Some Parc Oasis owners contesting new parking fees

SINGAPORE - Some unhappy owners at Parc Oasis want the Strata Titles Board (STB) to intervene in an increasingly bitter row over parking fees at the condominium.

The 22 owners at the Jurong East estate have asked the STB to repeal a bylaw passed at an extraordinary general meeting held by the condo's Management Corporation Strata Title (MCST) council on June 15.

The bylaw imposed a monthly parking fee of $100 on people with a second car and $150 for each additional vehicle after that, effective immediately.

The monthly management fees were also raised, from $56 to $59 per share value.

These new levies were part of the MCST council's efforts to raise funds to cover a projected shortfall of $353,000 in the maintenance fund for the next fiscal year.

The disgruntled owners say the council had proposed the bylaw on the basis that there may be a shortage of parking lots in the future but it later retracted that claim.

They contend that this means the new parking levies are discriminatory and unfair as they affect a select few residents who happen to own two or more cars.

They also argue that the council had exceeded its authority in imposing the levies and that all owners have a duty to contribute to the maintenance of the property.

Residents have said that about four vehicles have been wheel-clamped in the estate as the owners had not paid the new fees.

Some residents with more than one car are choosing to park their vehicles at a nearby Housing Board, a five-minute walk away from Parc Oasis, for $75 a month.

Lawyers told The Straits Times that the STB will hear from both parties and decide if the bylaw should be repealed.

It may also award legal costs to the winning party, said Rodyk and Davidson real estate practice group partner Lee Liat Yeang.

NLC Law Asia managing partner Ng Lip Chih added that the STB judgment will be binding although the losing party could appeal to the High Court.

MCST chairman Lim Taik Leong told The Straits Times that he had only just received the lawyer's notice about the STB application and needed time to read it thoroughly.

Rodyk and Davidson's Mr Lee noted that large, older condominiums like Parc Oasis are harder to manage and that the MCST council has the power to raise funds to maintain an ageing property.

He said: "In the last few years, the cost of services and maintenance has gone up.

"There are also more facilities to maintain, and a lot of older condominiums like Parc Oasis are big.

When a property grows older, you need more maintenance and if you don't collect enough for the sinking fund, you don't have enough to maintain all these things."

ocheryl@sph.com.sg

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