Should a playground paid for by the HOA be open to the public?

can they? yes.

should they? that's up to the moral and ethics of the community culture.

One thing to remember is that the more kids that play around that pond, the more chance one of them is injured and their parents decide to sue. So, reducing the numbers of players reduces the HOA risk.

Your insurance carrier may VERY WELL have something to say about letting non-owners play. very likely, they are basing their rates on a given set of conditions, which are not true with the play area open to all comers. Perhaps a call to them would give you some backing.

Thanks. That is exactly my point but the Pres/VP state we are NOT going to restrict usage and will remain an open community. I am concerned not only from the legal perspective but from the fact that all the vandalism we've had on the playground equipment is being done by kids from outside our HOA community.

Unless I can get the Board to see it as a legal issue I'm afraid the paying membership will just have to eat the cost to maintain and repair damage that is caused by those from the surrounding neighborhoods. They won't even block off the main entry way (drainage culvert)from the other neighborhoods.

It is a huge liability for the HOA leaving it IMO open to all kinds of litigation should an outsider be injured. I would suggest posing the question to the Association's attorney and insurance carrier for recommendations. You could enclose it with a fence where only members would have access.

I think you have very different issues with two polar opposite solutions.

1) liability - closing the amenities off from non-members would lower your risk. The fewer there the fewer who might sue. That and a ho would in effect be consigning his/herself to helping pay for the defense.

2) vandalism - closing of the amenities would cause the problem to escalate. If someone is vandalizing the place putting a fence up and telling them to stay out will NOT cause them to see the light and stop their behavior.

3) cost of maintenance - closing off the amenities might reduce the cost and may not. A pond or walking trail would not likely be effected by the non-residents walking along. And the fence you put up will be one more thing to maintain.

If you have a vandalism problem, I would highly recommend you first spend money to catch the crooks. You could get a camera to watch the place for much less then the cost of a fence.

I learned the hard way that there can be a cost to stopping people from using your property for their own purposes. I put a fence up to stop kids from going between my house and the fenced yard next to it. In return my vehicle was vandalized twice and the kids behind me started to go at it a third time. But a call to the police and their mother as they were perpetrating stopped it dead. They claimed to not know the kids who did the first two cases. But the word was out that I had cameras.

Just learn from another post here and don't stream video to the internet without talking to others. Some will take it VERY personally.

How many "outsiders" are you talking about? Droves? Just a few?

This playarea must be in an open, accessible area for "outsiders" to get to. Sounds like it's been used for a long time.

Your liability covers ANY person, just not members.

I know I'm in the minority, but I think there are other issues here that need to be considered. One, is the public perception of the larger neighborhood. Don't "wall" yourself off from the neighborhood.

I'd say this is a non-issue. (The pool, yes, but a playground? No.)

It is easy to sit here and say that yes it should be closed off to just members only....the hard part is how are you going to do that cost effectively, the answer is you are not. It isn't fair to compare a playground to a pool, the liability with a playground just isn't as large as a pool and therefore in my opinion does not require the same safeguards. Is it feasible to spend thousands of dollars enclosing the playground with a fence and then installing an entry system for just homeowners? I don't think it is.

Is it feasible to hire security to watch the playground, no it isn't. If I were in your shoes I would spend the money to get some signage made that states the playground is for use by residents only, no trespassing. Update your lighting at the park as well... Will this eliminate your liability, no...will it reduce it, yes. No matter what you do, there will still be some liability, you can't make it go away completely.