In the following, “HOA” means the homeowners association for a planned subdivision or community, and “AHJ” means authority having jurisdiction, or simply, the building inspector.
Deed restrictions require acceptance of plans and details by HOA before building, and permit issuance is not granted without the written HOA signoff. The AHJ backs up the HOA by requiring the HOA review and approval as a prereq to the permit.
So far so good.
Approved and on-record site plan shows limits of clearing permitted, all else is to be left uncut and wild.
Approved and on-record rawings and specs depict exterior details, materials, finishes, and colors, all of which the HOA needed to see in order to review and approve.
Owner and builder proceed, something goes off track. For example, entire lot gets clearcut, when site plan clearly mapped the 30 percent cleared that needed to be whacked for house, yard, and drive.
Another possiblility, everything goes OK until siding starts going on. Approved plans and specs and color samples showed wood claps, painted dark brown. Builder is putting up white vinyl.
HOA sees violation, notifies AHJ, AHJ comes to job and revokes permit, stopping work, calling for a resolution before work can begin again.
Does this sort of stuff happen where you are?
Replies
no.... most hoa do not have the interlock with the ahj...
the ahj gets put in the position of having to enforce civil matters
here, if hoa has a violation,their recourse is the court system
but on a similar note..... the quasi-public boards like zoning,planning, conservation....etc.
often overstep their authority and require things not in the ordinance....with the clear unexpressed threat of"do this our way or we will deny your application"
OK, Mike, so how about this.
Plans for building show simple attic under the steeply pitched roof. What is getting built now is bedroom, closet, and bath in that "attic."
The work being done is all to code.
And our semi-public "boards" here are as footloose as yours when it comes to overstepping.
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"A stripe is just as real as a dadgummed flower."
Gene Davis 1920-1985
if the area is not on public sewer, then the attic -to-bedroom is a big red flagMike Hussein Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
we had a few people in our complex build out their attic with no regards to the live load they are placing on their 2x6 ceiling joists. the HOA wanted nothing to do with it. Bet the attitude changes if a building came down due to failure. This was across teh street from teh building department and they really didn't care either.Sure glad to be out of there! ML
No , I was an AHJ if you remember .
Issues with zonning yes is the job of the ahj but those are zonning issues. The color of paint and clapboard sounds like assoication rules the ahj would not be interrested in. Could as easily be a covenant that is not his job.
Different animal .
The only way I see the zoning people getting involved is if there is a development order in place restricting building types or a special zoning regulation. (my little town has a design committee signoff that they got shoe horned into the county zoning code)
Once it gets past zoning and gets to the permit desk the building department should only concerned with code compliance.
In most cases the relationship would only be between the HOA and the owner.
A trickier situation would be if the owner submitted the plans to the HOA, the non-conforming aspect was clearly spelled out on the plan, the HOA missed it and signed off on the plan. Over on alt.home.repair they are tossing a case like this around.