Pony walls and common walls.

I live in a zero lot line community. The houses all have a short 2-3' wall that attaches to the neibhors garage. Other houses have the same wall but it wraps halfway around the side of the house then jumps to 8' becomming a common wall.

In late 05 early 06 we were told by the bod president that the pony wall was the responsiblity of the hoa. But when the new bod took over in late feb. early march of 06 it was said that they are the homeowners responsiblity.

Here is my reasoning for asking the question.

The people across the street from us have the kind of pony wall that wraps around then becomes the common wall. When they painted they didn't paint the pony wall.

If I tear down my pony wall the erect a new one I have to consult with my neibhor first because the pony wall actually attaches to his garage. I would have to paint part of his house if I rebuild the pony wall.

How can this pony wall be considered my responsibility when it is connected to someone elses house? Doesn't the fact it is physically attached to another person's house make it a common wall. Therefore, making it the associations responsiblity to maintain.

Are these pony walls common or private? If they are private then for those with long pony walls where do you stop painting?

I neglected to state that I'm in Arizona.

AB3 - Isn't the pony wall (party wall) owned jointly by you and your neighbor? Look to your and your neighbor's deed and or plat plan (survey) and see if the pony wall is detailed. In zero lot line communities a wall that is attached to another person's house is not the same as it would be in a non zero lot line community. Zero lot line communities have a trade off which is maximizing space by reducing set backs and lot lines.

ok, the CC&Rs refers to that area of the property and this is how it is described. As far as whose responsibility what is I didn't see anything. I have a copy of the plat however, I don't want it on the net for all to see. Is there a way to make it private or send it as a private message thur this site?

Landscaping - Homeowners are responsible for the maintenance of the landscaping in their courtyard, side yards, and back yards. Shrubs and trees should be trimmed so that they do not hang on , or over common walls. Homeowners with wrought iron fences installed on top of commonwalls (with approval from the Board) may let their shrubs grow through the wrought iron to the distance even with the pilasters.

Please note that the box on the wall next to where the wall attaches to the garage next door are the utility boxes of the neighbor. When his phone service was messed up. The telephone company actually used a line from our house to provide him with service for a couple of weeks.

You can also tell by the pictures partially why I'm so concerned with whose responsible for the repairs. It is in need of repair badly. We are inclined to believe that the boards over spending by 20,000 last year caused them to not complete the scheduled painting of the common area. Since we already have a few homeowners that painted using the new colors (which I don't know a single person that liked them) have already painted, the new board is forced to paint the common areas first thing.

What can be done if it is determined that the majority of the members didn't want or like the paint colors but the board voted them in anyway? Can the new board adopt additional color choices to grandfarther in the ones that already painted? The property is aging and needs to be painted however, even after all the money they spent last year I can see not one place where improvements were made structurally to account for the monies spent. Unless you look in the courtyards of several homes. In thier defense they did seal coat the streets, fixed and painted the iron fence, & way way over spent on repairing a few sections of the sprinklers, replaced some trees. But that is really about it. Nothing was done to make you go WOW. Its not like they cleaned out a garage that had been used as storage for 30 years making it usable again. Nothing that noticable was done. Thanks for your help determining if the wall is common or not. I tend to think it is.

The legal description says: An undiv 1-44 INT IN THE COMMON ELEMENTS

AB3: What you have posted is reference to Landscaping; you need to review any reference for Architectural Changes which would then include painting or changes/maintenance to walls.

With the pictures posted it is difficult to see what you are speaking about. They are posted side by side with no separation so it is unclear exactly where the pony wall ends. Further, where is the painted area which you are concerned about, since it appears the walls are concrete or stone.

You state ..."majority of the members didn't want or like the paint colors but the board voted them in anyway?". It sounds from this statement the Board HAS established a process for owners to make architectural changes in keeping with
what the Board will approved, but again, the reference you posted does not cite anything architectural. Do you have a majority of owners NOT in favor of the colors, and has the MAJORITY made their concerns known to the Board?

You state..."they did seal coat the streets, fixed and painted the iron fence, & way way over spent on repairing a few sections of the sprinklers, replaced some trees. But that is really about it. Nothing was done to make you go WOW."
Unfortunately, street repair is not really a WOW factor, and probably is the most costly of the common elements to maintain.

Have you discussed your questions of 'wall responsibility' with the Board and have they referred you to the official documents to confirm their answer? This is where you need to start.

Further, think seriously about volunteering for the Architectural Committee to give you a first-hand look at what is being approved, denied; also it may be an area where you can give input in developing clear guidelines for owner responsibility with maintenance to minimize future problems.

You are correct the wall does extend from the neighbors garage wall to a pilaster then a small iron gate is attached to the pilaster.

There is not a pilaster at the end of the wall it just attaches to the neighbors garage. Meaning any reconstruction we do we have to discuss with our neighbor to make sure there is not any electrical lines running thru it.

We were told several years ago that the pony wall was the associations responsiblity but then when it came time to do the repairs the new board changed its mind.

If I do the repairs which I don't mind but it will effect my neighbor since his electric meter and telephone wiring is right there next to the wall. In addition I quoted my CCRs regarding the association allowing one to allow vines grow thru the iron gate but it cannot be allowed to extend onto the common wall. That is the only place where the majority have iron gate that a planted vine could grow. The inside of the courtyards and alleys are all bricked in. The only place for a vine to grow from is in the front of the house. Plus it also references small iron gate.

The home construction here is stucco so the color of the paint is about the same color as a light sand. The stucco pony wall has some cracking and the terracota tiles in the center need replacing.

As far as over spending this may give you a little inside look. The mins. showed they are using a 1995 reserve study. From that you can see that the board thinks the % funded is in good shape when the reality of it is we are way under funded. We are having our annual meeting soon and a group of us are trying to gain enough support to have all the members replaced.