> Let me give the flip side of this. I live around Houston Texas, where > zoning is considered to be the third step on the road to Communism: the > first two are fluoride in the water and mass transit. We still don't have > any zoning. When we lived in Houston itself, the juniors and seniors at the > high school my daughter's grade school fed into were able to work at a strip > club, within a block of the school. As far as the law was concerned, one > could open up a scrap metal yard in the midst of a neighborhood. I think > there were actually health laws that prohibited having one's entire yard > function as a pig style. > > There was a reaction to that. Neighborhoods with strong deed restrictions > and homeowners associations were built. We now live in the Woodlands, which > has extremely strict rules. We need permission to cut down any tree on our > yard greater than 6" in diameter. No home businesses are allowed (although > they do look the other way for piano teachers). Garage sales are > prohibited. We need permission to paint our house a different color. > > As a result of these restrictions, and other strict zoning rules, houses in > the Woodlands sell for a considerable premium: at least 20%. The > neighborhoods are much more pleasant places to live and people pay for that > privilege. > > IMHO, one should read the deed restrictions and covenants before buying a > house. If you don't like them, there are other houses to buy. But, such > deed restrictions are extremely helpful in enhancing the quality of > living...especially in areas with no zoning. > > Dan M.
I deleted the wrong e-mail. It said the Woodlands has 70,000 homes (or people?) and it was the only local government. Obviously PA is different. >From the top we have: Federal State County City/borough/township (the state has only two officially named towns) and school district which is completely different. Someone did a count, here in the 5 or 8 county capital region there were 2000+ governing authorities. My question, does the authority in The Woodlands have any real power, as a city might? Do they have police/fire depts, snow removal, road paving and other maintenance crews? I have no real problem with HOA groups deciding some issues, there's that fine line between anarchy and communism, hopefully democracy is somewhere in the middle. I think the problem is the vauge code in their rules, as other have pointed out. And what is really weird is that these rules are holding up in court. There are so many local cases I know of that have been thrown out: you can sign your rights away and your signature can't cover your whole family, no matter how tight the HOA agreement. Kevin T.
