Category: Towing

Residents in Visitor Parking

Posted on by Don Ryan

We have been having issues with residents, both owners and renters, parking vehicles in the Visitor Lots without the required Visitor Parking Permits displayed on the vehicle.

All visitor lots are clearly marked with signage that says:

In many cases, what people tend to concentrate on these signs is the “48 Hour Limit” part, thinking that phrase gives them 48 hours within which to park a resident vehicle in a visitor lot.  That is not the case, however. It says that Visitors can park in the visitor lot for a period of time no longer than 48 hours.

The next part of the sign details the consequences for violating the top part of the sign, towing at your expense. In the past month or so,we have towed about 6 or 7 resident vehicles parked in the visitor lots. These signs and the verbiage upon them are not new; the signs and these rules have been here for about 40-45 years.

We do understand that sometimes it is necessary to utilize the visitor lot  when getting work done on you property or if you have company over and they need to park closer to the house due to disabilities. We have notified folks in the Information notices we send out twice a year that if you need to park a vehicle in the visitor lot for a short period, you need to call the Office and let us know.

So, please keep this in mind and if you do need to park a vehicle in the visitor lot, call the Office. If the Office is closed,  leave us a message or use the Contact Us button in the menu.  I check that email address several times daily.

 

Information, Towing, Visitor Parking

Unauthorized Vehicles Parked Under Carports

Posted on by Don Ryan - 1 Comment

We had an incident yesterday where someone decided to park their car under a homeowner’s carport; the homeowner had no idea who this car belonged to or whom they were visiting.

The GPPD got involved and determined the car was not stolen. Since we have a contracted towing company, Allstar, only they can tow from HOA property. Otherwise, the Police were going to have Dave’s Hiway remove the vehicle. After many phone calls to and from the towing company, and a few homeowners, this unauthorized vehicle was removed from the homeowner’s carport by Allstar.

It is suggested that homeowners have a sign indicating they will not allow unauthorized parking on their property, something like this:

violators-towed-away-sign-k-5476

It should say something to the effect that towing will be done at “owner’s or operator’s expense”, according to our HOA attorney.

 

 

 

 

I have something worked out with Allstar now and they have agreed to tow unauthorized vehicles parked on a homeowner’s property ONLY if that homeowner is the person who calls for a tow and signs a tow sheet when Allstar comes to pick up the unauthorized vehicle parked under the carport.

Allstar Towing’s main number is 214-819-3028; after 5 PM it transfers to the dispatch number, 214-374-8697.

Towing, Unauthorized Vehicles

Expired Registration or Parking Permits

Posted on by Don Ryan

Over the past few days, Excalibur Towing has been removing vehicles from our visitor lots that have expired registration.  This is not a recent rule for the visitor lots; it has been around for a very long time.  In addition, we have towed a vehicle for an expired Parking Permit.  Just like with vehicle registration, it is your responsibility to assure that these items are renewed prior to its expiration.

Information, Towing, Visitor Lot Parking Permits, Visitor Parking

Reminder: We Are Towing Violators From the Visitor Lots

Posted on by Don Ryan

It seems we need to remind people that we do have a Visitor Lot Parking Permit program which went into effect on July 1, 2015. This policy was mailed to every homeowner on record because the homeowner needed to fill out the application and get the permits. Initially, we had a total of 37 parking spots we were going to rent located on both sides of the complex. We did not have an exuberant response at all with the applications trickling in.

We also noticed that we still have people with 3 or 4 vehicles who never applied for a permit when they did meet the requirements to do so.  We have issued 4 Notices over the past year which reiterate that the Visitor Lots are for Visitors Only, and yet, we have people who continue to park there who are not visitors.

86_resizedI have heard some residents say they were never given any notice prior to their vehicle getting towed; the sign to the left is the Notice.  These signs have been here for decades, but no one seems to believe they mean much. We had one resident who took us to Tow Court (Justice of the Peace ) and the Judge asked if the plaintiff had read this sign, meaning that this sign does serve as legal notice; the Judge interpreted it to mean exactly as it is written and the plaintiff lost the case. These signs have been up long enough to get faded and were replaced last year, so folks should be well familiar with them.

The Board of Directors recently revised the Visitor Lot Parking Permit Policy, the modified version went into effect on January 1, 2016. We changed a few minor points, but not the requirements necessary to get a permit. You can get a copy of these from the Menu above, under Governing Documents.  We are also mailing out a copy of this revised policy to all property addresses. This policy, and all Governing Documents, are also filed with the Dallas County Clerk’s Office which makes them a matter of public record.

We will be randomly patrolling both sides of the property and will provide one warning only to violators. If you have already received a written Warning letter from the office regarding parking in the visitor lots you have been properly notified and no further warnings will be issued.

 

 

Towing, Visitor Lot Parking Permits, Visitor Parking

“Why can’t I have 4 cars”?

