Parking Is Limited Twice, in Two Different Places

Most subjects on this site are governed by one section. Parking is governed by two, so it’s important to understand both.

Section 57-8-8.1 limits what a rule may do. Section 57-8-10 limits what the declaration may do. On parking, the two lists say substantively the same thing, which matters: an association cannot escape the parking limits by moving the restriction from its rules into a declaration amendment.

So the first question is not what the restriction says. It is where the restriction lives, because that tells you which section to read. Both lead to the same answer on parking.

The Driveway Protection and the Seven Vehicles It Does Not Cover

A rule may not restrict an individual from parking an operable vehicle in a driveway where the vehicle has a legal right to park. The declaration may not do so either.

Read every word of that protection, because each one is doing work. The vehicle must be operable. It must be in a driveway. And it must already have a legal right to park there. A vehicle that does not run or that sits on a lawn, on cinder blocks,  or in a common area is entirely outside this protection.

The protection then excludes seven vehicle categories by name. An association may restrict driveway parking of:

• a commercial vehicle, as defined in Section 72-9-102;
• a motor home, as defined in Section 13-20-2;
• a recreational vehicle trailer, as defined in Section 13-20-2;
• a trailer, as defined in Section 41-1a-102;
• an off-highway vehicle, as defined in Section 41-22-2;
• special mobile equipment, as defined in Section 41-1a-102; and
• a motorboat, as defined in Section 73-18-2.

Each of those seven terms is defined by a statute outside the Condominium Ownership Act, and the definition controls, not ordinary usage. If your dispute is about an RV, a work truck, or a boat trailer, the definition in the cross-referenced section is where the argument actually happens.

Garage First

A rule may require that an individual park in a garage appurtenant to a unit before parking elsewhere. The declaration may impose the same requirement.

This is the provision that resolves most driveway complaints. An association that tells an owner to use the garage before the driveway is doing something the statute expressly permits. The driveway protection in Subsection (11)(a) does not override the garage-first authority in Subsection (11)(b).

Driving, Speed Limits, and Public Streets

A rule may not restrict an individual from operating a noncommercial vehicle in conformance with state traffic laws. But a rule may enforce a reduced speed limit on a private roadway.

The word "private" is the whole boundary. A rule may not impose a requirement or restriction on the use of a public street as defined in Section 10-20-102. The declaration may not either.

So the practical test is ownership of the pavement. On a private roadway inside the project, the association may post and enforce a lower speed limit. On a public street, even one running through the project, the association has no authority to regulate use at all. That is a matter for the city or the county.

Basketball Standards

A declaration may not restrict an individual from installing or keeping a properly maintained basketball standard on the individual's driveway or property, if that driveway or property is privately owned and maintained and abuts a public street.

Note where this protection sits. It appears in the declaration-limits list, and the conditions are cumulative: privately owned and maintained, and abutting a public street. In a condominium project where the association owns and maintains the paved areas, the protection will often not reach the facts.

Snow Removal and Road Upkeep: No Statutory Duty

The Condominium Ownership Act does not impose a duty on an association to remove snow or to maintain private roads. The act mentions snow removal exactly once, and not as a duty.

Section 57-8-39(2)(a) treats snow removal as an example of a service contract: a contract for services such as garbage collection, maintenance, lawn care, or snow removal, executed on behalf of the association during the period of administrative control, is binding beyond that period unless the management committee terminates it after the period ends. 

That is a contract-termination rule, not a service standard. It tells a post-turnover board that it may cancel a snow-removal contract the declarant signed. It says nothing about whether snow must be cleared, how fast, or to what standard.

So where does the duty come from? From the declaration, and from the association's general obligation to maintain the common areas. If the paved areas are common areas and the declaration assigns their upkeep to the association, that is the source of the obligation, and the declaration is the document to read. There is no statutory snow standard against which to measure the association.

The Limits That Apply to Every Parking Rule

Three general limits apply to every parking rule, and they are often stronger arguments than the specific parking subsections.

A rule shall be reasonable.

A rule shall treat similarly situated unit owners similarly, with narrow exceptions for service levels, residential versus nonresidential use, and short-term rental guest limits. A parking rule enforced against some owners and not others is vulnerable under this provision even if the rule itself is permitted.

The section applies no matter how old your association is. An older declaration does not exempt an association from these limits.

What Is Not Regulated by Statute

The acts are silent on many common parking questions. For example, there is no statutory provision on:

• the number of parking spaces an owner is entitled to;
• guest parking, guest permits, or time limits on guest spaces;
• reassigning an assigned space;
• street parking on private roads inside the project; or
• snow removal timing or standards.

Every one of those is a question answered by the governing documents. Read the declaration first, then the recorded plat, where assigned and limited common-area parking is usually shown. Under Section 57-8-10(2)(b), an apparatus intended to serve a single unit but located outside the unit's boundaries is a limited common area appurtenant to that unit, whether or not the declaration says so, and that provision can matter to a parking dispute about a space or a pad serving one unit.

If You Have a Parking or Snow Dispute

Start by locating the restriction. If it is in a rule, Section 57-8-8.1 controls. If it is in the declaration, Section 57-8-10 controls. On parking, they reach the same result, so identify which document you are fighting and read the matching section.

Then ask three questions in order. Is the vehicle operable and in a driveway where it has a legal right to park? Is it one of the seven excluded vehicle types? Is there a garage that the rule requires you to use first?

For snow and roads, the questions are different: does the declaration assign upkeep of that area to the association, and is the area a common area or a public street? On a public street, the association has no authority. In a common area, the declaration sets the duty, because the statute does not.

If a rule was enforced against you and not against a similarly situated neighbor, say so in writing, and cite Section 57-8-8.1(1)(a). For how a rule is enforced and what a fine requires, read fines and hearings. For who maintains what, read maintenance and repair.

Reviewed against Utah Code, current as of September 9, 2026.