Decorative fence maintenance

Our neighborhood was built 30 years ago; at that time the builder put in short, decorative stretches of painted wood fence at various locations around the neighborhood. Some are at corners between two properties, some run between the side yard of one house and the road, a few on the line where our HOA ends and the next one begins. They mostly sit on someone's property line but they are not privacy fences. Over the years they have needed maintenance and depending on the opinion of the boardmembers at the time they were either paid for by the HOA or the homeowner was told it was their responsibility. I would like to establish a clear policy on this while I am on the board. Any thoughts on the subject? Leslie P, North Potomac MD

Brian hit on the key point I was going to use.

If it's the owner's responsibility to maintain, then the owner should also have the option of removing the fence. To me that is common sense (because not all properties have the fence).

Additionally, since the builder installed them as part of the development and not part of the individual home, most will think it's the Associations responsibility.

Another way to look at the issue is from State law. CA Civil Code 841 would be applicable and specifies that it's a shared cost if the fence is on the property line unless one of the property owners chooses to let his land lie without fencing.

I'll side with Tim on this one. But, if they're only decorative, you could argue these fences were installed to sell houses and then lost their usefulness once people begin living in the neighborhood. Therefore, their slow removal could be a nice remedy to this "controversy." I like pretty things but, after a while, you start noticing those "amenities" that were installed to create a cheap curb appeal with zero consideration for maintenance costs or relevancy once the need to sell a bloc of homes is satisfied.