Posted on by Don Ryan - 1 Comment

I recently had a resident ask this question. He was genuinely trying to find an answer. After I explained things to him, I invited him to attend the August 6th Board meeting; I thought the actual numbers might explain things better:

  • Townhouses –  416
  • Spaces under carports (2) –  832  
  • 4 cars per home –  1,664
  • Spaces needed to park the other 2 cars –  832
  • Number of Visitor Spaces –  249

The numbers show we are 583 parking spaces short for all residents to have 4 cars per household. Yes, this is a worse case scenario, but it does illustrate the problem.

Where are visitors supposed to park if residents continually fill up the visitor lots? That’s the problem we are addressing, entirely too many residents parking in the Visitor Lots. Whether or not there are empty Visitor spaces available is irrelevant.

Towing, Visitor Parking

Visitor Lots, Fire Lanes, and Towing

Posted on by Don Ryan - 4 Comments - Updated

Beginning this week, our towing company will begin policing the visitor lots for inoperable vehicle, vehicles with expired registration or inspections,  vehicles with flat tires, and any other vehicle which violates our Parking Rules.  These Parking rules are available from the “Governing Documents” link in the menu above.  Each visitor lot is clearly posted indicating that we do not allow expired tags or inspections, so you cannot say you are unaware of this rule.

We have also had a large number of people parking in the clearly marked Fire Lanes, and who apparently believe that putting on the emergency flashers will prevent them from being towed; this is not the case. Unless you are an official emergency vehicle, you cannot park in the Fire Lanes, period.  We have advised the towing company to allow 10 minutes for you to unload groceries or help someone inside, simply as a courtesy.

Just so we are clear, this is what the Code says regarding all Fire Lanes:

Sec. 12-22. – Obstructions; regulations.

 The owner or person in control of the property upon which a fire lane exists shall maintain the entire required width and height of the fire lane free and clear of any parked vehicles or other obstructions at all times.

(1) The owner or person in control of property upon which a fire lane exists shall cause any motor vehicle other than an authorized emergency vehicle that is parked in a fire lane to be removed in accordance with Vernon’s Annotated Texas Statutes, Article 6701g—1.

(2) No person shall park, stop or leave standing any non-emergency vehicle, either attended or unattended, within any portion of the fire lane.

(3) No person shall permanently place any object of any kind in, on, across or over a fire lane in such a manner as to obstruct the free passage of fire apparatus over a fire lane. Fire lanes may be temporarily obstructed with specific written permission of the fire chief or his designee.

(4) Any vehicle found parked or standing in any designated fire lane shall be subject to citation and/or impoundment, or both, by any peace officer of the city, or subject to removal as authorized by law.

(5) For purposes of this subsection, a “non-emergency vehicle” shall mean a vehicle of any type other than the following:

a. Vehicles assigned to the fire department that are engaged in emergency activities.

b. Police department or other law enforcement vehicles on official business.

c. Ambulance vehicles on emergency calls.

Excalibur Towing will be patrolling our subdivision periodically and will be looking for violators in our visitor lots/fire lanes. If your vehicle is towed, it costs about $250 to get it back, excluding storage or other fees.

(NOTE) Excalibur will not tow expired or inoperable vehicles from under your carport; only the City of GP can do that, after proper notice.

Our rules do not allow inoperable cars under carports. Warning letters will be issued and possible fines imposed upon owners who have inoperable vehicles under their carports.

 

Information, Towing, Visitor Parking

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Excalibur Towing

Posted on by Don Ryan - Updated

We signed with Dave’s Hiway Wrecker back in June of 2014.  As a result of their City contract, slow response times and other issues, we decided to terminate the service agreement we had with them effective today, January 25th. We went back with Excalibur Towing, a company the Association had used from 2009 until 2014.

The reason we stopped using Excalibur is that they were told by our former “Office Manager” that they had permission to go under carports to check for expired registration or inspections. Many of you may remember this fiasco, as mentioned by several homeowners at  a few Board meetings.  All carports are Private Property and only the City can tow from under a carport after giving proper notifications.  Overall, Excalibur did a really good job patrolling our subdivision and only due to unauthorized instructions by a former employee did things go wrong.

Over the next few days, Excalibur will be replacing all of the Tow company signs at all entrances and will begin patrols overnight and throughout the day. They have been given specific written instructions to never go under any carports, for any reason.

They will give 10-15 minutes for people loading or unloading while parked in the Fire Lanes to move their vehicles prior to towing them.  Excalibur will patrol the Visitor Parking lots and will enforce our 48 Hour time limits after tagging vehicles; removing these tags will not change anything, they take photos after tagging vehicles. Excalibur will immediately tow vehicles that are parked in our Visitor lots that have expired tags or inspections stickers.

Signs has been recently updated to assure that both visitors and residents are aware of the time limits and other restrictions we have on our Visitor lots.

 

Information, Towing

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