HOA shuts down a preschool (Phoenix, Chandler: home, landscaping, neighborhood)

[blisterpeanuts]

Yeah, rules are rules, but forbidding someone from running a business out of their home seems a little excessive. And it's not a lot of traffic. It's like six cars in the A.M. and six cars in the P.M., at times when everyone else in the neighborhood is also driving to and from work. And the kids are quiet and well behaved; it's not like a big public school with lots of screaming and dozens of parents and teachers and so forth.

It's a good preschool, too, in a city that is woefully lacking in decent preschools.The instigator is apparently just one neighbor who didn't have the guts to complain to her directly. No HOA should have that much power over someone's life. In my opinion she should fight the HOA.

[blisterpeanuts]

Originally Posted by FlyGuy_ca

I wouldn't be happy if I had a pre-school operating next door to me.

What if you didn't even know they were there?

I'd rather have a preschool than an HOA, personally

Why does anyone want HOA's. I can't believe there are so many of them here in libertarian Arizona. My philosophy is, I mind my own business and you mind yours and we'll get along just fine.

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by Uhuh

Um, don't move into a home with an HOA ?

It's not that easy. Virtually every neighborhood built in the last 15 or so years has an HOA and the older hoods are deteriorating as they do in Phoenix. Part of having a "modern" house here is having a HOA.

[Vinny536]

Originally Posted by blisterpeanuts

Why does anyone want HOA's. I can't believe there are so many of them here in libertarian Arizona. My philosophy is, I mind my own business and you mind yours and we'll get along just fine.

if you want an affordable newer home around here its forced on you. the developers start them when they start the community and there are very few options to dissolve them.

Ironically the HOA's job is to preserve the value of the property, but if you had the same sized lot and same house outside the HOA the home value would be increased....

[Runemaster]

Originally Posted by blisterpeanuts

Why does anyone want HOA's.

About ten years ago, we lived in a subdivision neighborhood in Chandler with no HOA - we moved out eleven months later. What did we get in that HOA-less 11 months?

1) A landscaping business run out of the house across the street where the owner did the maintenance work on his machines every weeknight from 8pm to midnight, which included running equipment, blaring salsa music and multiple employees drinking beer in the driveway like it was a local bar.

2) His next door neighbor who owned a mini-bike that apparently could only be started between 2-3am Friday through Sunday and run at full throttle for at least 45 mins.

3) The people on the other side who thought that the best way to dispose of old appliances was just to toss them out in the front yard & let 'em rot away. (Seriously, they had a washer, a drier and an old 'fridge laying in the yard, with weeds growing up through them, in addition to various other bits of decaying machinery. I never met them, but got the impression their mail was addressed to Fred Sanford & Son...)

4) A paranoid guy behind us who put enough floodlights on the back of his house to light up Sun Devil Stadium during a solar eclipse and set them on a hypersensitive motion detector. A bumble bee flew by and night turned to day. Our bedroom was in back and I felt like we were under a slow motion strobe light all night.

We moved to Estrella, where we got their HOA (which I've heard has gotten very Nazi-esque over the last few years).

1) The third day we were there we got a letter telling us we were not allowed to paint our driveway and had to return it to it's unpainted state. Since I'd never in my life considered painting a driveway (who does that?) and the concrete was less than 3 months old, I called & asked what was up: they'd transposed two numbers in our address and apologized. I drove up & down that street many times over the years and never once saw a painted driveway...

2) We got a nasty letter telling us we had to paint our DirecTv dish the same color as the house... no big deal, although the letter was very rude. (who cares?)

Then we moved to Palm Valley with yet another HOA and have been here going on five years and have never had the slightest issue. We have wonderful neighbors, no appliances in the yards and the only time we hear landscaping equipment is when someone is having their yard maintained during the day.

So, based on our experience, we'd never live anywhere without one as long as we're in Phoenix.

Your mileage may vary.

[Bummer]

Very valid points, Runemaster . . . BEAUTIFULLY STATED

In a perfect world, wherever and whatever that may be, HOA's would not be necessary or important, however, you have clearly pointed out a few of the reasons they should be considered our friend, not our enemy.

[observer53]

There are good HOAs, and bad ones, as the posts illustrate. And, some neighborhoods (like mine, in Tempe) have no HOA, and are just fine. We are surrounded, literally, by subdivisions with HOAs, and realtors advertising homes in my area use "no HOA" as a selling point.

All sorts of different situations.

[blisterpeanuts]

Originally Posted by 61scout80

if you want an affordable newer home around here its forced on you. the developers start them when they start the community and there are very few options to dissolve them.

Ironically the HOA's job is to preserve the value of the property, but if you had the same sized lot and same house outside the HOA the home value would be increased....

Can't everyone on the block just get together and secede from the HOA? Is there a state law that prevents this kind of thing? At a certain point, if an HOA is preventing an individual from fair and reasonable use of his property, it is in violation of some law I would think.

[wit-nit]

It doesn't matter if you're in a HOA or outside an HOA when running a business of this type. In this case pre-schools must be licensed. In order for them to be licensed they must be in an area zoned for that type of business. Preschools have to be inspected by state regulatory agencies, have accessible parking and follow certain state/city rules and regulations.
If you are babysitting only, with 4 or less kids, you can get away without a pre-school license. But you cannot have more than normal traffic comming and going, plus the noise factor in a residential setting.
Capt Bill and Bummer make good points and information on this subject.

[Finger Laker]

you know the rules when you sign the contract - if you think the contract is in violation of your rights then you can contest it, but with something like this it would also fit into zoning, etc

also if it was only a few members of the HOA they could force you back in by saying that since you receive the benefit of the HOA you should also share in the cost