HO Request in 2009 /Board made a decision

In 2009 a homeowner made a request that for safety reasons the Association install and pay for a railing alongside her driveway, which is on an incline. The following month the Board voted to turn down the request because of budgetary reasons, also stating that this was not consistent with the rest of the community where there are a number of driveways that also have an incline but have no railings. (We did not want to start a precedence). We also added that if she were willing to incur the expense herself and submit an architectural form along with proposed plans, the Board could reconsider this in the future.

She has informed us that the matter has become of increased concern to her and she plans to present the same request at the next board meeting. My question is "How long is the Board's decision of 2009 binding?"

> As I understand it, the association must allow the owner to install a railing at her expense under the Fair Housing Act.

I read some of these rules a while back and that is my understanding also, that the board must allow it BUT it is at the homeowner's expense.

I think the homeowner is also obliged (in most cases) to remove the railing upon selling.

The decision is binding only until it is reconsidered, either by the current board or a new board.

This is how homeowners exercise their control over a board that does not reflect their wishes -- by voting the board members out of office and replacing them with people who have a different view.

The exception to this is when a board or architectural control committee has approved a request for some construction or modification and the homeowner has acted on that approval. A new board or ACC cannot later go back on that decision and require that the construction or modification be removed.