What is difference between common area and open area in residential HOA

Our plat shows some places label open areas as common areas but we have one section that is 95% woods and it seems to be labeled as open area. Are these two terms one in the same?

Also take a look at your CC&Rs. There often is kind of a dictionary or glossary--ours is at the beginning-- that defines the various words and phrases that are in your CC&Rs.

But for starters, common areas generally are maintained by the HOA via homeowners' assessments. This should be discussed in your CC&Rs (aka covenants; declaration).

I personally am not familiar with the term "open area," but that means nothing!

My guess is the same as yours, Bruce. But what might be the HOAs responsibility or obligation viz. this open area?

I'm thinking about things like drainage, diseased trees, etc. But living in an urban high rise, I have no idea what I'm talking about!

Jim,

I would not look to a plat for a definitive answer as to what is common area. The plat shows where lot lines are and often contains dedications of easements, including easements for parks or drainage. Easements will almost always have descriptive text plus clear boundary lines. The plat does not tell you who owns or intends to own what lots.

Look at the CC&R's and see if there is a description contained within them of the common areas. Such a description may read something like, "Lot 30, plat recorded in book 1234 page 5678."

If the CC&R's do not address what property is supposed to be common area then I would start researching deeds to see who owns those lots that you suspect may be common HOA-owned property. You may also want to check your local development office to see if there are any conditions, such as preservation of wetlands, attached to the development.

Unless the CCRs or Bylaws refer to the terms "Common Area" and "Open Area" and somehow differentiate how they are to be treated, I don't think the plat labels really have any legal meaning. This of course assumes that the HOA owns both tracts.

For example, the plat for my HOA shows 5 tracts (A-E) owned by the association, these are the exact labels:
A - Open Area (common area)
B - Stormwater Management (common area)
C - Conservation Area (common area)
D - Lift Station
E - (common area)

A is our "park", basically a grassy area the size of two lots
B is our retention pond and engineered water management area
C is the floodplain or swamp (depending on the season) along a small stream
D is the only one not listed as "common area", the county owned/maintained sewage lift station occupies that tract.
E is the roads, sidewalks, and accompanying right of way.

Our docs don't explicitly refer to any of these tracts, but they do say the BOD is responsible for maintaining the association common areas. The county takes care of tract D, which as a 20 foot square fenced in area that we don't even have the key to. For the other tracts, the level of maintenance required varies of course. We mow A and B, repair the roads, sidewalks, storm drains in tract E. Swamps don't really need any, and in the 18 years the HOA has existed, no maintenance has occurred on tract C, but if it needed any, we'd be responsible.

Unless otherwise specified in your docs or by law, I think it is up to your BOD to determine what level of maintenance is required in all HOA owned areas.