User login
Social Media
Take a look at what we have happening around the building on the following platforms:
Parking During Construction = Total Fiasco
So I get a notice slipped under my door telling me that in less then a week, I can no longer use my parking space on Mondays thru Fridays between 8am and 6pm "until further notice" because of the parkade construction.
So I call the office and ask Shirley for another parking space. She tells me there aren't any available. I find this hard to believe, considering resident parking is typically half full at best. But whatever.
I ask Shirley if I will be reimbursed for the money I'm going to have to pay to park my car somewhere else. She tells me I will have to ask Audrey at the head office that.
So I call Audrey. I ask about reimbursement. "I don't know, I'll have to take it to the Board." I ask about a reduction in the amount I'm paying monthly for the space I can now only use half the time. "I don't know, I'll have to take it to the Board."
So basically, "I don't care what you do with your car, and I'm just desperately trying to get you off the phone, and am probably not going to take anything to the Board because I'm hoping you'll just suck it up and deal with it."
That's really pro-active, caring property management we've got here.
SO! Does anyone out there have a parking space that they might be willing to lend me during the day? I'll take good care of it! =)
yeah, ditto
identical story. the management of the stalls has been pretty atrocious. the board honestly needs to take some of these smaller matters into its own hands. hell, i'd even volunteer my OWN time to oversee this. at least THEN i'd know it was getting done right!
i mean, less than a weeks notice? RIDICULOUS
and they cant exactly say they didnt see it coming. i mean... if they didnt know it was coming, God help us all.
Its one bungled play after the next. maybe i should park on the street and charge all the change im gonna spend back to larlyn?
Interesting!
So we got another notice in our door this morning, telling us to disregard the previous notice, that we can continue to use our parking space, and that if we are asked to move in the future, it will only be for a day or two. Did you get one too, Rome?
Methinks the management office found themselves inundated with phone calls from angry tenants and feared a revolt, LOL!
Anyhoo, crisis averted! For now. =)
Regarding the Parking
I too got the notices about the parking. We knew that there would be disruptions in the parking, although I'm not sure why notices were sent out and later retracted. The parking disruptions are without a doubt a nuisance, but I think there are a necessary evil in order to fix the parkade, if anyone has a better idea about how to accommodate residents during the construction we're open to ideas.
So I call the office and ask Shirley for another parking space. She tells me there aren't any available. I find this hard to believe, considering resident parking is typically half full at best. But whatever.
I'm not sure why you find this hard to believe - or for that matter how you could even tell that resident parking is half full? Just because you don't see anyone parked in half the stalls, doesn't mean that half the stalls are not owned or rented by someone. Secondly, we can't allow residents to park in the commercial parking since those stalls are all owned by the commercial owners. There will be ~140 stalls affected by the construction, which leaves only about half a floor of unaffected residential stalls usable.
i mean, less than a weeks notice?
I'll completely agree with you here, this isn't enough notice.
Regarding reimbursements for the stalls, I have no idea if there's any plan to reimburse renters. The condo board has absolutely no say regarding reimbursements for renters, so I can't provide you any info or explanations there.
The bottom line is that there will be disruptions to parking during the construction. There isn't enough parking stalls to accommodate everyone who is displaced, which pretty much means, when you get displaced you're on your own to find parking. If you're a condo owner, this shouldn't really come as a big surprise since it was brought up at the AGM. If you're renting, you'd have to bring your complaints to either your landlord or Larlyn, since the condo board has no say over that.
To management's credit though they have taken the initiative to help cut down this disruption by clearing out the P3 storage room to make ~10 additional parking stalls for residents during periods of disruption.
little odd
ok, so the stalls are OWNED BY (property of) individual owners. every single one of the residential stalls is owned by an owner.
now, the condo board, elected to speak on the behalf of owners.... has no say over these stalls? somehow larlyn snuck in and took all the power and say over this process??
i'm curious how does that work, exactly?
i mean, the issues weren't a surprise. i knew i would be displaced at one point.
but i sort of expected
1) some NOTICE
2) alternate parking options
-ive kept track of the stalls around me at various times during the day. just because every stall is "rented" or "used" on PAPER... does not mean they are actually utilized... in REALITY. there is a HUGE (READ: IMMENSE!!) discrepancy between what is on paper (IE: what larlyn goes off of) and what is happening in reality. I could probably give this task to my little sister and she would come up with a better way to manage it
3) if alternat options are unavailable, and i'm SOL on a parking stall... i am not paying for said stall. so, full reembursement.
these are very simple very basic things, that ANY business would easily take care of.
but i guess since larlyn has "tenure" so to speak, they dont owe us the basic decency of doing their jobs properly?
gg tenants. gg.
Clarification
Ok, I hope this explanation will clear this up (a bit).
You're right that all the residential spots are owned by SOMEBODY. But, how everything works for all residents (sadly) isn't the same (which would make it easier to understand).
First, if you are a renter with a property managed by Larlyn: The Board has nothing to do with the management of these properties. There is another group of owners - The Rental Board/Pool/Group (whatever) - who oversee the decisions on how these properties are managed. That group is made up of owners who rent out their units. It was really up to them to decide what to do about parking for their tenants in the interim and have Laryln carry out that decision.
