Say it paint so!
Staten Island condo owners are crying foul after the board members of their private complex reconfigured parking, enlarging their own spaces while significantly squishing others.
The change in one section of The Oaks at LaTourette lopped up to 7 feet off many of the parking spots, which had generally been 23-feet deep before an April repaving.
“What they did was totally ridiculous,” longtime resident Peter Clark, 71, told The Post. “It makes no sense what they did, and then you see all the people on the board have these large parking spaces.”
One board member now eases his luxury car into a roomy spot that’s 11-feet, 5-inches wide, while the unit owner with the adjacent space has just about 8 feet to park his SUV.
There was no discussion with residents before the parking spaces were redrawn, said unit owner Frank Doerner, 80.
“They certainly didn’t come up with a plan and present it to the people,” Doerner said. And now “some people have a nice big spot, [while] other people have a shortened spot.”
After the repaving, lines were painted in the street to designate curb cuts, an unnecessary move, the residents said, that contributed to the shrunken spots.
The residents — some of whom now have parking spaces so tight that they cannot open their car doors without hitting another vehicle — say trying to resolve the squeeze play in private got them nowhere.
Each of the complex’s three sections has a board of managers and a board president, and the board in the affected section refused to listen, Clark claims — so he went to the attorney for The Oaks at LaTourette.
After he did so, “our monthly statement contained a $250 fine for talking to the condo’s attorney,” Clark said.
Seven of the affected households have now filed a lawsuit against the complex in Staten Island Supreme Court to try to get parking peace.
“The various board members had their parking spaces enlarged while rank-and-file condominium owners like [the plaintiffs] had their parking spaces reduced . . . Often the car does not fit within the lines, and when it does, the cars are literally bumper to bumper — making entering and departing from the parking spaces impossible,” they claim in court papers.
Lawyer Joshua Price said it’s no small matter, especially on Staten Island, where “it’s not like you go out to the corner and hail a cab. You’re buying a unit here, and what comes with the unit is a parking space. It affects the value of their units.”
The situation is mystifying, Doerner said, especially because of where they are.
“We’re not in the middle of one of the most populous boroughs in New York City. We’re out here, in a little enclave on the side of the main road,” he said.
The condo board could not be reached for comment.
