HOA banning dogs on grass - suggestions?
HOA banning dogs on grass - suggestions?
Hi Lemmy, My HOA sent out a email saying dogs are no longer allowed on any grass in common areas or front yards including grass between sidewalk and curb which is.... everywhere except our own tiny backyards. The reasoning is some dog urine effected dead spots. Honestly I didn't even notice them, it's 95° here and all the grass looks sad.
It's a walking town and we are not a gated community, non-residents walk their dogs here all the time, so this rule can only punish those who live here and has no ability to effect others.
Anyway, this seems like a 'we have tried nothing and we are all out of ideas!' moment so I wanted to see if anyone here had any suggestions I can pass on to maintain a "good" curb appeal ground cover-wise while allowing dogs to do normal dog stuff.
I can converse with the HOA board in good faith, but this rule is basically banning dogs from the neighborhood - which I super did not sign up for.
Pertainent info: PA, USA - Town Home style homes - small central common grass - owned for 8y.
Edit: it seems like people may have glossed over the question part and skipped straight to HOA bashing (which is warranted at times!) so I will rephrase:
What ground covering or neighborhood solutions to similar (perceived) issues have other communities employed?
Check to make sure that the HOA actually has the power to do this. As a land owner you are bound to follow the covenants that run with the land, but you are only actually bound to follow those covenants. You don't have to do random stuff just because the HOA board or even a majority of the HOA voters say so, you only actually have to do what's in the covenants.
Unless the covenants say that you agree to follow a bunch of dog-related rules to be defined later, you almost certainly are allowed to park your dog in your own front yard or in that of any consenting neighbor.
Find out when the next meeting is. Tell them you're going to attend.
Organize all the other dog owners and all of you attend. Explain why the new rule is a burden on you all. Explain what you want. Listen to their reasoning. Come to an agreeable compromise.
A complicating factor: I would say ~50% of the houses are rented and only the homeowners have a say in HOA matters. So, assuming any owners without dogs (including the whole board) and any landlord would logically vote to ban all use of the grass, while all dog-owning homeowners would vote to allow dogs near the grass.
Obviously that's generalizing what the votes would be - even though the majority of the houses have dogs, I would say the minority are homeowners with dogs.
The reason I bring this up is a petition-style response may be dismissed as "well those dog owners have no say as they are not homeowners"
So the AKC has this page that lists about half a dozen alternatives to outright banning dogs on grass.
https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/home-living/dog-pee-killing-grass/
I agree this very much sounds like the HOA taking the laziest route possible at the expense of it's residents.
But also, fuck HOAs. Get on the board and take that shit down from the inside, only reliable way to destroy those parasites.
I've read some folks being a bottle of water on walks to dilute the pee so it's less likely to ruin grass. But in fairness if some dog pee is ruining grass, owners are not watering their lawns enough. There are plenty of dogs in my neighborhood that are walked and I don't think there are many pee spot issues.
But even better would be to not use grass :) uses too much water in the first place hehe
shit like this is the reason I will never ever participate in an HOA
Set all the grass on fire. Boom, no more grass.
You have been living there for 8 yrs. Is this the first time the board has been unreasonable? If not, you might not have much recourse. Except for becoming president of the HOA and changing by-laws yourself. Unfortunately, HOAs in America are fucking weird she mostly unregulated which leads to these power tripping people.
If so, I would converse with them and present the same arguments you posted here.
In both cases, it would help if you can get your neighbors on the same page and agree. If more than half of the neighbors come to the consensus that it’s unreasonable, could easily force the board’s hand and revert. If they don’t bend, I would then ask your neighbors to re-elect the board. If at this point, you would need to check your HOA by-laws since it wildly differs across the USA.
I say burn the hoa with fire
Pour used oil on the head of the how's lawn. Then have every dog owner complain about it.
Collect all your dogshit and dump it in the yard of the HOA president.
Honestly, review you HOA requirements for imposing new rules, make sure they followed the rules and if they didn't demand the rule be withdrawn until the proper process is followed.
Try to get the rule changed so it reads "no UNLEASHED dogs allowed on.... " And try to get them to add some kind of punishment for those who don't clean up after their dogs (i.e. a $50 fine or something like that). Sure people can bash HOAs (and I totally agree with why they are hated so much), but the rule was probably not enacted because of one incident. It was probably put into place after many issues with owners not cleaning up after their dogs, so they felt they had to do something.
As with all HOA issues, the solution is to be in on it.... be part of the HOA. Run for office and get on the board. Being part of the process makes it that much easier to control what rules get put up.
In before you get a fine for someone else's dog being on your lawn.
And this is reason 4779637, never to buy a home in a HOA....
Leasehold is a con.
I know this is more of a petty answer, but if the head of your HOA lives in the HOA and you know where, have your dog deliberately shit in their yard if there are no security cameras. Early in the morning, be sure to take pictures as proof there was a dog in their grass at some point.
If enough people in the area start doing it, the rule will either change or you can start complaining like Hell that the head is of HOA isn't following the rules and hope that changes things. If not, and you are willing to be locked away, arson on the HOA owners' home (if they live in the HOA) isn't a bad option either, assuming you start the fire in their bedroom so they can burn to death.
@iluminae raised platform with fake grass.
Ban HOA's. I really don't understand why there allowed to exist.
Have your HOA do an application of lime. It will make all the grass happier not just the peed on parts. If this is a large HOA, they might want to get the soil tested to see how much calcium(lime) is needed.
Essentially what is happening....the pH of the soil is already too low and the dog urine pushes it over the edge, quickly.
Move out.
Yeah, I suggest you go back in time and smack yourself upside the head for even thinking about moving somewhere with an HOA.
Not ground covering, but new ground. If you want a say, then you have to take on personal responsibility. Or move. Either way, you choose to not look behind the curtain. Enjoy Stepford.
HOAs often impose yard upkeep rules on owners. I have a buddy whose front yard grass keeps dying from dog walkers letting their dogs pee in his yard, and then as an insult to injury, the HOA cites him.
It'd be ideal if your neighborhood had a dog park established as an alternative, but honestly, this rule is on the more agreeable side as far as HOAs go.
Permanently Deleted