Lanscaping Approval and Selective Enforcement

I live in a community of approximately 60 homes that is ten years old. Half of the homes were constructed prior to 2008, the other half were just completed in a new construction boom this past year. I own one of the NEW homes and want to install landscaping similar to my neighbors, along my property line. The ARC continually denies my plans, despite changes, saying that the trees are too far away from the house, and too close to the property line. A neighbor two houses down in an ORIGINAL home has the EXACT same landscape design I am proposing. Is this selective enforcement?

There are 15 other homes in the neighborhood, all original homes, that have trees along the property line. There is nothing in the bylaws about this regulation, it is just the ARC's opinion. The ARC is allowed to disallow changes to landscaping based purely on aesthetic reasons. If mine is not allowed because it is not pleasing, should the others be made to rip there's up? The previous question is rhetorical. Does this sound like selective enforcement?

Thanks so much for any replys

imo:

no tree should be within its mature crown diameter of either a property line or a roof or any buried utility line such as water/sewer/electric

this would be good practice to avoid damage from the tree as it matures

Take pictures of other lots with trees having similar placement as what you want. Use them to show that what you are requesting has been approved and the past and is not unreasonable.

It also might help if you get statements from your neighbors saying that they have no problem with your design.

If the ACC still disapproves, appeal the decision to the entire Board.

Consider the language found in the relevant Florida Statute:

720.3035 Architectural control covenants; parcel owner improvements; rights and privileges.—
(1) The authority of an association or any architectural, construction improvement, or other such similar committee of an association to review and approve plans and specifications for the location, size, type, or appearance of any structure or other improvement on a parcel, or to enforce standards for the external appearance of any structure or improvement located on a parcel, shall be permitted only to the extent that the authority is specifically stated or reasonably inferred as to such location, size, type, or appearance in the declaration of covenants or other published guidelines and standards authorized by the declaration of covenants.
(2) If the declaration of covenants or other published guidelines and standards authorized by the declaration of covenants provides options for the use of material, the size of the structure or improvement, the design of the structure or improvement, or the location of the structure or improvement on the parcel, neither the association nor any architectural, construction improvement, or other such similar committee of the association shall restrict the right of a parcel owner to select from the options provided in the declaration of covenants or other published guidelines and standards authorized by the declaration of covenants.
(3) Unless otherwise specifically stated in the declaration of covenants or other published guidelines and standards authorized by the declaration of covenants, each parcel shall be deemed to have only one front for purposes of determining the required front setback even if the parcel is bounded by a roadway or other easement on more than one side. When the declaration of covenants or other published guidelines and standards authorized by the declaration of covenants do not provide for specific setback limitations, the applicable county or municipal setback limitations shall apply, and neither the association nor any architectural, construction improvement, or other such similar committee of the association shall enforce or attempt to enforce any setback limitation that is inconsistent with the applicable county or municipal standard or standards.
(4) Each parcel owner shall be entitled to the rights and privileges set forth in the declaration of covenants or other published guidelines and standards authorized by the declaration of covenants concerning the architectural use of the parcel, and the construction of permitted structures and improvements on the parcel and such rights and privileges shall not be unreasonably infringed upon or impaired by the association or any architectural, construction improvement, or other such similar committee of the association. If the association or any architectural, construction improvement, or other such similar committee of the association should unreasonably, knowingly, and willfully infringe upon or impair the rights and privileges set forth in the declaration of covenants or other published guidelines and standards authorized by the declaration of covenants, the adversely affected parcel owner shall be entitled to recover damages caused by such infringement or impairment, including any costs and reasonable attorney’s fees incurred in preserving or restoring the rights and privileges of the parcel owner set forth in the declaration of covenants or other published guidelines and standards authorized by the declaration of covenants.
(5) Neither the association nor any architectural, construction improvement, or other such similar committee of the association shall enforce any policy or restriction that is inconsistent with the rights and privileges of a parcel owner set forth in the declaration of covenants or other published guidelines and standards authorized by the declaration of covenants, whether uniformly applied or not. Neither the association nor any architectural, construction improvement, or other such similar committee of the association may rely upon a policy or restriction that is inconsistent with the declaration of covenants or other published guidelines and standards authorized by the declaration of covenants, whether uniformly applied or not, in defense of any action taken in the name of or on behalf of the association against a parcel owner.
History.—s. 11, ch. 2007-173.