In a recent Ottawa decision**, the court confirmed again that condominium corporations must be careful to properly balance the interests of all owners – even the sole commercial owner. This case opposed the interests of a parking operator who wished to operate a parking business permitted in the condo’s declaration and the residential owners who felt such a business would impact their security. The court concluded that imposing costly restrictions on the parking operator was oppressive and prejudicial. But the story is not over yet…
CCC 375 is a mixed-use condominium complex, containing both commercial and residential units. This complex is located in the heart of the ByWard market in Ottawa. Since the inception of the corporation, one of the four levels of the underground parking consists of a commercial parking. The condo’s declaration not only provided for the operation of such commercial parking business but it actually imposed on the owner of these parkings the obligation to rent at least 30 of them on an hourly basis. Over time, the owner of the commercial parking converted all of them to monthly parking. A new owner acquired the parking unit in 2000 and wished to return it to an hourly based parking. To do so, required some changes to the common elements, such as the installation of a garage loop detector, the installation of a “pay-and-display” meter, the replacement of the hardware on an exterior pedestrian door to allow free access to the commercial parking and the installation of appropriate signage inside and outside the building. The parking operator proposed to pay for these changes.
