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Originally Posted by Bryan
Deed Compliance is, indeed, a complaint driven process. Probably no one wants the Deed Police to patrol the area and write citations. The ARC responds to requests for approval and/or complaints - not a perfect system but the best we have. It works OK but the more public involvement (complaints over violations?) the better it would work.
As for making exceptions, not a good idea. For years exceptions were made (not exactly by the ARC though, in all fairness) for "For Sale" signs in yards. What a ballyhoo that eventually caused. Turns out the long history of ignoring enforcement meant they gave up the right to enforcement it. What was "OK" for For Sale signs for a week or so got out of control with "For Rent" signs that stayed up forever and a few other items. Now enforcement of that deed restriction is questionable - too much history of non-enforcement.
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This is called "selective enforcement" of the rules. We have it in our condo complex in MI, and it has caused a lot of problems. For instance... our neighbors in another part of the complex put up a one-foot wall around some landscaping that replaced a tree that was removed, because weeds and such were growing out into the yard and dune grass. A guy across the lagoon, known not to like this neighbor, complained, and the board made him remove it. Meanwhile in our building (four townhouses), our neighbor on the opposite end from us did the same thing, then put brick edging along her and the next two condos, stopping at ours. I think she knew we would not have wanted it, but never asked. So not only was she not made to take down her low wall (against deed restrictions), we have this 3/4-finished edging. In my view, it brings our building's property value down.
However, we have been cordial neighbors for 15 years, and I am not about to rock the boat. So I haven't complained. On the other hand, I hate the unfinished look. Even though a complaint is supposed to be anonymous, we all know darn well that in our close-knit community this is not the case. So I am between a rock and a hard place. I choose the hard place because we like our neighbors. But I hate the results.
In my view, selective enforcement does not work and is a lazy way to do business. I don't believe it should be up to the neighbors to enforce the rules. If you're going to have them, put something in place to enforce them. Otherwise you're just passing the buck..