Record shows that the number of registered vehicles in South Africa has doubled in the past 20 years. With more than 12 million registered vehicles on our roads today, it comes as no surprise that some schemes built a number of years ago, quite simply do not sufficiently cater for the amount of vehicles its occupiers have today. If your body corporate is finding its parking bays insufficient, why not consider creating some more on the common property?
The first thing the body corporate needs to do is to determine whether the creation of parking bays is or is not reasonably necessary. If it is reasonably necessary, the trustees may propose to make this alteration or improvement to the common property. They need to give all members at least 30 days written notice of the proposal to create the bays, which notice must include:
- the estimated costs associated with the creation of the bays;
- details of how the body corporate intends to pay for the creation of the bays;
- a motivation for the bays to be created; and
- drawings of the proposed bays, showing its effect on the scheme.
If, during this 30 day notice period, any member in writing requests a general meeting to be held to discuss the proposal, the trustees may not implement the proposal unless it is authorised by a special resolution adopted at the general meeting. The notice calling this general meeting must:
- contain the wording of the proposed special resolution;
- be sent to all members 30 days prior to the special general meeting; and
- be sent to all members by hand delivery or pre-paid registered post.
A quorum must be present or represented at the meeting before the resolution may be put to a vote. If and when a quorum is duly constituted the voting can take place and the special resolution will be passed if at least 75% of the members at the meeting (in both value and number) vote in favour thereof.
It is important to remember that this resolution may not:
- be implemented within 1 week of being passed if it was passed by less than 50% of the total value of all members in the scheme; and
- be taken via round robin, unless all members waive their right to a special general meeting and consent to the resolution in writing.
If the creation of the parking bays is deemed not reasonably necessary, they may not be created unless a unanimous resolution is first passed by the body corporate’s members, approving its creation. In order for this unanimous resolution to be passed at a general meeting, the quorum at the meeting needs to be at least 80% of all members (in value) and 100% of all those members present in person or represented by proxy need to vote in favour of the proposed resolution. On the other hand, if the resolution is to be passed by way of the round robin method, 100% of all the members need to cast their vote in favour of the resolution in writing.
Should you be considering the creation of some additional parking bays in your scheme and wish to discuss your options with a sectional title specialist, don’t hesitate to email consulting@paddocks.co.za for a no obligation quotation.
