Are there public streets running through your community? If so, does your association currently have rules or covenants governing parking or other activities on such streets? Moving forward, such rules and/or covenants may not be enforced by associations as a result of added language to the Colorado Common Interest Ownership Act (“CCIOA”).
HB 22-1139 adds a new Section 38-33.3-106.5(1)(d.5) to CCIOA, which prohibits associations from regulating use of any public rights-of-ways running through their communities. This prohibition holds true regardless of anything associations may have written in their governing documents. Once this Bill becomes effective, any associations attempting to regulate parking, vehicle storage, or other activities on public rights-of-ways will be in violation of State law.
The Bill is currently awaiting signatures of appropriate government officials and the Governor and will become effective 90 days after signature, which will likely be sometime in August or September of 2022.
Since the law bans associations from regulating use of “public-rights-of ways”, and not just streets, this begs the question of how and what associations can do with respect to tree lawns located in public rights-of-ways in their communities. For example, if a single-family community contains homes where owners maintain their tree lawns, which happen to be located in public rights-of-ways, does the association retain control over what an owner does and how the owner maintains the particular tree lawn? Unfortunately, as of right now, we do not have an answer to this question, but it is bound to come up in the near future.
If you aren’t sure whether the streets (and possibly tree lawns) running through your community are public, make sure to ask your association’s legal counsel for an opinion before the new law becomes effective.
For more information concerning enforcement of private restrictions on public streets, please contact an Altitude attorney at 303.432.9999 or at [email protected].