THE WAR AGAINST DEVELOPER/HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION RULES CONTINUES

As Florida continues to become overdeveloped and filled with gated communities, we hear occasionally about residents revolting against rules which they feel are intrusive and just plain picky.

That's the case examined in today's main Lakeland Ledger front page story "above the fold", focusing on the Lake Ashton Active Adult Golf Community, a gated development near Lake Wales. The rule in question prohibits pickup trucks from being parked in the resident's driveways, and while it had not been enforced during the past four years, as of April 1 residents are being advised that anyone violating the rule faces a $100 per day fine.

Community resident Sonny Robinson, member of a liaison committee which will meet until a board is elected for the homeowners' group, told the Ledger:

"In preparation for the residents' taking over the homeowners association responsibilities, we went to the developer and requested clarification of some of the covenants because we were going to be responsible for policing them...The word `trucks' was used and we asked him what he meant by trucks. He said he meant pickup trucks -- anything with an open bed...The developer put it in the covenants that he did not want boats, campers, derelict cars, trucks -- anything that would make the community look bad. "You can see how nice the community looks. He wants to maintain that look. The covenants cover all aesthetics of the community."

I would certainly want my property looking nice if I'm paying $200,000 or more, which is what homes in the development run for. But I would tend to agree with another resident, Bob Hoffman, who said, "We're afraid it's not going to stop with this. Before you know it, they'll be saying you can't have a vehicle that's more than three years old, or you can't have a motorcycle."

The Ledger reports that 280 residents have signed a petition seeking to revoke the pickup rule, and that more than 200 people attended a community meeting last evening to discuss the issue.

The rule, BTW, does not apply to cars or SUVs.