SIDE STREETS: Simple plan addresses major HOA headache

Maybe you are one of those folks who grabs the phone and calls the neighborhood homeowners association, or HOA, every time you see a neighbor pounding a nail, or installing garish ornamental driveway pedestals on the curb.

Or maybe you are on the other end of those calls, the poor slob who volunteered to serve on an HOA architectural control committee — there are upwards of 200 in the Colorado Springs area.

The Discovery neighborhood HOA in Rockrimmon has come up with a simple way to put an end to those phone calls.

Homes where construction has been approved by the HOA now feature yard signs declaring: “Project Approved, Architectural Control Committee, Discovery HOA.” (See photos on my blog).

They are similar to the signs you see when new windows are being installed or a roof replaced.

I’ve heard from many ex-HOA board members over the years who said they quit because they got sick of all the calls from people demanding to know if so-and-so had permission to move a rock or paint the trim or whatever.

If every neighborhood adopted the “Project Approved” idea, HOA board members would get a lot fewer telephone interruptions during dinner.

And it sounds simple enough.

“I just dreamed it up one night,” said Jan Doran, a Discovery HOA board member. “I ran it by the board and they thought it was a terrific idea.”

She took her idea to a local sign company and had a dozen sturdy signs made.

“We put one in the front yard while a project starts,” she said. “As soon as the project is completed, we take it down.”

These are not flimsy signs like most political campaigns use because Discovery didn’t want them fading and peeling. (They don’t want to have to cite themselves for a covenant violation.)

The signs cost about $250, and Doran believes it was a good investment.

“Not only does it cut down calls,” Doran said, “it should cut down on people doing things without getting approval.”

If folks get used to seeing the signs, they’ll immediately know when they see illegal construction. No sign? No HOA approval.

Doran is so pleased with the response in her neighborhood, she is going to take her signs to the next meeting of the Council of Neighbors & Organizations — an umbrella group open to all homeowner and neighborhood groups in Colorado Springs. It meets 7 p.m. the first Tuesday of the month at the Colorado Springs Senior Center, 1514 N. Hancock.

If CONO members like what they see, similar “Project Approved” signs could start popping up in covenant-controlled neighborhoods across Colorado Springs.

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