New Lawn Rules

One last comment. The HOA gets many complaints from residents about the status of their neighbor's yards. There are some that think if everyone's yard doesn't look like a the golf course theirs is, the HOA should do something about it. The vast majority of the time we don't.
My point is that if you get an HOA Board majority made up of residents with these standards, this resolution makes it harder, not easier, to implement their agendas.
There are lots of stories about "HOA's gone wild." I suggest those that are concerned stay vigilant about ours and pay attention at election time and be involved.

 

Just because the new resolution is better, doesn't mean it's clear enough.

 

I am certain that you do not mean to insinuate that the entire board will witness and review each alleged violation. I cannot imagine that if you, or any other board member witnessed a violation, that you would not trust their judgement. You aren't all going to march out and look at the lot!

I am still not sure how a party can sign off that a vote occured when that party did not witness the vote.

 

ECTA, first of all, I cracked up over this post. You are quite right on the merits, and I love your analogy and your humor!

In implementation, I doubt that the HOA will become the Gestapo of lawn care. If that happens on a community-wide basis, the solutions is quite simple: we vote the offenders out.

So, for now, I call for a little calm. The HOA has changed a rule, but the world has not ended. If they become overzealous or pushy, then let's reassess. In the meantime, though, I think watchful waiting and monitoring of the HOA's actions are the best approaches.

 

Funny

 

As I read Section 7.2(a) of the Declarations (page 29), the standard appears to be "in as good as condition as when acquired (normal wear and tear excepted) and in a neat and orderly condition".

I believe that the new rules partially address the aim of making them more objective by stating a maximum lawn height and maximum overhang of tree branches above a sidewalk. These are needed standards that I agree with completely.

However, I object to the inclusion of the language that essentially requires the watering of lawns. The old language only required "neat and orderly". A yard can be neat and orderly, but not green. I wonder if LCSA will be happy with the increased water usage that will be required for compliance?

Also, I pity the folks who have a school bus stop at a street corner in front of their house. It will only be through great effort that they will be able to comply with this new standard. Having twenty middle schoolers tromping on your grass five days a week can be hard on a yard.

-Jim

 

Dang it! I was trying to think of Pantone Color Guides!!! That's a capital idea!!!

By the way, I was not trying to insinuate that the BOD has an agenda to implement the new rules in an attempt to cause misery to the residents. I was just saying that the rule leaves it open for that possibility.

Flynnibus, the BOD next plans to make cars that can go over 125 illegal to possess in the Broadlands!

 

ok my little addition to this post is that the 6 inch rule is...um not in line with the drought. When you are in a drought situation not watering, cutting a lawn will not be better than letting it grow a few inches - which will save it from browning/burning too much.

 

As Flynnibus pointed out, you are wrong. It takes a majority vote of the Board to start charging assessments to a lot. It CANNOT be done by one member or anything less than a majority vote.
I have gone out and reviewed EVERY alleged violation that has come before the Board. Pictures are ALWAYS taken and presented at the Board meetings.

Go ahead. Your turn. Try and shoot holes in it now.

 

Cliff - purely a suggestion - with the LCSA water restrictions and drought - would the BoD consider a caveat (as others have stated) that during these types of restrictions that lawns can be longer than 6"and/or color of grass maybe a less vibrent green - due to lack of watering in said restrictive periods as per LCSA guidelines?

Not trying to stir the pot or question the BoD decision - but others have brought up this concern.

 

Nope, thanks for clarifying!

I was just worried, because I have more Oscar than Felix in me. Any of my attempts to fit in to to the world of perfection that is the Broadlands is outside of my normal behavior, in deference to my lovely wife.

 

Pea-
The HOA doesn't have a "green meter" to check out lawns.
It is actually unhealthy to let lawns grow to long lengths and then cut them down.
I don't see a need to change the 6 inch rule.
Obviously, if there are water restrictions in place, the HOA cannot and will not enforce any watering rules.
In fact, even if there are not watering restrictions, it is not wrong to allow lawns to go dormant rather than trying to dump tons of water on them.
We have had a very few lawns that were allowed to completely die. Not go dormant, but to die. This is what is unacceptable.

