Collin McAllister
Collin McAllister almost received a rude welcome into this world.
Collin’s dad, James McAllister, nearly missed his birth on Oct. 5, 2011, all because of the Dublin Townhomes at Stetson Hills Community Association‘s zero-tolerance policy for parking violations.
The HOA board doesn’t like folks who park without a permit inside the complex near Powers and Dublin boulevards. Hates it, in fact. So much that the board hired Collins Towing to cruise the streets at night.
Anyone caught without a permit gets towed, no questions asked.
That policy hit the McAllister’s hard when Tiffany McAllister went into labor late on Oct. 5.
Before James, a civilian firefighter at Fort Carson, raced his wife to the hospital, he called friends to come babysit their three older children. The friends arrived around midnight.
James, Emma, 4, Steven, 3, Easton, 2, and Tiffany McAllister in a 2010 photo.
At 7 a.m. the next morning, the friends called James, frantic that their car was gone. It was no longer parked in front of the McAllisters’ home. And the friends needed to get to a doctor’s appointment.
“I knew it had to be the HOA’s towing company,” James said.
With Tiffany deep in labor, James raced home to take his friends a car.
While he was there, James knocked on the door of Steve Bell, the four-year president of the Dublin Townhomes HOA board.
“I told his wife that Steve’s parking rule got my friends’ car towed and they needed their car back immediately,” James said. “It was an urgent matter.”
He drove back to the hospital to rejoin Tiffany.
But his phone rang again.
Again, he had to leave. His friends needed $232 cash to retrieve their car before the end of the day.
“I tried to explain to the tow company but there was no compassion,” James said.
Luckily, he was able to witness the birth of his son, Collin. But he was furious.
So I called Steve Bell, who initially took a hard line.
“I’m assuming he knew when the delivery time was due, he’d have to have a babysitter come over,” Bell said. “He should have given them a parking permit.
“We have signs on every entrance, parking is by permit only. James is a former board member. He was well aware of the rules.”
Ouch. That’s pretty harsh.
I’ve been through the chaos of childbirth a few times. I’ve made the midnight handoff of kids on a trip to the hospital. Glad I didn’t have to remember the HOA parking rules at the time!
Streets are narrow within the Dublin Townhomes complex.
Bell said he’d investigate, consult with his two board members and decide if “extenuating circumstances” exist to waive the tow fee.
“But I honestly can’t think of any extenuating circumstances,” Bell said.
Now, I’ll grant you that streets are narrow within the Dublin Townhomes complex. Like a lot of these communities, the developers wanted to squeeze as many units on the lot as possible so they made the streets and driveways ridiculously small.
I’m sure parking is a nightmare and has to be controlled.
But I don’t agree with a zero-tolerance policy. The only one who wins with that sort of policy is the towing company.
Just as I was teeing the HOA up to pound it into a sand trap, I got an email.
Bell had apologized to James and Tiffany and the HOA board was reimbursing the $232.
James is grateful but still upset: “They need to revise their parking policies.”
I agree, but credit Bell for his change of heart. Some HOAs would stand firm.
I just love a happy ending!
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Happy ending ???
Who is going to reimburse his wife for the lack of support she so needed during the process of delivering their baby. How attentive can a father be to his wife during childbirth when he had to keep running back to the neighborhood to deal with the situation about “parking”? What about the lifelong memories that were ruined by his divided attention when his child was being born? Money? Easily forgotten. Life passages are rare and beautiful … and for this family … ruined.
This HOA company is absolutely ridiculous! I know the McAllister family personally and have heard many awful stories about that complex’s HOA. Children are not allowed to ride bikes on the sidewalk. Parents are not allowed to pull their children in a wagon around the neighborhood. Residents can’t park in their driveway, their cars have to be pulled into the garage. It’s micromanaging at it’s finest and it infuriates me…and I don’t even live there! Basically, the HOA is conforming to the elderly retired residents that live there. They’re trying to push out the young families by having such outrageous rules, but what they may not realize is is that some of these young families are stuck in their townhouses due to the downfall of the economy. The HOA is treating the complex and coming up with rules as if the complex were a retirement community. Well, it’s not and they need to change that! I hope the attention the McAllister’s story is getting will help the HOA soften their rules and allow the residents a peaceful living experience.
Unbelievable!! You do not have a baby every day!! This was not going to turn into a weekly problem! This group sounds as if they are the typical “HOA Nazi” brigade!! My husband and I live in the Fairways in Springs Ranch and are original homeowners. The HOA has always been laid back and willing to work with owners and the owners of units who have renters. The group is mostly older residents but very laid back and willing to help each other out. A true sense of community. I hope they at least give him the $200+ dollars back from the tow fee. The poor couple will need it for the baby. Dirt bags!!!