HOMEOWNERS have discovered that they have more protection from overbearing HOAs than they previously realized.
HOAs (homeowner associations) can be the bane of some people's existence, imposing strict, inflexible requirements on houses in the neighborhood.
Still, that doesn't mean that residents have to blindly follow these rules when they're in direct conflict with the law.
In San Antonio, Texas, some locals have clashed with their HOAs, on account of unrealistic lawn care expectations during this summer's historic heat wave.
"In a year that we are having after the last summer, the hot, drying summer and another hot, drying summer this year, it's hard to have green grass," Martha Wright, a San Antonio Water Systems Conservation Department manager, told local NBC affiliate WOAI.
"It's hard to keep your plants looking great in your yard.
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"An HOA or another organization cannot legally require you to resod or irrigate turf grass."
"We have been reminding our customers, as well as our HOAs and the property management companies, that, really right now is not the time to plant grass, it's so hot and dry outside," said Wright.
As such, the SAWS posted on social media explaining people's rights.
"Is your HOA demanding new grass during #txdrought," asked the post.
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"Don’t feel pressured into planting, replacing or watering your brown grass because City ordinance has your back."
To wit, with water restrictions in place because of the drought, the lawn care requirements of some HOAs are implausible and directly violate San Antonio's water restriction laws.
As such, the city has imposed Stage 2 water use restrictions, limiting the ways and times that people can water their lawns.
These restrictions come into play when the 10-day average of the Edwards Aquafier Level reaches 650 feet mean sea level at the monitored well and stays in place for 15 days afterwards.
While residents can water their yard by hose or drip irrigation at any time, sprinkler use is severely limited.
"Landscape watering with an irrigation system, sprinkler or soaker hose is allowed only once a week from 7-11a.m. and 7-11p.m. on your designated watering day, as determined by your address," reads the SAWS website.
