Basketball Court instead of soccer field

Okay. So why come to us? Read your rules and go to your HOA board for approval. There's going to be costs involved. So be prepared for a special assessment.

Well I came here because I don’t really know where to go. I was hoping I could get some guidance instead of a rude reply but okay.

Yes the soccer field is quite a good distance from the houses, but I thought the lights would be a good idea because of daylight saving and how the sun goes down at 6 sometimes. My friends neighbor hood has a basketball court with lights but the have a specific time where they have to leave. And it seems to work effectively because I’ve never stayed past the desired time.

And btw it’s a public basketball court if you couldn’t tell so it’s for the whole neighborhood to use which is why I came here, I can’t just build it by myself on a property I don’t own. Like am I not allowed to come here for assistance, I’ve been to 3 hoa sites and I still don’t know which one I make the suggestion to.

Don't know where to go? You do have a board of directors, don't you? That's where you start - you and like minded people to go the next board meeting, speak your piece and go from there. If I were on the board, is suggest a homeowner poll to see what people think of the idea and maybe have an advisory committee explore the idea in depth to see the pros and cons, then make recommendations to the board.

If you and your friends want a field, you should consider possible objection and how to address them, like the noise, maintenance costs, safeguarding the area from tresspassers, etc. Get to work and good luck!

Yes I have a few good ideas to keep trespassers out, but I was told that there was a website where I can suggest it. I’m sorry if I interrupted this site with an unnecessary convo, it’s just that this is my first time doing this. Thanks for letting me know. Do you know where I can find the date to the next board meetings? I assume it would ask for where I live first, but where may I find the info?

Go to https://bartrampark.com/neighborhood-homeowners-associations-and-management-companies/ . At the latter site you can confirm that your community is a HOA. The site also provides the name, email address and phone number for your community's HOA. Importantly, it appears that this HOA is still under developer control. You folks can get together and write a thoughtful letter to the manager, asking for a basketball court; emphasizing how you think this will add to property values; and requesting that the letter be forwarded to the "board" (meaning the developer, more or less). But I would not get my hopes up. Also in the vein of what George and Shelia suggested regarding noise, nationwide disputes over the noise from basketball playing have arisen fairly often and have landed in court. I for one think a basketball court would subtract from the value of a home.

Why not just use the email address for the HOA's manager given at the site linked above?

Yup. When I moved to my community, there was and old basketball hoop near my unit . I was told the association installed it several years earlier for the residents, but neighbors came in and used it to the point people were there making noise all night and causing parking issues. There were also a few fights that led to police being called. When the net went down, it was thought that would resolve the problem - it did help, but not much, so down went the pole.

However, the cement pad was still there, so one resident bought a portable hoop and her roll it out for his kids. Sometimes he or the kids would leave it out overnight, thus causing problems all over wgain. In the end the board decided to tear down the pad, as it was already an eyesore (because people sprayed graffiti on it). Needless to say, it, like our pool isn't missed.

I meant use the app to create a letter to the manager or who ever is in charge of operations of my neighborhood.

Shaun,

We understand you are advocating for an HOA b ball court.

But, you perhaps have not fully captured the concerns this would generate. Further, the idea of tying the HOA b ball court with a modification of your governing docs is problematic.

What do your CCRs say about b ball goals at houses? Restrictions? Approvals by your Architectural control group? What percentage of votes by the membership required to modify or amend your CCRs?

Back to building the court, etc ... is the cost approvable by your Board, or does it require a vote by membership - and, at what percentage? Would it require a special assessment?

Well I think if we fences up the basketball court and make it to where you can only enter with our amenity key it may keep trespassers out, and I think most fights are cause by outsiders from the neighborhood, I might be wrong but I think if we all put effort and care into the basketball hoop it will stay in a nice condition. Just like all the other amenities in my neighborhood they eventually wear and tear so it just takes a little bit of maintenance. And if the lights turn off at a set time no one will really stay outside without light. In fact my neighborhood doesn’t have an issue with following the rules. For the most part the people in my neighborhood are really compliant. Everyone respects the pool and gym closing time. No one goes there past the allowed time so hopefully it would be the same with the basketball court.

Yes of course, if it doesn’t happen it doesn’t happen, for all in all I don’t own the neighborhood therefore I can’t control what is done with it, I just maybe thought it would be worth a try. I would just love the convenience of playing basketball in my own neighborhood. I have deep love for the neighborhood I live in and the people who live there with me, so I thought it would be fun to bring everyone else closer together with a sport that lots of people enjoy.

I wasn't being sarcastic in my response. The simple fact is you go to the board and your fellow neighbors. This is a HUGE change that many many things have to be approved and costs factored in. Plus many HOA documents forbid basketball goals in them.

I've done a similar project before. It never turned out what you think it will in your mind's eye. The reality and results aren't necessarily your intent or what is. You have to gather support from your fellow membership. Once you get that support, you then go to the board for the idea approval for funds. Plus making sure the rules don't need to be changed to accommodate this becoming a basketball area.

This project isn't as simple as "Let's change a soccer field to a basketball court". Rules may need to be re-written, neighbors around the area have to be notified, majority vote made to agree, board approving the venture, and someone willing to volunteer to make the project happen.

I won't say it's a complete uphill battle. Just think it will be a learning opportunity for Shaun to experience. He doesn't sound like he knows much about how a HOA works. It doesn't mean this project can't be done. Just need to get more involved in your HOA to understand all the multi-facets it is.

Don't want to discourage someone from taking on such a project. If it is worth it, it will happen with hard work, sweat, and not doubt tears/fears. Just need to understand you can dream big in a HOA but reality usually steps in. Fencing? Maintenance? materials? Interest? Unwanted guests? Rules? All of this factors in...

Will say that basketball goals have ruined a many of HOA's. It's akin to someone wanting to put in a flagpole...

Yeah I mean all amenities will bring an undesirable trait, but it’s how we act on it. In my neighborhood we have a dog park, at first it was just a normal fence, but now it has a code that is exclusive to home owners, now the dog park has less dog traffic and more space for the people who live there. And maybe a basketball court may not be the most desirable to an hoa, but it certainly is to a lot of people in the neighborhood, including children. But the soccer field sits where with two soccer goals, and I have never seen someone out there actually playing soccer. It has a park next to it as well, but we have two parks and people perder going to the first one that was built. Not saying there is nothing wrong I just thought that they didn’t put much though into the actual neighborhoods desires. Maybe a tennis court would even be better than a soccer field, maybe even a basketball court in some cases, but at least it would be an amenity that people use. I just really think the soccer field is a waste of space for where it could’ve been an amazing and useful amenity instead. I’m fact there is even two open fields in my neighborhood, just one so happens to have soccer goals.

I suppose that wouldn’t be a bad idea, but I’d rather play on a concrete basketball court. And like all my reasons above is why. Maybe they could just put it in the other extra space, I guess that would be something that would be talked out with the HOA director, but I just thought that it would be a constantly used amenity. And if it need money to be constantly fixed and maintained so be it, but what is the use in an amenity if no one is using it, it would bring the neighborhood joy to spend a little bit more money for maintenance for something that is actually used, versus how much we are paying now for something that is never even touched. You know what I mean. The reasons to it are endless, at least in my opinion, but I, and a plenty others would love to see one be put up.