HOA's ! Please school me on these.

[johnnyrose]

Originally Posted by mikebnllnb

Most HOA do have restrictions on commercial vehicles. The reason for this is a neighborhood full trucks with ladders on them or other types of trucks tend to detract from the visual appeal of a neighborhood.

On the plus side many communities set aside an area where these vehicles can park. Usually near a pool or clubhouse. The one caveat is you are allowed to park any properly registered vehicle on a state maintained road. If that road happens to be in front of your house you can park there even if the HOA can tell you not to park in your driveway.

How certain are you of this ? After doing a little more online searching we were thinking of flying down this weekend and looking at the Brookside-Lakes, they have the same guideline, no commercial in driveways, garage okay. But she did say the streets are public so I would be able to park in street after checking with the VDOT.

Also any opinions on Warrenton - Brookside ?

We're under the gun a little bit, we need to go to contract by the 7th with DVCC or walk away. My wife really likes DVCC and unfortunately she's more powerful than any Hoa, if I get a ticket or written up by my wife I might as well go find a cave in the mountains to live in.

[jvazquez]

Does anyone live in Dominion Valley that can speak to their HOA covenants?

[Carlingtonian]

Originally Posted by michgc

Well, parking a fleet of 10 vehicles on the street is a heck of a lot different than parking in your driveway one pickup truck with "James Landscaping" written on it. I think the OP is asking more about the latter rather than the former.

The owner of the house at N. Utah and Washington Blvd. in Arlington owns a construction company and literally has about 10 vehicles parked on the street at any time. I can't believe he gets away with it, but in Arlington (where HOAs are rare), if the vehicle is registered, the taxes on it are paid, and it's wearing the required stickers attesting thereto, there's nothing anyone can do.

I'll tell you, though: I would not want to live next to a contractor. When we were looking at houses, a contractor van in a nearby driveway was a major red-flag. I don't want to hear car doors at 5 AM.

[Mike From NIU]

Originally Posted by Carlingtonian

The owner of the house at N. Utah and Washington Blvd. in Arlington owns a construction company and literally has about 10 vehicles parked on the street at any time. I can't believe he gets away with it, but in Arlington (where HOAs are rare), if the vehicle is registered, the taxes on it are paid, and it's wearing the required stickers attesting thereto, there's nothing anyone can do.

I'll tell you, though: I would not want to live next to a contractor. When we were looking at houses, a contractor van in a nearby driveway was a major red-flag. I don't want to hear car doors at 5 AM.

There are a number of people who are getting up and hitting the road around 5 am who aren't construction contractors. Plenty of federal employees start work at 6 or 6:30, and that requires some pretty early starts to the day.

I live in an HOA (not my preference, but location, price, and timing worked out so that this was the best option available at the time) and a couple of my neighbors work in the construction trades (own their own business). I have nothing but respect for them, their work, and yes, their hours. Yes, they get up early, but they also bust their butts all day. They take pride in their houses and maintain them well.

I honestly don't understand the blanket prohibition on contractor vehicles or the vapors some people get at the sight of an extension ladder on a white van that is parked in a driveway. Have we as a society rejected manual labor to the degree that the idea of living near a tradesman is considered unfathomable?

I can understand why people don't want a fleet of service vehicles belonging to one company parked at an address. What I can't understand is why a plumber, drywall installer, or roofer, etc. has to purchase an extra vehicle to get to and from a nearby parking space that they must rent because some snobs have decided that his profession isn't honorable enough to be acknowledged at his own home.

[ICS67]

Originally Posted by Mike From NIU

There are a number of people who are getting up and hitting the road around 5 am who aren't construction contractors. Plenty of federal employees start work at 6 or 6:30, and that requires some pretty early starts to the day.

I live in an HOA (not my preference, but location, price, and timing worked out so that this was the best option available at the time) and a couple of my neighbors work in the construction trades (own their own business). I have nothing but respect for them, their work, and yes, their hours. Yes, they get up early, but they also bust their butts all day. They take pride in their houses and maintain them well.

I honestly don't understand the blanket prohibition on contractor vehicles or the vapors some people get at the sight of an extension ladder on a white van that is parked in a driveway. Have we as a society rejected manual labor to the degree that the idea of living near a tradesman is considered unfathomable?

I can understand why people don't want a fleet of service vehicles belonging to one company parked at an address. What I can't understand is why a plumber, drywall installer, or roofer, etc. has to purchase an extra vehicle to get to and from a nearby parking space that they must rent because some snobs have decided that his profession isn't honorable enough to be acknowledged at his own home.

A great observation I once read about that, best as I can remember it:

"A society that looks down at excellence in plumbing because it is a humble occupation, but esteems shoddiness in philosophy because it is an exalted profession, is a society in which neither its pipes nor its theories will hold water."

[Carlingtonian]

Wow, so much misguided reading-between-the-lines.

I have a great deal of respect for skilled tradesmen--far moreso than the parasite lobbyists (among others) who live near us now--and would not object to living near them, so long as they don't leave the house super early. (Nor would I want to live near other feds who do--but they mostly live farther out, getting up early to beat the traffic.) I would love to live near Tom Silva, Rich Trathewey, Roger Cook, et al.

[South Jersey Styx]

My neighbors own a landscaping business. Their lawn and shrubs always look good (better than my own and I work on my yard all the time). They have a few trucks/SUVs but the large trucks and equipment are housed elsewhere. We have no HOA and have street parking so all of their vehicles are parked on the street.

In the winter months, they work as snow removal contractors.

The last few snowstorms they brought their giant truck home late at nite (out working all day clearing our streets!!!). They use their snowblowers to clear out some spaces on the street so that others can park. Then they clear out the sidewalks in front of their house and the next 4 houses to their left and right.

They are very hard workers. I am glad they are our neighbors.