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I recall the first time my wife and I went househunting. We looked at a community in Frederick MD, small rowhouse style townhomes with little garages out back in a planned alley. We went to the model home and they presented us with the 'HOA' rule book.
I swear it was 2-3 inches thick.
They went so far as to prescribe what brand, model number and color trash can you had to have, how tall and long your dog could be, and if I bothered to read further I'm sure it would've directed on what odd days of the month when the moon was full that you could make whoppee with the windows open..
That's numero uno reason we moved to West By God. We settled on a nice neighborhood, the HOA was two pages long and contained common sense stuff. No pigs allowed but goats, horses and cattle are o-k, 2 per acre allowed, no junk cars on blocks, and if you hunt- follow the DNR rules as far as proximity to homes..
It's really easy! If you like a clean looking county, then vote YES to zone. If you like it the way it is, trashy, run down and overdeveloped, then Vote No. It's so bad that you don't see the signs that say VOTE YES to zoning. Those people who haven't got a clue about what it truly means will just jump on the bandwagon because they saw all of the damn Blue signs. It's the developers that have paid to put those signs there. Too bad we couldn't have pooled some money together and had VOTE YES signs made.
In the town of brookhaven NY they wanted an ordinance prohibiting signs that say vote yes to zone.
Seems after election times it was just a blight on the neighborhood.
GTHO- comes down to philosophy of who is responsible for what.
Some communities have the attitude that someone ought to take care of things, but won't lift a finger because it ought to be someone else's responsibility (acting as if they're a sucker for caring to bend over for a piece of trash on the ground). Chicago. Philidelphia. Bad areas of Boston.
Other communities have a more pro active mentality, not waiting for someone else to come along, they take it upon themselves to maintain things as individuals working toward the collective (they won't walk past a piece of trash on the curb). Sure there will be a few who won't pitch in, but the if the camaraderie kicks in, most won't care because as the moose lodge says- the burden shouldered by many is light. Pride is the strongest glue I know.
The third type of community actively hires outside contractors to maintain things by raising municipal taxes to fund the work (they call the town complaining about the trash on the curb, waiting a week for someone to get to their street). Speed it up= justify paying more.
Of the three, volunteerism is the most efficient/cost effective IMO. Why? Because the more entitled an attitude people have, the more they litter. The more they invest of themselves into a community, the better maintained it becomes. Ironically, the third type, trying to create an even burden of costs for all, seems to have a backlash effect of spiteful entitlement and an opening for power to abuse communal funds. Entitlement- I cite the kids raised in these areas thinking nothing of the community because the town workers are the 'hired help', and wiping their own butts is beneath them. Backlash- The more tenacious the legislation enacted, the more people will go out of their way to defy or circumvent the spirit of the law.
Look at it this way- there isn't a way to legislate morality and enforce it. You've just got to hook up with like minded individuals who mean to live it out with you. Amish stick with amish. HOA people are validated by other HOA folks. Hintonbound will be very happy without zoning. The tool of shunning unacceptable behavior in a community is proven to be very effective when you're all on the same page. No one who would poop on my livingroom floor is a welcome guest in my home.
FYI- the referendum failed MISERABLY. The developers did one hell of a job fighting the zoning issue. DiMagno, an engineer involved heavily in infrastructure design, was at the forefront of the push.
The right of a property owner should be paramount, but at no time should they be allowing their rights to risk anyones elses life, health, or peaceful enjoyment. At the same time, we all have to sacrafice a bit to get along using common resources like sidewalks and streets.... I decide my own yard, and that's enough for me.
HL, you're not turning Libertarian on me are you???
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Zoning!
