Beauty is in the eye of the Beholder?

Hi all,
I had this new topic embedded in another one, but would love some feedback. Here we go.

Our covenants require underground sprinkler systems. They also require the property be kept free from, "weeds, underbrush, refuse piles, trash, garbage, wast or other unsightly growths." They do not say anything about having to have a "green lawn." We have one homeowner who keeps his yard well-tended, mowed, weeded, nice garden in the back, in fact is always seen out in his yard doing something. Except apparently watering. They seem to like to have their yard brown out in the summer.

Recently we sent out our first community survey with this question: "Do you think all covenants have equal merit and should be enforced consistently and uniformly. If no, please comment." We received this response: "Yes, but we currently aren't enforcing all equally." "I would like to see a covenant requirement that lawns be kept adequately irrigated (clarification of Covenant #6, Sec. H). . . seems odd we're required to install an irrigation system but then not required to use it."

If this homeowner is talking about us not "enforcing" this particular covenant by allowing the "unsightliness" of his lawn, I would like to address these concerns. Mainly, because I know we are enforcing all covenants equally, as we get grief about it, which is what inspired this question in the first place. It has always been my mandate that there is no such thing as a "minor" covenant, whether it is dropping a garden shed in your back yard with a crane, or leaving your garbage can out. But secondly, I am curious about this. Does this homeowner have a legitimate complaint? My immediate thought was Xeriscaping. We have two houses who have no front lawns -- only natural plants, rocks, etc. They don't use the irrigation that was installed on their property. So, is the question, "Should we be required to use the required irrigation system?" or, "Is there some standard of how every lawn is 'supposed' to look?" To me, these are two very different questions.

What say you?

I would have to read all your covenants to be sure of every rule, however, from what you posted here, there is no requirement to MAINTAIN growth, ie, green lawns. If the guy has a sprinkler, but never uses it, he's okay by your rules (as stated herein). If i were that guy, i would point to my dead grass and say "it's not an unsightly growth, because it's not growth anymore. it's dead/dormant". Grass is not weeds, it isn't underbrush, refuse piles, trash, garbage or waste either.

In fact, I would (were I this guy) claim it was a) dormant grass, and not dead at all, b) organically applied bio-fertilizer, in a slow release formula c) mulch d) dust control biomat and/or e) natively applied erosion control measures. then I might research city or county laws on water use, restrictions, etc., and arm myself for the next board meeting. Of course, I would also check your HOA laws on conducting business from homes too, just to be a real pest.

I hear there are spray paints for vegetation. Comes in green, too.

I am in agreement with all of this, and the fact is the covenants don't say anything about keeping a yard green. Keeping it well-maintained is clearly the intent of the covenant. The complaining homeowner won't come right out and be direct with his complaint, so there you have it. Unless he comes to the Board directly, his curmudgeonly asides will be his distress.

But, Brad, that's just it. This guy is always out in his yard weeding, pruning, trimming, edging, mowing. It's just "tan" instead of green. I'm not convinced it reflects poorly on the neighborhood. Not this neighborhood anyway. Out of 42 houses, only two are zeriscaped. The rest are full-blown poster-children of gardening crews, scurrying around this place like ants, with the homeowners filling in the rest of time with this ceaseless, flippin' "yard work." Don't they have anything better to do on the weekends? And we're not talking environmentally friendly folk either. The amount of chemicals my neighbors pour on their lawns makes Chernobyl look like the Garden of Eden.

I guess until I get an official complaint, which I have not, only a "comment" on a survey, then I'm not gonna initiate a green grass requirement. We live in the semi-arid, banana-belt of Southeastern Washington. It's a totally artificial, man-made construct, this suburbia in which we live. If I had my way, the requirement would be zeriscaping - no water, or minimal water. This watering every other day for 20/30 minutes, usually 6-8 stations, per lawn, is stupid. As long as this neighbor's lawn is weed-free (which it is) and mowed regularly (which it is), or if we have a house for sale in the 'hood (which we do not at the moment) and a real estate agent contacts me about this lawn, then the color of dormant lawn is not an issue -- at least for me.

Brad,
It's actually less about the house and much more about the homeowner. He is a self-professed "non-joiner," which makes his move into a restricted community rather odd. He and his wife are quite friendly when happened to be engaged in a conversation, and have been wonderfully supportive of me in my role as President. But when I asked them to be Vice-President or Treasurer once, he said, "I don't volunteer for anything. The last time I volunteered was for the army and that was it for me." They don't receive mail at their house, but have a P.O. Box, to which he rides his bike to and from every day, a nice six-mile round trip. So, they are a bit quirky. Which is probably why I get along with them well enough -- 'cause so am I!

Quite frankly, I don't know what he does with his lawn all the time. He is always out there putzing, fussing, doing something. Maybe he is letting his grass go dormant because he wants to replace it this summer? I have to confess, I can't really remember if his lawn was browned out the year before or not. We are friendly enough to one another that I could ask him what's going on with his lawn. Which, I probably should just to get a bead on it.

As for the over watering, my neighbor waters his lawn every morning from May till November for a really long time. It drives me to distraction. Our water table here is so high, there are parts of our park and certain yards (mine included) that are soggy even in the height of summer. This development was built on an old marsh, where ducks wintered, which then supported a dairy with ponds, and then us. It should have never been built. There are French drains and sump pumps in a bunch of houses. So, yeah, the water situation here is absurd, which is why I am more sympathetic to a homeowner who doesn't toe the line with all things green all the time. But as you say, that may not be the wisest approach. We'll see this summer how things go. Right now, we are covered in ice, on top of snow. 'Taint a lawn in sight!

I will put this in our seasonal e-mail, especially since we just had a discussion at the annual meeting last week about the water bill for the park this year. Thanks so much Brad.