Posted:
We are having a grave situation with this issue in our HOA. We have a "no business" clause in our R&Rs, but it does exempt telecommuting, keeping businesspapers/records/library, contacting customers by phone/email, bookeping& accounting, etc. It even exempts daycares under four non-related children under one roof (following with similar language in the Village ordinances.) HOWEVER, we have two landscapers who have decided that it is their right to park their bobcats/bulldozers/trailers, etc. and loaded pick-ups in their driveways. Mind you, we have a "no trucks" clause in addition to a "no advertising--no lettered vehicles" clause for parking in driveways--other than temporary.
It seems the landscapers both chose small model houses with only 2 car garages (when three and four-car tandem garages were available. They park across the sidewalk into their apron, causing pedestrians/children to have to walk into the street to pass their house--which is right next to the children's park! We are in the process of the "builder-run association turn-over" excitement, so none of the rules have been enforced thusfar. We have one "activist" who has submitted 154 complaints in a week, documenting every four hours the status of the trucks parked, substantiated with witness signatures, license plate numbers and photos. He was a member of a HOA in the past where a fellow owner sued the HOA and each unit was assessed over $2,000 in that judgement--except for him and a few others, who formed a "class action" against the HOA in order to remain exempt. So this guy "knows the ropes," so to speak, and is in a "get them before they get you" mentality. Unfortunately, he is putting this brand new board in the position of having to be the "bad guys" or face neglect of their fiduciary duties as members of the board. The one extra caveat to our situation is that we have a property management company that is supposed to be handling the complaints/notices for the board (and has been employed since the inception of the community.) The "go-fer" for that company does not follow through with her job and was caught by another community not making her required rounds (by using a 24 hour surveliance camera at the entrance to the community and going through 2 weeks of tape with no sign of her.) She is "buddy-buddy" with said landscapers and has been giving them the "inside scoop" to the point where we had the owner of one of the landscaping companies show up on our doorstep shouting vulgarities and demanding the resignation of the board--and stating that he has a petition circulating to remove the board.
Again, this is a board that has only taken over less than 70 days ago and has dealt with issues regarding contracts, attorney hiring, finding a new property manager, establishing a new bank account, formulating a rules & regulations committee as well as handling the influx of spring "architechtural applications" for decks, patios, landscaping, etc. It has been a nightmare.
Our proposed solution was to send out a newsletter debunking the "rumorville grapevine" myths and explaining the process for filing complaints, filing applications for alterations and explaining some of the most commonly mistaken rules--while giving everyone a "first warning" without specifically fining or penalizing anyone. We set a date for an "open forum" for members to air their concerns, ask questions and basically clear the air. (Yes, we are looking into hiring security for the meeting after seeing examples of the tempers of some of the people in our neighborhood!)