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First off, you have a very weak HOA and Management Company.
This should have been handle with (1) certified letter and then the fines should have started on a daily basis.
Basketball hoops and other recreational items are not allowed to be placed in the street or on the public sidewalk.
Sidewalks are to remain clear for the safe travel of pedestrians and the street should be kept clear for the traveling public and public service vehicles.
Hmmmm, lose the enjoyment of your home or take the high road and let them dictate what you can live with?
Call Code Enforcement or get ready the deal with basketballs on the car, breaking tree limbs, and general kid damage. If a community b-ball hoop is already there, and you don't do anything, you deserve what happens when it (and it will) escalate. Your relationship with this neighbor will never be the same. Accept it and move on! He doesn't care enough about his community and neighbors if he didn't bother to read the By-Laws. I would lean on the BOD for support, but it sounds like they are battle weary.
I serve on a BOD and when one neighbor complains about another, we have to take action. However, if no one complained, the hoop would have survived to the next neighborhood ACC annual inspection.
Easy solution you may like. At night go out in front of the hoop and sprinkle small gravel. Really small rocks will take a long time to clean, not have an easily identifiable source, and ruin a "basketball court". The presence of small gravel makes the bouncing of the ball inaccurate as it will occasionally bounce off to the side and rapid attempts to stop quickly result in skidding across the street and falling. Someone can still practice shooting, but attempting to play any games on the street will end quickly because people can't keep their footing. If the kids are dedicated you may still have to listen to shooting practice, but there is a solid chance that this takes the fun out of their activity.
I have nothing against kids playing basketball, but it needs to be done at the official hoops. Their right to hoop ends at your right to quiet.
I'm wondering if I'd be a jerk to keep pushing it. I don't feel that I am, and neither do any of my colleagues who also live in subdivisions with HOA's. They experience similar problems and side with me, especially because it's in the street, and we have a community hoop they could use.
I feel he is absolutely being a jerk, as if the street is his front yard and his kids convenience is more important than my quiet enjoyment of my home, a right guaranteed to me by the HOA and city code.
Also, I'm wondering if it is worth the tension for the next year or two. My job is stressful, school is stressful. I don't need more stress at home, though to an extent, it's already started. But if I use my legal rights it will likely make the tension worse. But I didn't put the hoop there.
I'd let it go. I know it's not right, but this is going to control your life to the extent it will cause even more stress. Don't escalate the situation or you may regret it later. It takes a bigger person to walk away. You'll soon be gone. Or maybe you could rent it out now and rent an apartment for yourself?
Did I miss the part where you discussed this directly with your neighbor(s)? How did that go?
Yes, I was wondering the same thing. Here we have neighborhoods and people living together in close proximity. A situation arises and it goes to letters, discussion of lawyers and the ever effective staring contest! WTF? Do people even talk to each other when there is a problem?
Location: Stuck on the East Coast, hoping to head West
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I'd pursue it in whatever way it would be easiest: code enforcement or the HOA. I wouldn't give my neighbor a second thought. He sure isn't giving you one.
I have kids who play soccer in my cul-de-sac (see my earlier post). That ended when the kids got shipped to the grandparents for the summer. Now my neighbor put up a basketball hoop. The kids have to stand in my driveway to shoot hoops. Drives me nuts, it's loud, my house has been hit/my car hit. No way am I putting up with it any longer. Unless you have lived with it, you can't really understand how annoying it is. It really does become a quality of life issue.
I'd pursue it in whatever way it would be easiest: code enforcement or the HOA. I wouldn't give my neighbor a second thought. He sure isn't giving you one.
This. Contact whoever you need to make him remove it. If he's ticked off at you, so what? Doesn't seem like he's overly friendly now, so no big loss. At least then you'll have some peace and quiet.
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