Need advice on how to get HOA to make changes to CC&R

We live in a lake community in NC. Our HOA is brand new - just stared up last month and they are starting to enforce rules of the CC&R. As it currently states, we are never allowed to have our boat at the house - for cleaning, loading, unloading, etc. We do store our boat at a storage facility and tow it to the house for loading, etc. On occassion, we have brought it home at night, still hooked up to the truck - knowing that we are taking it back out in the morning. I requested in writing that the HOA grant my request for a 24 hour clause...many of the area HOA do this. I received a letter stating that they denied the request and will fine us $50 each time they see the boat at the house. This seems not only unfair, but not feasible...I can see an issue with storing the boat at the house but to never have the boat here?! I wonder if anyone has some advice as to next steps? Thanks

It may help if you post the exact wording from the section that deals with the boat; and state if the paragraph is from the CC&R's or the Rules.

If there is a section in both the CC&R's and the Rules, post the text from both.

If it is in the CC&R's you would need a community vote in order to get the rule changed.

If it is in the Rules, then you can request the board to change the wording to make the rule more reasonable and practical for the community. If they refuse, then get support from more neighbors and keep going to the board meetings and requesting the change. The more support you have, the more likely you are to succeed.

Have a reasonable alternative wording drafted to present to the board. The new wording should reflect the intent of the rule which is really to prevent people from storing their boats, or working on them at home. However, relaxing it a bit to allow loading or unloading at home.

But do consider the community as a whole, and not just your own needs.

Is this a boating community so that everyone would benefit from your new wording?

Is this a non-boating community where you are the only boater, and the rest of the community is made up of golfers? If this is the case, then the community would not benefit from your desired rule. In this case you would have a difficult time in changing the rule because it probably doesn't reflect the desires of the community as a whole.

Our rules state that boats, trailers, etc must be stored behind the side yard fence, or in a garage out of sight of the street, and cannot be parked on the street or in a driveway.

A rule similar to that may be one that could work in your community.

Bill

I'm sorry I competely missed that you live in a lake community.

I agree the Rule is completely unreasonable, but would still like to know if it is a CC&R or a Rule.

If it's a CC&R you do need to get the community to get it changed. CC&R's need to be enforced uniformly across the board in my opinion. Therefore, if this is a CC&R, then the board needs to work with the community to get it changed to something more reasonable.

Bill

Our rules are that no boat, trailer, etc., cannot be in the driveway for more than a 24 hour period.

Are the streets public or private? I don't want to encourage this, as someone in our neighborhood avoided the whole 'parking in the driveway' thing by parking their boat in the street. Unfortunately, they would park it there for weeks and there was nothing we could do about it. Maybe you can clean and load/unload the boat from the street without getting a violation?

Also, regarding the fine they want to charge. What do your documents say in fining? We have a process in which a letter is sent, a second letter with notice to fine and then the third stating we are fining. We fine $25/day, not each occurrence. By fining on each occurrence, they may not be following the proper procedure.

Amanda:

That is very similar wording to what we have and we don't enforce it like that. If it is there for more than 24 hours then we take action. Julie had a great point, do you have public streets? That is how people get around it here, we have a guy that parks the boat in the street and right now I have a hideous looking piece of farm equipment parked in the street. Both of those are things the HOA can do nothing about, only the city can. Maybe a compromise for you is when you need to load the boat park it on the street and never let it touch your property.

1. I believe parking is different than loading/unloading. Parking is when a vehicle is left unattended. Loading/unloading is when the vehicle is attended while you are in the temporary process of loading or unloading with the intention of removing the vehicle when the process is complete.

2. If the streets have been turned over to the city, then your CC&R's are out of date. The city controls the streets now and you are only bound by the city ordinances. The Association has no control over city streets.

You should confirm if the streets have been turned over, and if they have, check the ordinances and abide by them.

Bill

I did see the word street up there, getting old and can't read anymore. But William is right, if they are city owned the HOA can not do anything about it.

The other option is to have all your stuff at the curb and drive about 1/2 mile an hour and load the boat too. Of course I am only kidding with this statement.

With regards to street parking in Colorado if the Declaration predates or includes the dedication of streets, and if the dedication plat states that restrictions shall be preserved, then the HOA can enforce their restrictions on their public streets so dedicated.

An example we enforce is:
No house trailer, camping trailer, boat trailer, hauling trailer, boat, or accessories thereto, truck (larger than 3/4 ton), self-contained motorized recreational vehicle, or other type of recreational vehicle or equipment, may be parked or stored in the Common Interest community, unless such parking or storage is within the garage area of any unit or will be suitably screened from view as approved in advance by the Modification Architectural Review Committee, except that any such vehicle may be otherwise parked as a temporary expedient for loading, delivery, or emergency. This restriction, however, shall not restrict trucks or other commercial vehicles which are necessary for construction or for the maintenance of the Units or any Improvements.

We recently added a 24 hour rule for boats and campers knowing that a lot of people like to load the night before.

RogerB,
By looking at your wording, If a person were moving in and left thier moving trailer out overnight before returning it then they are in violation?

Technically this would be a violation Calvin. But what action is taken should depend on the circumstances; common sense should prevail.

For example, early yesterday morning I recorded the violation of a hauling trailer attached to a car parked on the street in a single family upper class subdivision where neither a trailer nor a vehicle is allowed to park. This owner has always complied with the restrictions. I noted the violation but anticipated it would be removed later that morning. I didn't send a Warning Notice (which I always send prior to sending a second notice - Violation Letter). The warning would not be received before the problem was resolved.