
{"id":10310,"date":"2010-05-06T12:04:59","date_gmt":"2010-05-06T20:04:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/?p=10310"},"modified":"2010-05-06T12:04:59","modified_gmt":"2010-05-06T20:04:59","slug":"an-opportunity-to-learn-more-about-your-homeowners-association","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/2010\/05\/06\/an-opportunity-to-learn-more-about-your-homeowners-association\/","title":{"rendered":"An opportunity to learn more about your homeowners association"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Adam Sherwood<br \/>\n<\/strong><br \/>\nThere are hundreds of homeowners associations in Carrboro with restrictive covenants that limit environmentally beneficial practices. Given the reality of global warming and resource depletion, it is critical that individual efforts to conserve energy and water aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t prohibited in the future. <\/p>\n<p>Recently, the state legislature passed a bill prohibiting homeowners associations from restricting solar panels. The Town of Carrboro went a step further and won the right to pass a town ordinance that would regulate future HOA covenants by preventing them from restricting environmentally sound behaviors. The board of alderman enlisted the help of a group of students at UNC in creating a resource for town citizens to learn more about their homeowners associations and their restrictions and in drafting a regulatory ordinance for future covenants. <\/p>\n<p>As a member of that team, I can personally attest to the lack of accessibility and transparency of many HOA covenants. Many homebuyers are unfamiliar with the policies of their neighborhood HOA and learn too late that they are unable to plant a garden or install rain barrels. We have created a guide to homeowners associations aimed at increasing public understanding of their structure and language. The guide includes a breakdown of the 35 covenants that we were able to collect and analyze, with information about what restrictions are in place in each neighborhood. <\/p>\n<p>In conjunction with this resource for HOA covenants already in place, we presented a recommendation to the board of alderman regarding an ordinance limiting future HOA covenants. Interestingly, some of the most commonly restricted practices were also some of the simplest and most effective \u00e2\u20ac\u201c for example, clotheslines for drying clothes and rain barrels. These passive strategies for reducing fossil fuel usage and conserving water are unfortunately being painted as \u00e2\u20ac\u0153unsightly\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and thus detrimental to property values. Far from diminishing the aesthetics of a neighborhood, these practices are landmarks of environmental responsibility and symbolize the progressive and proactive spirit of the Carrboro community. <\/p>\n<p>Stable property values and environmentally beneficial behaviors don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have to be mutually exclusive. The growing momentum behind the local-food movement, the high social cost of fossil fuel dependence and the increasing awareness of the necessity to conserve precious natural resources like water are evidence of a larger public trend towards sustainability and efficiency. In the future it may be the presence, not the restriction, of solar panels, rain barrels, clotheslines and fertile garden plots that augment a property\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s value. <\/p>\n<p>The public guide we created to help demystify homeowners associations will be available online and includes tips regarding finding and better understanding your own HOA covenant. We encourage anyone interested in learning more about homeowners associations and environmental stewardship to have a look.<br \/>\n<em><br \/>\nAdam Sherwood is a member of the UNC class of 2010.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There are hundreds of homeowners associations in Carrboro with restrictive covenants that limit environmentally beneficial practices. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10310","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-opinion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10310","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10310"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10310\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10311,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10310\/revisions\/10311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}