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Homeowners board apologizes for banning peace-wreath
On Monday -- after the controversy got national play -- the homeowners assocation board withdrew its objection to a couple's wreath and threat of $25/day fines. The board told the couple: "We had a misunderstanding with your Christmas decoration and for that we apologize. We withdraw any and all previous requests for removal of your decoration." (Rocky Mountain News)
> Columnist: "We now officially have the most idiotic story of the year"
November 28, 2006 | Permalink
Comments
Why isn't it ok to put up an anti-christian display anyway? Just because most people in the US are Christian? Why is it ok to put up crosses everywhere? Don't you think some people are offended by that?
Anyway I'm glad they're able to keep up their peace sign, I've never heard of it being used as an "anti-christian" symbol.
Posted by: Natalie | Nov 28, 2006 5:54:23 AM
This particular issue is not so much about anti-Christian displays as it is about cookie-cutter look-alike homes without kitsch. For example, my HOA says:
Certain dogs are not allowed.
Only X number of mammal-type pets per house.
No "plastic statuary."
No bird baths.
Holiday decorations down w/in X days after said holiday.
Grass can't be higher than 3 inches (yes, they measure).
No portable basketball hoops out front.
No boats/RVs/etc anywhere in the subdivision.
The list goes on and gets sillier (my kids can't even leave a bike on the front porch overnight).
It's about making each house look exactly like a magazine cover. If you get your hands on one set of HOA rules from each state, you'll see they're mostly the same.
I'd move but the kids are in great schools.
Posted by: Soo | Nov 28, 2006 6:21:55 AM
I know all about the dog statutes they're ridiculous, but I don't understand why you can't dictate what you do on your own land. Isn't that why you buy a house in the first place?
Do you have a backyard? Do they have rules about the back of your house too?
Posted by: Natalie | Nov 28, 2006 6:27:56 AM
Well, it's a bit interesting, this. See, before we moved here, we lived in another state and owned our home there as well. No HOA. We had a next-door neighbor who had a yard like Sanford & Son's. It was quite embarrassing. A house across the street had cars parked everywhere, including the lawn.
We thought the HOA thing was the way to go, but we made a big mistake. And yes, there are rules about the back yard, too.
If I could do it without getting tossed from my own house (and they can do it) I'd paint my house purple with yellow and green spots, put up about a dozen pink flamingos and at least one potty flowerpot, get a busted pickup for the back yard up on blocks, and leave my damn christmas lights on (and blinking) 24/7/365.
Posted by: Soo | Nov 28, 2006 6:59:16 AM
You wouldn't think dog statutes were ridiculous if you had to live next door to my former neigbors. Too many dog owners are morons.
Posted by: Billy | Nov 28, 2006 6:59:35 AM
I lived in an apartment where they didn't outlaw specific breeds of dogs, but they did set a weight limit on pets -- I asked them if the restriction was individual or cummulative. (ie, is it that each individual pet can't be more than 60lbs, or the weight of all of the pets can't be more than 60lbs?)
They never did give me an answer.
I now live in a town that has some laws regulating trash cans (had to move it around back, rather than leave it on the porch, as I had done for years) and lawn height (which I've blatantly violated for years), but because it's a municipal government, they can't restrict free speach (eg, holiday decorations), and they're not willing to challenge the petty things ... or at least they weren't ... new town commissioners this year, though.
Posted by: Joe | Nov 28, 2006 7:06:26 AM
The reason for the HOA rules is the conviction that uniform curb appeal keeps everyone's property values up.
We live in Wisconsin where each citizen believes the rules apply to everyone except himself. In our subdivision we had a guy whose son ran a landscaping business out of his house and kept his trucks parked in the driveway (all no-nos according to the HOA bylaws). Trouble was, the guy's dad was the HOA treasurer.
Posted by: d_m_arnold | Nov 28, 2006 7:30:00 AM
It is a misconception that homeowners who aren't part of HOAs have no rules to follow. I live in a regular, run-of-the-mill community, with no Association (thank god), but I still can't park cars on my front lawn, let my grass grow too high or let my dog bark at all hours of the night.
In fact, a county or city could enact rules as strict as any HOA, if it chose to. It's just that, traditionally, people are more vigilant about government intrusion into their personal lives than they are about private (or corporate) intrusion. This is a mistake, I think.
I recently went house hunting with my wife. I told her right at the start that any house in an HOA must automatically be removed from our list.
Posted by: oxhead | Nov 28, 2006 7:40:51 AM
""There's a whole lot of guys left over from the Vietnam War who remember the peace sign as something very negative," said Donald Haywood, who was in the service during Vietnam."
SO what was this guy fighting for in Vietnam if not the first ammendment? My family has had military members in each generation and sometimes multiple members of the generations. People DO NOT have the right to not be offended and the sooner folks realize that the sooner we can all just move on. As for the HOA's piss on em.
Posted by: JD | Nov 28, 2006 7:44:30 AM
Next neighborhood I move into is going to have a "no dogs outside" rule. I've come to understand why people poison their neighbor's pets.
