.

Except if necessary to avoid conflict with other traffic or if in compliance with law or the directions of a police officer or traffic control device, a person shall not stop, stand or park a vehicle in any of the following places:

  1. On a sidewalk.

  2. In front of a public or private driveway.

  3. Within twenty (20) feet of an intersection.

  4. Within fifteen (15) of a fire hydrant.

  5. On a crosswalk.

  6. Within twenty (20) feet to any crosswalk at any intersection.

  7. Within a designated fifteen (15) miles per hour school crossing zone.

  8. Within thirty (30) feet on the approach of any flashing beacon, stop sign, yield sign, or traffic control sign, or traffic control signal at the side of a street.

[9 and 10 relate to railroad crossings and fire stations]

  1. On the side of a street unless both wheels on the right side of the vehicle are within eighteen (18) inches of a vehicle stopped or parked at the edge or curb of the street.

[12 relates to a bridge or other elevated structure or tunnel]

  1. On a street in the opposite direction of traffic flow.

  2. In a fire lane.

  3. At any place where official signs prohibit standing or stopping.

Section 23-62 states:

  1. Except as specifically set forth below, no person shall stand or park a vehicle having both (i) a gross vehicle weight rating in excess of ten thousand (10,000) pounds and (ii) exceeding one (1) ton chassis rating, or a tractor, semi-trailer, trailer, bus, mobile home, recreational vehicle, farm implement, livestock trailer or similar equipment on a public street or in a parking lot of any retail, industrial, office, commercial establishment.

  2. The overnight parking of any vehicle for the purpose of temporary or permanent habitation is prohibited

Opinion

I hear a lot about parking, both in the monthly board meetings, and during my chats with folks around the neighborhood.  Basically, people seem to think that their neighbors park in ways that block traffic and make it generally difficult to get around the neighborhood.

What I think I’m hearing is really two different issues:

  1. Parking on both sides of a street, especially in the four far corners of Rio Crossing where Highland or Devonshire turn into or out of 123rd and 124th.  This parking practice makes the resulting roadway wide enough for only one car to pass through, meaning anyone coming the other way either has to wait, or you have to wait.
  2. Parking three-wide in some areas (like the ends of the cul-de-sacs), parking the wrong way (against traffic), partially blocking a driveway, or parking directly across from a driveway, making it difficult for you to pull out of or into your driveway, or even drive in some places.

On the second point, I agree there is a very real impact to safety and usability of our streets.  You ought to be able to get around without hitting anything.

But on the first point — while I agree that having to slow down, check for oncoming traffic, and potentially wait a few seconds — I think that it’s more a matter of being in a hurry and a slight inconvenience.

In fact, when I heard the first complaints of speeding in the neighborhood, I did some studying on “traffic calming” — that part of traffic engineering that deals with trying to get people to slow down and obey basic driving courtesy in neighborhoods like ours.  “Neighborhood traffic management” and “residential speed control” are other terms that have been used.

In my research into tools and techniques used in neighborhoods such as ours, I’ve read about speed bumps, speed humps, speed tables, roundabouts, lane narrowing, and a host of other measures, each of which comes at a financial price, as well as presenting other issues like increased noise, potential vehicle damage, and slowing down emergency response vehicles.

What do they say appears to slow traffic down the most, with the least amount of negative effects?  Parking on both sides of the street.

It’s never going to be perfect, and no matter what you do, someone is going to do something to be unsafe or piss off their neighbors.  But I say it wouldn’t hurt to slow down a little and let your neighbors park (legally and without hassle) on the side of the street.

Avondale code says these things which we should all keep in mind:

  • Always park with the traffic
  • Your curb-side tires should be within 18″ of the curb (in our case, should always be the right side, since we have no one–way streets)
  • Vehicles parked on the street should never block any part of a driveway – not even your own