A Fine Mess : Pressure Mounts on Irvine Illustrator to Use Garage, but Not for Studio

Mark Hild enjoys nothing better than spending his day working in his townhouse garage-turned-art studio in Irvine.

Cluttered with filing cabinets, a photographic darkroom and portraits of jazz great Duke Ellington, the room is where the 71-year-old semi-retired graphic illustrator has continued to practice his craft for additional income.

But Hild has run into trouble with his homeowners association, which complains that Hild’s 1988 Mazda should be parked in his garage and not in the spaces normally reserved for guests. He is now facing stiff fines and says he may have to move if the situation is not resolved.

A few months after the studio was completed in 1987, Hild said a neighbor turned him in to the Princetown Townhouse Maintenance Assn., which declared that Hild was in violation of a rule prohibiting the “storage of any goods in any garage space that prevents a vehicle from also being stored there.”

Fine Keeps Growing

A $25 fine was assessed, and it steadily increased over the next two years. The fine now stands at $150 a month,and Hild says he has paid more than $1,000 in fines.

Hild believes that he has been singled out by the homeowners association.

“I know of several people in this entire complex that are doing the same thing with their garages,” he said.

“I’d understand it better if there was a parking problem, but there isn’t.”

Fred Moore, secretary of the maintenance association, said there had been complaints about the lack of parking and noted that the fines against Hild increased only because of Hild’s constant failure to comply with the rule.

“We get constant complaints from our residents that there isn’t enough parking in the project for guests,” Moore said. “And many times it is because people are not using their garages.” Moore added that the association had fined other residents for similar violations.

Complaints About Parking

“It was suggested that Mr. Hild alert us of others he is aware of doing this also,” Moore said.

Hild said he transformed the garage into a studio two years after he and a friend moved into the home in 1985. At the time, his 15-year battle with diabetes had grown progressively worse, requiring him to retire early from a Santa Ana-based advertising agency.

Hild said he must continue to work to supplement his Social Security benefits. His work includes designing illustrations for defense and aerospace contractors and other local businesses.

“It had gotten to a point where the medication I needed to take required a lot of my time and couldn’t be taken care of in the office,” Hild said. “So working out of my home was an obvious alternative.”

The association is now handling the case through a Riverside-based law office that has notified Hild that if he doesn’t correct the parking violation within 15 days, towing and a possible lawsuit could follow.

“I feel that I am probably going to be forced to move,” Hild said. “I can’t afford to pay for office space and I can’t afford to pay these fines.”