Posted by: | Nov 28, 2006 7:57:33 AM
In the Subdivision I lived in the HOA was taken over by people who had houses for rent in the neighborhood. These were the *worst* people to be running things. They only cared about how things looked not what went on. We had gangs and drug dealers with neat lawns, crime skyrocketed.
Needless to say we moved out. My current neighbors are cows on one side and horses on the other side of 25 acres and I like that just fine.
Now if I could just do something with all of these deer :)
Posted by: many | Nov 28, 2006 8:09:07 AM
The peace sign as a supposed 'anti-christian' symbol goes back to the '60s.
There were a couple of spittle-spewing, rabid anti-protester, hellfire and damnation preachers who needed to be able to rant and rave from the pulpit about how godless and disgusting the anti-war protesters were. But how can you demonize people for wanting an end to war?
To solve this conundrum, they fixated on the symbol created in the 1950's for the British Nuclear Disarmament movement, which was the semaphore signals for N and D superimposed on each other and enclosed in a circle (later usually shown in an oval). This symbol had been adopted by the anti-war movement and people had started calling it "The Peace Sign".
Suddenly, after much staring at it and making up of scenarios until they had one they liked, the peace sign became a 'satanist symbol' which had existed for 2,000 years and had been used to scourge Christians since the beginnings of the Christian religion.
Most people thought they were pretty whacked, since the '60s was close enough to the '50s that people remembered when and by whom and for what the original symbol was created. Now though, the '50s is 50 years ago, and too many credulous people have heard the 'satanist symbol' fable.
Posted by: David | Nov 28, 2006 8:29:33 AM
David,
Yes, it was Bertrand Russell or someone in the CND organization who more or less created the original "N and D" semaphore symbol, I believe.
http://www.abcme.com/peacesigncollection/peacesigncoll.html
Posted by: many | Nov 28, 2006 9:10:49 AM
I think it's a crying shame that it TOOK national attention to make these morons realize how idiotic they were being (making themselves look like.) You'd hope that would have dawned on them all on their own. *sigh*
I'd like to see a national peace-sign wreath movement started as a result, actually. Who knows? It might actually remind everyone of what our ultimate goal is (supposed to be.)
Many, I'm with you on the cows and horses as neigh-bors (sorry, couldn't resist.) But I'm quite fond of the deer and rabbits that wander through, too.
Posted by: ReginaFilangee | Nov 28, 2006 9:32:44 AM
Soo, whenever the kids graduate and you do get ready to move, give me a shout....I'd LOVE to come over and help you paint and decorate your house for curb appeal. I can be quite creative. :-)
Posted by: ReginaFilangee | Nov 28, 2006 9:34:44 AM
"We had a misunderstanding with your Christmas decoration and for that we apologize."
Love the wording of that quote! They didn't have a "misunderstanding" with the homeowners. They had it with the DECORATION, as if it were a person! What a hoot!
Well, the decoration wouldn't have been paying the $25 a day fine. The homeowners would have been stuck with it.
Glad this got resolved. Another bunch o' HOA morons put in their place.
Posted by: Swangirl | Nov 28, 2006 9:52:22 AM
I laughed at the notion of a peace symbol being "satanic".
Everyone knows that one of Satan's names is "the Prince of Peace" oh yes, peace is eeeeeeevile.
Posted by: Dillenger69 | Nov 28, 2006 10:33:50 AM
I think it was the John Birch Society that fostered this belief in the satanic nature of the peace sign. My wacky up-state Michigan relatives used to parrot much of what they read in their Birchite newsletters.
Oh, and you should have heard them on the rock group KISS!
Posted by: oxhead | Nov 28, 2006 10:54:46 AM
I'm glad this got resolved, but I have ZERO empathy for idiots who buy in HOAs and then bitch about the covenants. That shouts "moron" to me.
Posted by: | Nov 28, 2006 12:07:48 PM
Thanks, Anon! I hadn't realized that not being aware of HOA Nazis prior to buying made me an moron. Can I capitalize that, just to feel even more special?
If you're thinking of buying into an HOA that's got a board of directors that would make Stalin look like a puss, that's just the sort of thing a seller is going to disclose immediately -- NOT!
Since viewing a home is done while most people are at work, you generally can't chat with potential neighbors until it's too late. Sure, everyone gets a list of the rules, but generally they come with the purchasing paperwork once the deal is almost closed and appear rather benign. It's down to the current board of directors to interpret or change the bylaws, etc. It's those interpretations that cause the problems.
I'm thinking I'm not the idiot here, Anonymous Name Caller. Until you've walked in my shoes, just have yourself a tall glass of Shut The Hell Up.
Posted by: Soo | Nov 28, 2006 1:31:51 PM
So sorry, just got moody for a mo'.
Posted by: Soo | Nov 28, 2006 1:40:04 PM
That's okay, Soo....you gave me a good chuckle. :-)
Posted by: ReginaFilangee | Nov 28, 2006 5:20:20 PM
Sad thing is, I may have to buy into an HOA. Can't afford a home... my price range is condo.... desperately seeking a co-investor to buy half a duplex where I could at least own my own land, but that may not happen.
Every condo around here has an HOA. I feel sorry for the one that lets me in.
Anyone check the real estate values of this place before and after the story hit?
Posted by: | Nov 28, 2006 5:35:33 PM
