South Face is an upper-middle-class neighborhood of about 250 houses built in Rockrimmon beginning in 1993. They are nice houses, multi-level with fancy street lights and well-kept landscaping. 
South Face sits on the north side of Vindicator Drive, across from Ute Valley Park.
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Folks there were surprised a month or so ago when a new sign appeared attached to a city traffic sign. Here’s the sign:
The sign sure looks official.
And it was attached to a city traffic sign at the entrance to the neighborhood. Check it out below:
The signs were erected by the South Face Community Association board. The board is determined to enforce covenants that prohibit parking on city streets overnight. Cars must be in driveways. Or else.
Some neighbors were shocked. Some called the Colorado Springs Police Department. Some called Side Streets.
The common question: Can an HOA tow away a car parked legally on a public street?
Neighboring Eagle’s Nest neighborhood has a similar warning attached to a stop sign:
If both neighborhoods are doing it, it must be legal . . . right?
Actually . . . no.
CSPD Sgt. Lonnie Spanswick, the parking enforcement guru, said police are the only agency authorized to tow cars from public streets. Absent a court order from a judge, any HOA board calling a tow truck to enforce covenants about parking on city streets is asking for trouble.
Specifically, they are asking for a criminal charge of motor vehicle theft.
Spanswick said covenants are not law. And HOA boards are not police. They can NOT simply call a tow truck and haul off a car parked in violation of covenants.
Attorney Lenard Rioth said South Face has not towed any cars and would not do so without a court order — a lengthy process in civil court.
He said the signs were erected because some in the neighborhood simply won’t follow the rules they promised to honor when they bought their homes.
Rioth said the streets are narrow, creating safety issues if they are lined with cars at night. They become difficult to plow in snowy weather.
Then there’s the principle involved. Covenants are not dictated to residents. They are self-imposed. Why, Rioth asked, do people move into covenant-protected neighborhoods only to ignore the rules?
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HOA BOARDS BETTER THINK TWICE BEFORE TOWING CARS is a post from: Side Streets