Similarly, for those tenants who rent from a private owner, same thing. Said owner should either a) find a new spot for you to park while you are displaced or b) compensate you if (s)he leaves you to your own devices for the time you are displaced. Of course, that's in a perfect world. It's really up to (the tenant) to work that out with their landlord beforehand. Chances are, they're not going to worry about it if you (those in this category) don't (or didn't).
Finally, there's those in my category: Owner-occupants. Here's the gist. We're on our own. Why? Pretty simple, actually. Look at it this way. If you owned your own house and needed to repair the driveway (and still needed to drive your car so couldn't park it in the garage until the repairs were over), you'd have to park it somewhere else until the repairs were finished. So what's easiest for most home owners? Park on the street, of course. But what if you couldn't? What if there was no parking in front of your home (for some reason; they DO exist), or only parking meters were near by? The city wouldn't make any special allowances for you, given your situation. You'd just have to deal with it on your own and buy a permit or plug the meter. We're in the same boat. We own our stalls and are, therefore, responsible for them.
Now, as for the auxillary parking area... When the Board decided to take a look at all the storage spaces in the parkade (at the end of last year) to see how to best make use of them, a run-off parking area during repairs didn't cross my mind. That idea was all Larlyn's, so kudos to them for thinking of it. That said, there are only 10 spots in it, which clearly isn't enough to provide parking for everyone who gets displaced at any given time. Furthermore, as it is residential Condo-owned property, it has to be shared by ALL residents, Larlyn managed or not. So, if someone fell into categories B or C (see above), then they would have to make arrangements with Larlyn to have a spot assigned for them. Which still raises the question - What happens when all the spots are assigned? At that point, unlucky parker X would have to return to seeking a resolution through his/her respective explanation above.
As for the notice, well, that is an entirely different matter. Proper communication to the residents (about anything happening in the building, not just parking) is an ongoing concern that requires great improvement. Granted, there are occasions when proper advanced notice isn't always possible, but there have been many times where that simply wasn't the case. I'm not sure of all the ins and outs of this occasion (so I won't speak to it directly), but, in general, communication needs to be vastly improved. To that, I think everyone can agree.
Obviously, my explanation won't solve any current problems but, hopefully, the above explanation makes the (almost completed!) parking in the parkade situation more clear.
c.
about that
First, if you are a renter with a property managed by Larlyn: The Board has nothing to do with the management of these properties. There is another group of owners - The Rental Board/Pool/Group (whatever) - who oversee the decisions on how these properties are managed. That group is made up of owners who rent out their units. It was really up to them to decide what to do about parking for their tenants in the interim and have Laryln carry out that decision.
I know about the rental pool. Which Larlyn manages. And that power was given to them by.... the board. Also, I dont believe its necessary to hold a belief that unit + stall management would by default fall in together. Quite franky, I'm shocked that there are still people in said rental pool. I don't know the numbers or facts about whats going on in it, but one look at some other facets of their management skills... i would immediatelly hire my 10 yearold daughter to manage my rental property instead. At least i know she'd give a crap about making it right.
Regardless, my point was not about the renters and their options, as I am an owner who OWNs one stall, and RENTS another directly from Larylin. I know im gonna be screwed when its time to move from my personal stall, thats something i readily accept. But for the stall i RENT.... i assume that stall would HAVE to come from the rental pool, because how could Larlyn have control of stalls that did not sign up for that? That being said, for things they directly control and have a hand in..
This is where the mismatch comes up. There are tonnes of stalls free, because Larlyn doesn't keep proper tabs on whats going on down in the parkade.
I mean, shit, i WISH i was renting from an owner! At least i could talk to them directly, and they'd handle me like i was a person, instead of some insignificant speck. "oh sorry. that stall you rented out and signed for and paid for? yeah, fuck you. we dont have it anymore. good luck"
Finally, I'm not here to bash anyone. Honestly, I think the board has done well on the progress so far. This forum for us to voice concerns is a huge step. I mean... we're still in the dark about a great many things. But this is definitely a step towards light. Anyone reading these words would have to agree. I just dont want to let up. I'm going to point to things that are lacking, as we all should.
Simply put, the board should take back control of the parkade. There are so many things that could have been done to improve things down there, and handle this with a hint of forethought. I'm sure people would readily volunteer their time to make things work, I know I would.
Parking
That can't be true. I don't believe you.
NO RENTAL OFFICE could be that inept at their job to not only give next to no notice (under a week) to their tenants about a parking stall change, BUT ALSO EXPECT FULL PAYMENT FOR HALF THE USE!
No way in hell, that Capital Centre and their crack staff of expert Management, would borderline screw over their tenants in a housing market where the cost of a mortgage payment for a 3 bedroom house is less than the almost $1400.00/month we're expected to pay.
That just bends my mind they would expect that of their tenants. No way. Not Capital Centre. I don't buy it. Can't be true.
Oh look. A notice under my door. Wonder what it says.