HOA Residency Requirement

In my little corner of the world, Sun City, AZ, a homeowner can spend most of their time living back up north avoiding the oppressive desert heat here in the spring, summer, & sometimes even in the fall. Some are gone more than they are here. The only time these folks choose to be here is to avoid ice, snow, & severe cold. I am envious of course, as I can't afford to do the same. I have to stick it out here come hell & high heat. I have found that some of these, almost totally absent homeowners, do not mind one bit making my life even more miserable here when they are not. These absentee homeowners tend to support, so-called, natural landscaping...turning our oasis back to hot, arid, sand, rock, and cacti. As a result they vote to tear up mature landscaping, including trees, vegetation, and grass...turning neighborhoods into urban heat islands that reflect oppressive heat right back into our homes. This of course makes our lives here even more difficult when it's hot & air conditioning bills are higher. This at the same time when many urban areas are planting more trees and increasing vegetation cover to counter the adverse effects of climate change.
Bottom line: People who are not here year-round should not have a vote on any HOA association business & should never be allowed to serve on an HOA Board.
Wonder if any HOAs have full-time residency requirements that would serve such a purpose?

Not a bad idea at all...it would be worth it to keep them from ruining it for everyone else! And we could make them pay in other ways too!

The guiding principle of HOAs: all owners have the same rights and responsibilities. Any rule that attempts to change the rights of a subset of owners is discriminatory and would invite lawsuits, which the HOA would almost certainly lose.

Not what you wanted to hear, but that's life in an HOA.

Don't you, George, mean Non-Owner-Residents?? I.e., renters or tenants?

The point of natural landscaping to conserve tap water while reducing costs. As you know utility costs do nothing but increase. But those increased utility costs include electricity which each individual owner has to pay; water is an association expense. Electricity bills increase when the A/C runs harder because of the heat reflected into our homes by the gravel, rock, and sand forced on us primarily by snow birds who do not have to stick it out here when it is 110 in the shade. The interesting point is that associations with natural landscaping do not have lower association fees...our mature landscaping association costs are the same. In addition we are fighting that urban heat island affect & countering the effects of global warming.

I understand your position. Here's what I would be thinking about if I lived in your community:

* First, you don't need a residency requirement. Folks who spend a good part of year elsewhere wouldn't be able to attend board meetings, which is the main duty of a board member (unless your state and Declaration allow electronic meetings). You can also point out that year-round residents know more about what's going on in a community, so all things being equal, they would probably do a better job as board members. These are valid points to make during an election and may convince voters to favor the year-round residents.

* I'd approach the issue of trees/vegetation/etc. with a cost-benefit analysis. Both sides have legitimate points. The green vegetation is attractive, provides shading and cuts utility costs, and the folks who live there part of the year also benefit from these things. However, the vegetation requires water which is a dwindling and ever more costly resource. A prolonged drought or falling water table could kill off a lot of plants and put a serious strain on the association's finances - and these things are well within the realm of possibility. Are there other ways to provide the benefits at a lower cost? I see room for eye-opening discussions here.

While most of us don't have to deal with extreme heat, many of us live in other areas where Mother Nature spends at least part of the year trying her best to kill us. Associations nearly always run very tight budgets, which means finances will drive a lot of our decisions and define the limits of what is doable. It costs money to fight Mother Nature and it's an ongoing battle, so communities have to decide for themselves how much money they're willing to throw at what may be a losing battle.

Kerry - sorry if I wasn’t clear. I was talking about what we call the owners who are not residents. Non Resident Owners.

? Suppose the 'snowbird(s)' in question have Florida as their state of residency as their tax status ?

'resident' is a slippery slope ESPECIALLY where HUD is involved

'full time' - does it allow for 60 day vacations ? 90 days ? 180 ?

IMO: the 'bill' is dead as worded - as is your idea

GenoS,

I was agreeing with YOU.

Their tax status would be proof that they ARE residents even if away for 182 days of the year.

I don't think you noticed Rich, You live in desert climate and a land locked state with no body of water at your beck n call.
Xeriscape has been quite popular here in Las Vegas for quite some time now. I would love to have a green lawn at my house, but
to be honest I really don't miss mowing grass. Having desert landscape is the nature of the beast living in a desert climate.

We bought a brand new home a few years ago, and we planted some nice plants, shrubs and a couple of Italian Cypress trees.
Some of the plants attract humming birds, and I have a gecko that has taken up residence in my irrigation vault. Embrace the
desert life. There are plenty of great ways to landscape in the absence of a green lawn.

? From where do you expect the 'middle class' to obtain water ?

In Arizona it is (almost) sinful to expend drinking water upon grass lawns.

Ask any native born

I love it here as long as rich, snow birds (aka snow flakes*) do not mess w me. Greener pastures up north include ice, snow, sleet, etc. which are bad for us seniors. One fall & it's over for us. I'll take my chances here, thank you so much!
*the term snow "flakes" I heard for the first time from a local Sun City hardware man. He say snow birds from the NE USA are dumber than rocks so he calls them snow flakes. They have absolutely no common sense as they are used to having others wipe their asses.

Rich, I would find your thoughts pretty funny while at a neighborhood cocktail party - as long as you were not offensive.

However, should I find myself at a meeting - Board or otherwise - I would be far more cautious and try and delve deeper into your perspectives - unless you were offensive.

So, keep it funny and light ...

Good advice George; I will try to follow it.