So in our apartment complex with its limited parking (and we see these all around the town, even outside the bank where our office is) they have a unique way of reserving their spaces.
These two metal reservation things are up and locked up as the owners are away. When they come back they unlock them and they lay down flat.
I hope you can get the concept here. They are almost like little tents but when they unlock the middle post they will lay down flat. They also use them to close roads to traffic.