July 15th, 2009
Rodriguez, who line dries her laundry and has a lush vegetable garden in her backyard (safely hidden behind the current cedar fence; see picture below, right), has decided to throw in the towel. She has put her bamboo on craigslist. Doyce has returned as much building material to a local hardware store as he could – recouping about $500; and in the early fall, the couple will put their former dream house on the market and move to another part of Austin.
“I’ve been told that especially in this county, Williamson County, which is very conservative, I probably couldn’t win a suit – that they (the judge or jury) would likely side with the HOA. If I were in Austin, or Travis County, I might have a chance. But not here. And frankly, if I have to live a certain way and my house has to look at certain way, I don’t want to be here. This is not the sort of neighborhood I want to live in.”
The Sonoma HOA didn’t return calls (the HOA board president was out of the country most of this time). But a property manager, who said she couldn’t speak on behalf of the HOA, did say she was unaware it was “an ongoing battle,” and thought that the matter had been settled.
Sadly, according to Austin realtor Liz Hall of The Marye Co., it probably has been.
“HOA’s are all about conformity. In fact, a lot of the people who move to planned communities move there specifically because they like the conformity. For some people, that’s comforting. And in most bylaws and covenants, they state that everything basically has to look alike.”
Hall, who has a lot of experience with condominiums and loft living, recalls a client who was surprised to learn that she couldn’t air-dry her clothing on her condo balcony in downtown Austin. She bought the property anyway, but was annoyed by the fact that something so innocuous – and green – could warrant an HOA fine.
“The thing is, if you want to be individualistic or try to be environmentally sensitive by using materials that aren’t included in the HOA’s covenants, you’re probably out of luck,” Hall says. “HOA’s are pretty strict, and conformity is part of the deal. … If you sign an HOA agreement, it’s really difficult to win an appeal like that. I feel for (Rodriguez), but she probably wouldn’t win a lawsuit either.”
When Rodriguez moved from Philadelphia, she liked the manicured lawns of her planned community north of Austin. But she had never dealt with an HOA before and now admits that she hadn’t read the lengthy document before signing it and buying the four-bedroom stone home. Since the appeals and hearings began, Rodriguez has been slapped with three fines because her current fence is in constant need of repair – precisely the reason the couple wanted to replace it with the more durable bamboo.
Ironically, the most recent fine, regarding a single picket that was tilting, arrived at her house on July Fourth. Happy Independence Day!
“Now I just feel like I’m being harassed,” Rodriguez says.
Jones, who’d expected to have the bamboo fence up by now, points out how odd it is that Texans can carry guns as if it’s the gun-slinging Wild West, and yet a couple has no say over a fence on their own property. “It’s ridiculous,” he says. “And this is America. …”
Unfair as it may seem, that’s the reality in many neighborhoods. Rodriguez’s bamboo battle is an example of what many green-leaning home-owners have to deal with if they want to be environmentally conscientious. News reports show that the mainstream is only just now grappling with how eco-friendly systems can change the landscape. Retailers of rain barrels, solar panels and home wind turbines have reported opposition from surrounding neighborhoods, and in some cases, city hall. Sometimes the improvements are nixed; in other cases, city leaders have changed the permitting process to open the door to green devices.
In Texas, the state just passed a law preventing HOA’s from restricting solar panels on roofs.
As for bamboo advocates, when Rodriguez wrote to the Texas Bamboo Society/Austin chapter. Here is part of their response from Kinder and Mary Len Chambers:
“Lourdes: I am VERY sorry, but I do NOT have any suggestions… Your email made me almost sick at my stomach … Now if anything in this world of our USA is UNCONSTITUTIONAL, it’s the LACK of freedom to build whatever fence you wish. And especially for an ‘ecofriendly’/ nice looking fence, that will outlast … “el cheapo’ cedar. … Home Owners Assns(sic) are … bureaucrats. … This is the reason we live WAY out in the country, on our 100 acres…”
Rodriguez doesn’t plan to move way out into the country, nor does she plan to buy 100 acres; but until American homeowners -and their associations – get greener, people like her will be running interference, trying to advance greener ways.
Copyright © 2009 Green Right Now | Distributed by Noofangle Media
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