ACC Restrictions Question

Started by MattS14 • 4 replies • 1197 views

💬 Join us to post & get advice from 50,000 HOA & Condo leaders.

⚡ Takes 30 seconds

Already a member? Log in

MattS14 (Washington)
Posts: 2

Posted:

I'm currently having a dispute with my HOA over a fence located in the front of my house. The house is 40+ years old and the fence was built with the house at that time. We purchased the house over a year ago and noticed that the 40+ year old fence is in very bad shape. We submitted the necessary forms to our HOA for replacement. The only restrictions in our governing documents on fences has these specifics:

No fence, wall, or hedge shall be permitted to extend nearer to any street than the minimum setback line, except that nothing shall prevent the erection of a
necessary retaining wall, the top of which does not extend more than two (2) feet above the finished grade at the back of said retaining wall.
All other fences, to be commenced, erected or maintained, shall not exceed six (6) feet in height and must have ACC approval

The new fence is going in the exact same location as the current fence (which is not in violation of the HOA) and is 6' in height. The ACC denied the replacement fence stating they either don't want a fence there at all or a "front yard screening structure should be of lattice panels or grill-work that consist of at least 50% voids (open areas) and no taller than four feet above grade"

These new specifications are not in the current documents any where. This is only mentioned in the denial email from the ACC. My appeal that I will be making to the board is they can't arbitrarily add specific restrictions to the fence requirements. They need to be clearly stated in the CC&R.

Am I wrong? Or do they have the ability to add architectural restrictions that are not in the documents?

Thanks for any responses in advance.

MelissaP1 (Alabama)
Posts: 13,836

Posted:

ACC can have different additional documentation. The final decision can be overridden by the board if you want to take it that far.

However, take a few things into consideration. There may be a reason for the changes. Considering things have changed in last 40 years. That includes tastes and lessons learned. We had to deny a fence because even though we allow 6 foot fencing the location of the house was at a corner intersection. Having the tall fence would have blocked the view of the Stop sign at that intersection.

They may want "spacing" to be included now in the fencing because of past incidents. Think about it. Could someone see a dog behind that fence? Or any other kind of danger without the spacing?

Find out the reason and logic behind the changes of why they want things this way now. Do you want what you want for what reasons yourself?

Former HOA President

KerryL1 (California)
Posts: 14,550

Posted:

I agree with you, Matt. The ACC cannot just though limits, etc., at you UNLESS, in general, they've been approved by the board of directors at a meeting and are published for all owners to see and possess.

Melissa notes there may be additional Guidelines but if there are, the ACC should certainly have shown you what & where they are in their denial letter.

It does NOT matter what their motivation is, they need documents of some kind to back up their decision.

MattS14 (Washington)
Posts: 2

Posted:

Thanks for the replies. I did ask for what documentation had the new requirements, they said it isn't in writing. We actually did try and compromise and picked an open lattice fence but still at 6ft. The one ACC member I spoke to said it didn't meet his "50% ratio." I asked him what that means since you can see almost completely through and all I got was "I want the holes bigger."
We plan on appealing to the board at the next meeting. I'm just wondering if we have an argument to say you can't enforce a 50% open rule and 4ft height restriction unless it's documented.

Also, the current fence is completely rotted through in places and a real eyesore. But they said it's OK to keep that one up. We find it odd that an HOA is actually trying to keep us from improving the look of our property.

JanetB2 (Colorado)
Posts: 4,219

Posted:

Matt ... Have you checked whether or not your fence change would violate your current local government codes??? This might be the reason for current denial. If not violating your local codes then potentially you should be able to in essence "FIX" a current issue. If a local government cannot go back on individuals who have had certain items approved, then what makes an HOA think they are any different? Would your local government allow your fencing per their current approvals? And if not why???

🎯 You've read this entire discussion

Join the conversation with 50,000 HOA & Condo Leaders:

✓ Ask follow-up questions
✓ Share your experience
✓ Get expert advice
✓ Access 350,000 discussions

Create Free Account →

⚡ Takes 30 seconds

Already a member? Log in here