Is that a Reindeer in the Strata Building?

Or, what if Santa really visited your strata building …

I know you’re all too old to believe in Santa Claus, but imagine what your strata building would say [and do] if Santa actually turned up with his sleigh, Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, and all the crew ...

[2:25 minutes estimated reading time, 435 words]

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As Christmas day approaches I've been thinking about the conflicts between strata by-laws or rules and some of our favourite Christmas traditions including Santa’s arrival on his sleigh.

I doub’t he’d be that welcome in most strata buildings. And, there’s many other Christmas traditions that might be equally unwelcome.

It's a real concern to the merry strata people is the festive season when you consider the following 8 potential problems under most strata laws, by-laws and rules.

1.     There's no way that Santa has or gets permission to park his sleigh on the common property.  It's too big and will block at least one exit and a few parking spots.  And, after all, he’s not a real visitor.

2.     Plus, reindeer are still not permitted on the common property or lots without a formal application and prior written approval in most strata buildings.  And, even they get prior approval, who’s signing the conditions and paying the pet bond?

3.     If Santa tries to come down the chimney [although he won't usually find one] he will almost certainly be breaching the fire safety regulation by leaving fire exits open or worse. Plus, is he going to pay the fine when the fire brigade gets a false alarm callout?

4.     Those Christmas lights, wreaths, and elves are all unapproved attachments and additions to the common property. That’s apart from the fact that they are definitely out of keeping with the appearance of the strata building.  The bigger Christmas decorations probably also need a special by-law or rule.

5.     The carollers are not only breaching the noise and peaceful enjoyment by-laws or rules with all their singing, but they're also encouraging children to have fun playing on the common property unsupervised. 

6.     You can’t send any Christmas greetings to the other strata owners as they’ve all asked for their names, emails, and phone numbers to be suppressed in the strata records for privacy reasons and don’t want them disclosed to their neighbours.

7.     This year there’ll also be no kissing going on under the mistletoe for social distancing reasons regardless of whether or not you’re wearing a mask.  Xmas elbow bumps are all that’s allowed for now.

8.     Finally, all that old wrapping paper and those empty gift boxes need to be crushed or folded, tied up with biodegradable string, and go into the proper recycling receptacles.

So, hopefully, your strata scheme isn’t run by Scrooge … otherwise, there’ll be a lot of Christmas strata by-law and rule breaching going on this weekend and nowhere near enough fun.

Bah humbug !!!

December 22, 2021

Francesco ...