How Commercial Vehicles Ended Up in Residential Parking Lots in New Moscow
Residents of a building in New Moscow have complained about abandoned taxi vehicles in their courtyard. People have had nowhere to park for several months, according to apartment owners in the Filatov Lug residential complex. They say the adjacent territory has been occupied by yellow cars without license plates, as well as about a dozen heavy trucks. The vehicle owners don’t respond to residents’ attempts to contact them, and the management company ignores complaints. Some vehicles are branded for work with Yandex Taxi, while others belong to the Sultan carrier and construction companies.
The courtyard has effectively turned into a taxi parking lot, according to a local resident: “It was illegally organized in our parking area in the residential zone. The problem has been going on for more than six months. The management company and traffic police are inactive. The issue is the lack of parking spaces for residents because Yandex Taxi and other commercial organizations bring their unlicensed and branded vehicles here. Residents have to leave their cars far from home, while many are disabled or have small children. They have to travel without cars from other parking lots in rain, snow, and slush. We have about 20 commercial vehicles here: trucks, Gazelles, and also about 62 taxis that are scattered across large parking areas and around the building locations.”
A query has been sent and responses are awaited from Yandex Taxi, the owner of the Sultan carrier, and the Nash Dom management company. How can the situation faced by residents of the Filatov Lug residential complex be resolved? According to a housing and utilities expert from a legal group, such cases are not uncommon for Moscow: “First, it’s necessary to determine the status of the land. Land plots under apartment buildings belong to all owners as common shared property. Therefore, if this land plot is officially registered in the cadastre, then owners can decide at a general meeting to install barriers – fences, boom gates – and establish rules for access to the residential parking areas. Any owner has the right to apply to the municipality with a request for land surveying and cadastral registration of the land plot, and then resolve this issue at a meeting. This process will take approximately one and a half to two years. The management company’s participation is not required here, but theoretically, of course, it can help owners conduct and organize the general meeting, and jointly ensure the implementation of this decision.”
Meanwhile, new rules are in effect in Moscow for cases where the owner of a car occupying a parking space hasn’t been in contact for an extended period. Special services also operate that track such vehicles.
Citizens also have the opportunity to file a report about such vehicles, and specialists will conduct an inspection. If the car indeed shows signs of being abandoned, first a warning will be issued, then it will be taken to a special impound lot. The owner has six months to come forward and claim their rights to the vehicle. If this doesn’t happen, it goes for disposal.
According to Moscow authorities, over the past six months, more than 1,000 abandoned vehicles have been sent for disposal. The State Duma has responded to complaints from residents of the Filatov Lug residential complex. They proposed limiting taxi parking time in residential areas to 20 minutes.