O, Sweet Saint Of San Andreas – Small Dead Animals

12 Replies to “O, Sweet Saint Of San Andreas”

What is a “Homeo Owners Association”. I keep reading about these in the US but I have no clue where they derive their power from. If it was a strata corporation I could understand but if these guys own the house what gives their neighbours power to do anything? Here, I can paint my house in rainbows and plant plaster unicorns on my dead lawn and give the middle finger to every neighbour and they have no recourse against me. It’s my house, after all.

HOA’s often are found in “gated communities” but do exist in other developments. Mostly, they are evil, as the kind of people who are attracted to becoming HOA managers are your Junior SS type.
I would suggest in this instance, that the people victimized simply buy enough garden hose to be able to water their lawns while connected to the hose bib belonging to an HOA administrator’s house. Run their water bill up, or get them fined for watering off-hours.

An HOA is just a way for nosy, busy body retirees and homemakers to entertain themselves at the expense of their neighbours. “Bully” is a much overused and abused word these days, but that is essentially what these HOA’s are.

In other news from California, more proof only the best and brightest rise to the top.
http://stevengoddard.wordpress.com/2014/01/25/the-hank-johnson-of-the-west-coast/

Below is from the HOA of San Lorenzo. It speaks for itself. In general, the purpose of the HOA is keeping home values high. For most people, the bulk of their “wealth” is in their home. And I’ll be blunt here: How much would you pay to keep the “riff-raft” out of your neighborhood? Think about it before you answer.
—————————-
THIS IS MY
HOUSE, SO I CAN
DO WHATEVER I
WANT, RIGHT?
WELL…NO
, NOT
REALLY….
If you are reading this article,
you are probably a member of
the San Lorenzo Village Homes Association. What exactly
does that mean? It means that you are a member of a private
association that has Governing Documents and Covenants,
Conditions and Restrictions (CC&Rs) that you agreed to
abide by when you purchased your house.
Your neighbors and other members of the Association must
follow the same rules, which helps to keep your
neighborhood looking nice and maintains property values.
We have found that the most common reason Association
members and residents don’t follow the requirements is
because they don’t know what they are
or they are unclear
how to maintain their yards. Your neighbors can be a great
resource and not only give you watering tips and
landscaping advice, but can also help clarify some of the
regulations of the Association.
Here is a summary of the top requirements:
•
You must communicate with the Homes Association if
you want to make changes to your house or property. You
can do this by submitting plans and getting approval to make
these changes
prior to starting any construction.
These can
include but are not exclusive
to, exterior painting, room
additions, adding cement to a yard or driveway or repaving,
putting up a shed, or a building a carport.
•
You must mow, edge and water your lawn and keep it
green. This means you cannot park a car on your lawn; that
you have to trim your bushes and keep your front yard
looking nice
.
If you need to change your landscaping or re-
sod, you must submit plans
prior to doing the work
.
•
You cannot put a fence across the front of your property,
or keep a trailer in your driveway.
Some of the benefits of belonging to the Association are
that you can rent the Community Hall at a member’s rate,
and you can vote or even run to
be a Director on the Board
to help make decisions for the Association.

“How much would you pay to keep the “riff-raft” out of your neighborhood?”
“Riff-raff”. I feel sorry for people who are so obsessed with a green lawn they will violate local and State bylaws for the sake of having healthy grass.
And if a homeowner is NOT one of the obsessed,that hardly makes that person,”riff-raff”. Maybe the HOA actions prove that petty tyrants will arise whenever they are given the opportunity.
In areas where there is a water shortage, wasting a valuable resource on a lawn is absurd.In my area, which is essentially reclaimed desert, there has been a movement toward “xeriscaping”, which makes use of the natural resources of the land,and that doesn’t include wasting thousands of gallons of water on UN-natural grass.

The existence of an HOA has to be disclosed when a property is listed for sale. I am in the process of buying a winter place in Arizona, and I made it clear that “no HOA” was a must. No problem, there are plenty of homes lacking HOA’s and not all are in “riff-raff” neighborhoods. and the place I am buying has no lawn, just desert dirt, and desert plants, including a nice Saguaro cactus, and some palm trees.
So, while I have some sympathy for people dealing with overbearing HOA’s, it’s pretty limited, because they should have known it going into the property.

1) Most HOAs in the U.S. have a contracted landscape service (aka, team of illegal Mexicans) who cut, trim, edge everybody’s lawn once a week, rain or shine. Watering (and its cost) is up to the individual home owner. The intent is to “keep up appearances” = home prices for re-sale. Most of the time it works out fine. CONDO Associations, however, (which are different in law than HOAs) really attract authoritarian head cases in their leadership, most of whom are retired seniors with FAR too much time on their hands to make trouble. AVOID CONDO OWNERSHIP!
2) Seriously – this is NOT a joke – my bro-in-law elsewhere in the U.S. has a nice ‘retirement’ business; his crews spray paint brown / dying / dead grass a nice, healthy looking green color, using non-toxic green vegetable dyes! His main customers are upscale golf & country clubs in dry zones. More than once I’ve asked him why he doesn’t expand into California, to which he routinely replies: “They’re crazy there; over-regulated, over-taxed. How many Caddies can I drive at one time, anyway? … screw ’em.”

Simple, just spray paint it green.
http://www.grassbgreen.com/Lawn_Paint_FAQ_s/25.htm

What would happen if a town had a bylaw requiring one to keep one’s lawn green, and the state or county invoked a temporary law making watering illegal?
Is there a defense in law saying that you are a victim of conflicting laws, or that it is impossible NOT to violate a law (e.g., a law against sweating)?

“Did you really think we want those laws observed?” said Dr. Ferris. “We want them to be broken. You’d better get it straight that it’s not a bunch of boy scouts you’re up against… We’re after power and we mean it… There’s no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren’t enough criminals one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What’s there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced or objectively interpreted – and you create a nation of law-breakers – and then you cash in on guilt. Now that’s the system, Mr. Reardon, that’s the game, and once you understand it, you’ll be much easier to deal with.”
― Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged – 1957

The city or town’s law applies to the city or town. The county law applies to unincorporated county land outside the city or town, State law would apply to everything BUT would need to be tested in court to confirm the existence of a conflict, and guess who doesn’t want to pay for the testing process? Two guesses?

12 Replies to “O, Sweet Saint Of San Andreas”

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