Homeowners associations have long policed homeowners' ability to make eco-friendly upgrades to their properties. Many people living in HOA-controlled neighborhoods have found creative solutions to remain compliant, but one Redditor is questioning their HOA's authority to prohibit them from keeping a few farm animals.
In a popular thread, the original poster claimed that their HOA cherry-picks which bylaws it enforces instead of deferring to state law. The OP described a relaxed policy for fireworks despite an HOA rule against them, noting that neighbors who keep small farm animals, such as chickens, on their property are fined and surveilled until they remove them.
The OP appeared to link to New Jersey laws regarding backyard farm animals and fireworks, but those links did not show up in the post. The state prohibits the sale and possession of fireworks except for small handheld types such as sparklers. As for backyard farm animals, those types of ordinances are left up to local municipalities.
"Can any legal-savvy person translate the livestock one?" the OP asked. "Is it similar to the fireworks one where we are allowed by law to have farm animals, so there's really nothing the board can do if I want to have a 2-3 chickens for personal eggs, or a single goat for milk? (not a business, not to sell), but for personal consumption."
"If state and city code allows for animals, the HOA can still say no. Unless the law specifically says homeowners have the right and can not be restricted," one user commented.
Homeowners living in HOA-controlled communities have limited protections when seeking to make eco-friendly upgrades to their properties, such as installing solar panels or native plant lawns. These changes can save homeowners money and benefit the environment by reducing resource use, so it is frustrating when HOAs prohibit them.
Thankfully, this could be changing. Arizona, California, Florida, Massachusetts, and New York have enacted "solar rights" laws to make it illegal for HOAs to prevent homeowners from installing solar panels. However, Reddit users seem to agree that the best course of action is to eliminate HOAs altogether.
"Idea: Dissolve the HOAs and place each of them under a 'special district' - a form of local government," one user suggested. "Ban future HOAs, but state that developers can establish special districts."
Other commenters seemed pessimistic that change will happen, with one noting that "cities love subdivisions with HOAs."
For now, homeowners have the power to work from within their HOA to make changes to bylaws to support eco-friendly initiatives and move forward into a greener future.
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