Association's Legal Authority questioned In regard to Member's own property

I live in a very small townhome association. Our property is unique in that the member owns his land and his home. There are areas considered'common property'. When the roofs needed to be replaced as an example, all members agreed on the style, type etc. and had to fund the roof themselves. Our dues only go to the upkeep of the street, snowplow, landscaping of common area.
So with that in mind, can the Board decide to install a rule that requires a dog to be leashed from the owner's door to the car?
We must keep our dogs leashed at all times when walking on the street, but when the dog is in my yard (no fences are allowed) - can they ever decide that I must keep the dog leashed? There is one dog that has frightened two childern (the only complainers) - has never bitten anyone. Yet the Board has ruled that they must have their dog leashed upon leaving the door to the car AND keep the dog leashed while in the car until they leave the property.

Our city and county require all animals to be leashed. It may not be a HOA thing. A few city even require cats to be contained. I would not allow my dogs to be unleashed and I have 4 of them. I care about them too much. They can be unleashed only at the dog park or my back yard. Seen too many times a loose dognjust take off with no warning. I had a puppy get killed once right after giving a bath. She ran across the street and it was too late...

Depends..... your asking for a legal opinion based upon your deed restrictions and power of your HOA. Since your documents are unique to your HOA, its impossible for us to speculate.

That said.... your town might already have rules governing dogs and leashes. Personally, my dog is always on a leash when I leave the house, even on my own property. I know dogs can run off chasing critters and get hit by cars and know that others are scared of dogs or dont like being jumped on.

PS. Dogs dont care about property lines. So if you dont have fences, they have no idea.

The fact that roof replacement was controlled is an indication that the association DOES have some authority to make rules for your property. Perhaps there are others- on lawn maintenance, front yard decoration, etc. So it seems possible that they DO have the authority to make rules.

But anyway- this rule seems to just be common sense. You cannot guarantee that an unleashed dog would not leave the property.

Your neighbors deserve to be free of bolting dogs or even the feeling of fearing one that is not leashed. Sometimes we focus too much on what is legal when the problem would not exist if we had common sense.

I'm with you, Fred. We're a high rise and the HOA makes rules about the colors of our window treatments. And noxious odors or laud noises may not emanate from our units. And we may not own more than two dogs or two cats or one dog, one cat. So ...

Haley,

We have similar ownership. Our Declaration says The Executive Board may not regulate any activity inside any unit which does not also effect the common elements. The definition of a unit being structure and land!

Our pet rules state that in no event shall any dog be permitted in any portion of the common elements or any other unit unless carried or on a leash.

Our town ordinance requires that pets be under the control of their owners at all times except when on town trails where they must be leashed.