 

I have a question about this too. I'm not trying to be a pain here at all - just genuinely confused.

When we acquired our house, new, there was sod laid down in our backyard. No topsoil was laid down under the sod (which seems to be the norm around here unfortunately).

The problem is, there was nothing underneath that sod but rock. Not little pieces of rock but such big pieces that my landscaper said he couldn't remove them and we'd either have to rent a jackhammer or blast. I'm talking small boulder sized.

This probably wouldn't have been an issue except our back yard is sloped and we get all the run off from the people behind us and we also get all the run off from one side as well so we can't just discriminately try solutions without bringing in a professional because of the runoff issues.

Anyway, we've tried numerous times to put down soil on top, to put peat on top, to seed and even to lay new sod but nothing has taken.

We have exposed rocks in the back yard.

This isn't the condition in which we received the yard but it is the result of the condition in which we received the yard.

We definitely don't have the 5 figures it would take to get someone in to fix it after spending 5 figures re-doing a bathroom thanks to structural damage caused by the same builder.

Any suggestions?

 

better move to another neighborhood- you are SCREWED! kidding..

i am following this thread because we have some lawn issues based on the slope, sun, lack of lawn care on our part, blah blah. the HOA board DOES have many more important things to do than go on a powertripping witch hunt for crab grass and dandelions. but they DO have a job to do, which is keeping th Broadlands the kind of place that people want to move into, stay in, raise their kids in, are proud of be a part of the community.

in my last neighborhood we had a neighbor whose weeds were above the 6 ft fence and his yard was in such a mess- he had mice which ended up tunneling into OUR yard. what i would have given to have had an HOA with the power to fine him and do something about it.

there isn't going to be a witch hunt, folks, i really think that while it's a valid point to be concerned about if you have lawn issues beyond your control- unless you paint your grass blue, let cigarette butts burn unsightly holes in your grass, or just let it become wild kingdom which ANYONE would find unsightly- the HOA isn't coming after you...

that said- I'm sending my husband out to trim the edges. juuuust in case... lol

i end this with a qupte from "Stripes":

LIGHTEN UP, FRANCIS.

NOW ENJOY THIS BEAUTFUL DAY FOLKS!

 

Welcome to a Virginia home builders yard. In our case, they actually had a tree that fallen across the yard. They pushed enough dirt around it so you couldn't tell it was there when the sod was laid across it. Obviously that grass continued to die. Van Metre didn't think anything was wrong and refused to do anything about it. Nice.

 

Our first home in Broadlands was a townhouse with a miniscule front "patch". We had a section of grass that just would not grow so we decided to bump out the shrub bed a bit. Removing the grass (which turned out to be more than just expanding the bed) we found 24 FULL-SIZED bricks, numerous broken pieces and enough wood to build a small deck (okay, it was really several cut up 2'x4's ).
In addition, on a 2'x5' strip between the steps and the driveway, we found a buried plastic tarp about 8'x12'.

I am willing to bet that the house that does NOT have some housing material buried in the yard does not exist in Broadlands.

 

We have the exact same problem with our backyard. We've had the builder come in and attempt to fix the runoff issues 4 times. We've had the builder lay sod 4 times now along with adjusting the grade and we still can not get grass to grow. They installed a french drain from a rather large house that in the summer just dumps water all day long from the air conditioner units. It is litterally a swamp over there and I had just a heck of a time getting rid of the misquitoes last summer. We did not have this problem until the homes behind us were built. Due to the constant water our drainage area has litterally become like a river bed. It's to the point of rediculousness and I know that our neighbor behind us simply dispises our yard because of how it looks

 

Well, since this is a grading issue which ultimately causes erosion, can the county "public works"? get involved. Not sure they're the correct department but I have the same issue with water but it's due to the erosion along the fringes of the wetland area and I believe grading issues as well.