Partial retaining wall on common property

My husband and I are planning a backyard project to level the slope and use a couple of textured concrete block retaining walls to hold the soil in place. Behind our lot is common property that provides access the neighborhood's storm water management system - not an attractive patch of common land or one that other homeowners see or use.

When the water authority came out to mark sewer lines, they informed us that one of our walls would sit directly on top of a sewer line. Um, that's not going to work. The new concept would place that retaining wall farther out, at the farthest edge of our property, to avoid putting it above the sewer line, but this means some of the wall would sit on common property. We have to put it outside our lot for erosion control and so the water authority could perform maintenance on this sewer line if needed. (It's a new PVC line, not likely to have problems for years.)

On the plus side, this section of the common property would have better erosion control than any other area, paid for by us. The wall will be attractive and professionally built. What are the negatives to doing this? Naturally, we would not build without our HOA's Architectural and Landscaping Committees' approvals.

One sticky point is that my husband is the HOA President and Chairman of the Board, and I am Treasurer (not on the Board, merely an officer). We want to avoid any whiff of impropriety or perceived preferential treatment. We are not trying to do anything underhanded. It's a small neighborhood of 22 townhomes, most of which do not abut common property, but it could still be seen as setting a precedent.

What do y'all think? We would be willing to sign a statement that any maintenance needed on this 4' tall wall would be our responsibility, not the HOA's. If the HOA approves this wall, is that good enough? Should we try to buy the land under the wall, if that's even a thing? Are we worrying too much? TIA!

If this area is involved in storm water management, you and the board may have less say in what happens - this is a big deal and will likely involve getting an engineer from the local municipality to approve any changes since a structure can alter drainage patterns. I wouldn't make any plans before the HOA gets the blessing from on high.

Anyone who sits on the board will have to recuse themselves completely from discussions and decision making.

Thanks for the feedback. We hadn't thought of leaving the meeting so the rest of the board could discuss privately, but it's an excellent suggestion.

Our reason for doing this project is to make our back yard usable. Right now there is enough slope that I'm afraid to walk on most of it without hiking boots. Slopes are common here in Asheville, NC, and so are retaining walls to manage them. Erosion is always a concern, and flat yards are rare.

We haven't presented our case to the committees yet. Thanks again for the advice!

I'm trying to attach a photo. If it works, you can see that we have a mostly level section, then a slope where the bird house is. It sits just inside our property line. We're talking about adding a retaining wall that would sit maybe 1-3 ft downhill from the birdhouse. The grey gravel piles are part of the drainage by the ramp. Other, steeper sections of slope behind other neighbors' townhomes are getting serious erosion problems, and I'd think adding a wall would make our portion stronger without changing the water flow.

Photos apparently are not supported. Try this link:
https://www.dragonseye.com/photos/picture.php?/25820-pxl_20210307_154503070_sm/category/761-around_the_house

Susan

I assume, from the picture, you will need some pretty robust retaining walls and plenty of fill. Am I correct?

Yes, the walls will be made of 18" textured concrete block. There will be footers and backfill using gravel and rebar for stability and water flow. The company doing the work specializes in grading and hardscapes. In other words, we are not building flimsy DIY walls on the cheap.