As published in the Sunday April25, 2009 edition of Vancouver Province

CONDO SMARTS

Dear Condo Smarts:

Thank you for your timely column on election signage a few weeks ago. Our strata is unclear on one issue. Can we create a bylaw or rule that prohibits the size of signs that are placed on a strata lot or common property?

- MM, Abbotsford

Dear MM: Our offices province-wide have been inundated with the same question.

Yes, section 228.1 of the Election Act permits a landlord, a person or a strata corporation to limit the size of a sign by setting reasonable conditions.

However, what a strata corporation has to remember is that to set conditions on a strata lot would require a duly ratified bylaw at a general meeting that has been registered in the Land Title Registry. A strata corporation may prohibit signs on common property, including common areas of a building, and that may be either through a proper bylaw amendment or through the creation of a Rule by council. The new Rule must be properly ratified by council and the strata must inform owners and tenants of any new rules as soon as feasible.

A strata corporation in White Rock has a bylaw that limits the placement of election signage to only the display from strata lots, and to signage no larger than one metre by one metre, which is still significant. In a bare-land strata in most circumstances it will require a bylaw to limit or restrict signage. Most signs are displayed on the property adjacent to the buildings on a bareland strata, which is almost always part of the strata lot.

Don't make the mistake in assuming the Act gives you the authority to limit or restrict signs. The Strata Property Act is silent on election signage, and only gives you the ability to create the appropriate bylaws or rules permitted by the Election Act.

Comments by;
Tony Gioventu is executive director of Condominium Home Owners' Association. tony@choa.bc.ca.

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