Posted on 08/12/2015 6:06:19 AM PDT by JoeProBono
LEE'S SUMMIT, Mo., - A Missouri family said their homeowners association is threatening them with jail time after they refused to take down their purple playground equipment.
Marla Stout of Lee's Summit said her family put up a playset for their young daughters about two years ago and she painted the equipment purple to comply with requirements of the Raintree Lake Neighborhood Homeowner's Association.
"There's nothing in the rules about color," Stout told WDAF-TV. "What it says is it has to be harmonious with the community and with nature and there is nothing that dictates the color of the swing set."
Stout said she considered the purple color to be "harmonious" because it matches the color of the trees in the fall, but the homeowner's association disagreed.
Stout said she received a notice from the HOA last year saying they were being fined for not having the playground equipment and its color pre-approved, but they successfully appealed and had the fine thrown out.
However, the HOA sent further letters demanding the purple playground's removal.
"[The letters said] that if we didn't remove the swing set from the subdivision in a couple of weeks, we go to jail," Stout told KMBC-TV.
Another letter pledged the HOA's lawsuit would cost the family "greater than any principal you are trying to prove."
She said the HOA ignored a petition signed by more than a dozen neighbors saying they were not bothered by the equipment.
Stout said her family has hired an attorney and will continue to fight.
Greater than Principal Skinner??
Kansas City suburbs, on both sides of the border, are built by developers. The developers leave behind named subdivisions with Home Owner Associations. It's very hard to find a house built in the last 25 years or so that isn't in an HOA. It's not an entirely bad system, many of these subdivisions include neighborhood pools and a lot of social activites, but when you get stuck in one with a power-hungry HOA board then it can't be fun. My sister lives on the Kansas side in Leawood and she says her board is filled with business executives, business owners, and professionals and it's almost impossible to get them to agree on anything.
No rules about goose stepping but we are allowed to stomp baby ducks and drown kittens in the lake.
I can't believe that this ugly beast was approved by the committee but it remained that color for a number of years.
Now it has been painted beige and while that is easier to look at, it is still an ugly box.
FReedom is just another word to policy wonks. doesn’t mean a thing.
Jail?
first this is a civil matter not a criminal matter.
second it is generally VERY illegal to threaten jail time for not following civil demand letters.
it would only be if there was contempt and since the fines were tossed, I doubt that very much.
Is she dropping acid?
What's so odd about that? The tree in my neighbour's yard—some sort of prunus, I think—is purple already. It starts turning that way almost as soon as the leaves come out. If there were enough such trees in these people's yard, that swing set would fit right in. Why assume that "harmonious with nature" means "at the height of July"?
HOA’s are evil and yet many on FR support them.
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