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Residents furious after getting tickets for parking in front of their homes

6 years 1 month 1 week ago Tuesday, February 13 2018 Feb 13, 2018 February 13, 2018 5:37 PM February 13, 2018 in News
Source: WBRZ

BATON ROUGE- Dozens of residents in the Lakes at Anselmo Subdivision are furious with the Homeowners Association and have signed a petition demanding change after they began getting tickets for parking in front of their homes.

The HOA outlaws parking on the street in the subdivision, leaving them feeling imprisoned and not being able to invite company over.

"The HOA says we can't park on the street," Resident Corey Gautreaux said. "If we park on the sidewalk or block any of that, we've hired a sheriff's office patrol that comes through and gives us tickets."

Gautreaux said he loved the subdivision until recently when neighbors began getting tickets. Most of the homes have one-car driveways and one-car garages on the narrow street.

Rich Roche is the President of the Homeowner's Association and has been the target of a lot of anger.

"This is not something new," Roche said. "These were things you knew when you moved in here. From what I've been told, the restrictions can't be rewritten to remove the parking on the street so our hands are tied that way as well."

The issue caused more than 30 percent of the homeowners on the street to sign a petition demanding change. Roche says last year the subdivision hired the deputy to do extra duty patrols after a home was broken into and a car was stolen. Roche fears if the parking restrictions are lifted, something serious could happen when cars are blocking the road during an emergency.

"Last week the trash didn't get picked up at the end of the street because he couldn't get through," Roche said. "He (sanitation workers) knocked on doors, couldn't get the cars moved, so the back half of the street didn't get the trash picked up."

Residents like Gautreaux say enough is enough, and they feel like they are being held hostage by their Homeowner's Association.

"You're going to have visitors, let's figure out a way to park everybody," Gautreaux said. "Tell the officer to stop issuing citations."

The petition that residents signed requests a special meeting to review the bylaws and determine whether the subdivision should continue paying for extra duty patrols. No date has been set yet for that meeting.

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