Argh!
My husband spent a lovely Saturday outside in our driveway and front/side yard (all our property) building and testing a DIY bike trailer for our new canoe. All was going well and we were thoroughly enjoying the project until Mr. HOA enforcer drove by, paused to look at us, scowl, and shake his head disapprovingly. I had thought we were within our rights to build something on our property, so long as we cleaned up at the end of the day and didn’t leave things out. But nope. Turns out we aren’t allowed to build or fix anything within view of the street. We are only permitted to do such work inside the garage with the garage door closed (in the heat of summer!). This could also apply to bicycle maintenance. (And there are a whole lot of other prohibitions: I’m also prohibited from hanging laundry outside to dry, if anyone else could see it.)
I understand why the HOA would exist to maintain common landscaping, the neighborhood street, sidewalk, and common areas, but I truly cannot understand how HOAs can legally prevent such activities as building our own bike trailer on our own property, simply because the HOA people don’t like how it “looks.” These feel like “class-ist” rules. I wouldn’t be prohibited from purchasing a ready-made trailer (though I can’t park it in my driveway; I have to keep it in the garage with the garage door closed at all times except when entering/exiting). Among other things, we’d like to build outdoor bike parking with roof on our front/side yard next to our driveway, but the HOA would almost surely not approve such a thing, because they wouldn’t like how it looked…
But at the moment, we have a bike trailer to finish making…(I don’t think we can reasonably work on the project inside our garage…we’d have to move out all the other bikes, bike rack, etc, then close the garage door in the summer heat…all of which feels ridiculous…)
Any thoughts?
Sounds like you may have already done this, but if not, I’d read every line of the HOA rules, including all the definitions and administrative stuff. Sometimes rule enforcers don’t know the rules as well as they assume they do. There may be some loophole, something in the definitions or enforcement rules that works in your favor, etc. Often HOA rules are really imprecisely and poorly written.
I know I’d also go look at the enforcer’s property to see if there are things to turn them in for, and use that as leverage to be able to finish your project. But that’s me, and it’s not necessarily as productive as say, capitulating and finishing it inside your garage.
Long term (say for your bike parking project) you could try getting support for changing the rules. I’ve known people who’ve gotten rid of almost all their HOA rules, because it turned out lots of other people didn’t like them either.
Thanks for the suggestions. I suppose I was hoping someone would say, “the HOA can’t outlaw work on a bike trailer” based on some application of some obscure Oregon law. Wishful thinking, I know!
But if such a law existed, I am sure BP folks would know about it. I love how informed BP readers are.
I guess we’ll just have to figure it out under the conditions we’re in. I’ll be excited to share when we get it done, somehow someway.
I second what qqq said. Obtain and review the rules thoroughly (if you haven’t already). Ten years ago I found myself as president of my (former) HOA purely as a defensive measure against fanatical members of the community that wanted to enforce ridiculous rules. My advice would be to survey the community to see if similar work is being performed by your neighbors, and then meet with the board to open a dialogue on the topic and provide perspective and a friendly face to go with the file. In my experience, one fanatical enforcer does’t always reflect the views of the entire board that may not be interested in enforcing a time-limited project. It’s also harder to say “no” to someone’s face, when the issue before them is less abstract.
I have lived with a Portland HOA since March 2020. Does your HOA have “committees?” Do you attend board meetings? Participation matters because there’s a lot of favoritism in HOAs. If there are multiple people on the board, maybe ask for an exception and give a time limit. Like…we will be done with this project by August 5th, 2023. Remind them you are doing your part to slow climate collapse by biking. Hopefully they will be reasonable.
I don’t know what the laws of Oregon have to say about a construction project that lasts a short time and then is out of sight. But I do know the ban on clotheslines is void. An Oregon law states that any restrictions on “solar radiation as a source for heating, cooling or electrical energy” are “void and unenforceable.” Since clotheslines rely on solar energy, their use is protected in those states where laws provide blanket allowances for the use of solar radiation.