HOA Rules and Fines regarding backyard landscaping

S

scubasteve

Active member
I've met a lot of people in Woodbury East who have done their landscaping without submitting a plan and approval to the the HOA ($500 app fee) because they either 1) didn't know they had to or 2) just went ahead and did it because the HOA is so anal about the details of their plan and they simply keep getting rejected.

Will these people get fined or will the HOA go after them at all? 
 
correct me if I am wrong but in WE its only the backyard that needs to be landscaped, right?

If so I am sure that no one will complain unless its is offensive.  But I have no experince with this suff yet
 
nytransplant said:
correct me if I am wrong but in WE its only the backyard that needs to be landscaped, right?

If so I am sure that no one will complain unless its is offensive.  But I have no experince with this suff yet
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yup that's correct.  The people that bypass the HOA don't have to pay the ridiculous $500 application fee as well. I'm just wondering if the HOA will go after them for that and fine them afterwards. I still haven't done mine, so that's why I'm kinda asking...
 
ok, this might be a stupid question, but why do other people care about what your back yard looks like?
 
I think because a lot of the houses in WBE have 0 lot lines.  In other other words, your backyard runs into your neighbor's wall.  I'm sure they wouldn't want you spraying their walls with water or having tree roots damage their foundation. 
 
slightly off-topic, but i went walking around the coronados being built around the existing celadon units and i noticed there was one unit with a full driveway!  does anyone know how much this unit went for and if it's considered a SFH?
 
yea i saw that model too... but i feel like they really crammed all the coronados into that corner... whatever it sold for, it's gotta be less than 654K I believe since that's the final price on the last phase....
 
scubasteve said:
nytransplant said:
correct me if I am wrong but in WE its only the backyard that needs to be landscaped, right?

If so I am sure that no one will complain unless its is offensive.  But I have no experince with this suff yet
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yup that's correct.  The people that bypass the HOA don't have to pay the ridiculous $500 application fee as well. I'm just wondering if the HOA will go after them for that and fine them afterwards. I still haven't done mine, so that's why I'm kinda asking...
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What is the consequence if you complete your backyard without a HOA approval and get caught afterwards by the HOA police???
My guess is that if the backyard does not fit the guideline, then you have to tear it apart and start over.  I am not sure how ofter it happens, probably very rare.
 
The "police" are enforcing building code in Irvine?

So now you are going to get thrown in jail for leaving your basketball hoop out in the culdesac?

 
freedomcm said:
The "police" are enforcing building code in Irvine?

So now you are going to get thrown in jail for leaving your basketball hoop out in the culdesac?
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Irvine is so safe... they have nothing better do... other than cover up homicides as suicides (if you believe in that kind of consiracy).
 
IrvinePilot said:
The $500 is not a fee, it is a deposit.  It will be refunded after the work is done.  So long as the final work is acceptable, there should not be a penalty for not getting approval ahead of time but you take the risk of your work not being approved.  You will pay a one time penalty if the work is not done by the deadline.  Patio covers require a building permit from the City of Irvine as well as HOA approval.  If you build a patio without approval, you will not only face the possibility of an irate HOA, you could get a visit by Irvine Police code enforcement as well.
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Actually, for Irvine, have of the money is to PAY for a architectural review of the plans.  The other half is the deposit
 
IrvinePilot said:
The $500 is not a fee, it is a deposit.  It will be refunded after the work is done.  So long as the final work is acceptable, there should not be a penalty for not getting approval ahead of time but you take the risk of your work not being approved.  You will pay a one time penalty if the work is not done by the deadline.  Patio covers require a building permit from the City of Irvine as well as HOA approval.  If you build a patio without approval, you will not only face the possibility of an irate HOA, you could get a visit by Irvine Police code enforcement as well.
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No home stands on its own; each interacts with the neighboring houses/lots.  What you do with your yard can impact the others surrounding it. This year I've helped people deal with issues regarding:
1. One owner who had built an elevated koi pond that shared part of its framing with a shared brick wall.
2. One home where the neighbor had offered to pay for a blown-over (shared) fence, and then put it back up ~1.5 feet closer to the neighbor's home.  ??? Nice neighbor!
3. Root invasion from non-permitted species of trees (the dreaded ficus) that was causing fence-foundation-piping issues to the owners' own home.

You can probably "get away with it" over the short term but if/when you choose to sell someone will inevitably have to pay the piper.  My thought is that you might as well do it the right way, and enjoy it, which is the intention of the process in the first place.

-IrvineRealtor
 
Ah the dreaded ficus, destroyer of sidewalks and back walls everywhere.  I was going to ask why on earth an HOA would care what your BACK yard looks like but it actually makes sense after reading IR's thing.  I hope it also covers things like trees that blow sticky or spiky things into other peoples yards  and fruit trees planted way too close to a fence that will result in rotting fruit constantly dropping over into a neighbors wall.   
 
Talyssa said:
... fruit trees planted way too close to a fence that will result in rotting fruit constantly dropping over into a neighbors wall.   
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I wouldn't mind this if it were a lemon, apple or fruit tree we like... heh... too bad they don't make cupcake trees.
 
If you like lemons but you don't want to plant a tree in the ground (or don't have anywhere to plant it) meyer lemons grow well in pots.    And they are one of the yummiest lemons anyway.  Key lime trees grow in pots too. 

Add a pot of mint and you have your own little cocktail garden.  Which is the only kind of food prep my bf and I are any good at anyway.
 
How long do these meyer lemons take to fruit? I guess I can google that... just wondering because I can set it up so my kids can do what they have been asking me for... to run a lemonade stand.
 
depends on how magical you are, where you get the plant (quality) and what condition/age its in when you get it. If you want to grow it bigger faster I think you have to keep it from fruiting for the first year or two (so it doesn't waste strength fruiting).    Depends on the person too. my mom can grow anything  - she wanted papayas, she sticks a plant in the ground and she gets one literally the first year it goes.    Same with the avocados, pomegrantes, all the citrus, the bananas that they literally can't give away (well they CAN, I end up with paperbags full of them in front of my door early in the morning so we can't catch them and say no)

I would think you could have lemons right away - maybe not a TON of them though.  Takes quite a few to make lemonade.  My mom is a big gardener and some of the stuff she has grown over the years has been very labor intensive but this is a good area for citrus so as far as I can tell it will grow happily and well without a lot of effort.

We had a cherimoya tree growing up which doesn't have a native insect that likes it, so every year we'd be out with little paint brushes and jars polinating the stupid thing.  And no one even liked cherimoyas but her - although I might like them now as an adult, but as a kid they were just too weird.
 
3. Root invasion from non-permitted species of trees (the dreaded ficus) that was causing fence-foundation-piping issues to the owners' own home.
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I went to the Capistrano models in Stonegate East this weekend, and even though I'm not a tree expert I swear I saw a ficus tree (like the ones you see in Balboa Park) in the tiny back yard of one of the models homes.
 
I am curious if the plants listed on the original permit summited died, can owner change it to different plant freely or a new application has to be submitted?  Or if the paved path fall apart and owner wants to change it to different style?
 
I am really curious how many owners in detached condos has filed application while they did the landscape in their back yards.
 
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