I can barely fit my cars in the garage! I have to move my car just to get my lawnmower out! Now we have to stick our trashcans and recycling cans in there? There's no way. I have a shelving unit and two cars in the garage. Lawn mower is crammed under the stairs. That's it. This is not a reasonable request. I rather liked the association's suggestion about calling and having your recycling can picked up. They'd rather we didn't recycle than leave our city-issued recycling cans outside where they're supposed to be. Please someone tell me this is a joke.

By Tony

Re: Trash/Fees

Tony, if it makes you feel better, i agree. It took me several weeks to figure out how I was going to fit both my cars in the garage and still have space to move around and still have storage space!! If they thimk that i can fit two trash cans and a recyling bin in there too, they're crazy. Besides, it's not like my cans are just laying on the front yard. They're placed nicely on the side of the house out of view from the street................good enough. As for the fees, we've lived here a little over a year, but i don't see any improvement for the money I spend. As far as I'm concerned the front looks horrible. One last thing, when the association starts paying my house note, they can tell me what I can and cannot do with MY house! Sometimes I don't think they realize how unreasonable some of their requests sound.

By Jay

Trash cans are tacky!

Jay, Tony and anyone else. I have managed to fit two trash cans, a recycle bin and two cars (one a van) in my garage. I know my garage is not any bigger than anyone elses. I for one think that trash cans that can be seen from the street or any neighboring property are tacky and makes the subdivision look junky.

The covenants clearly state what we can and can't do as an association. I've read them, have you?

Nan

Trashcans tacky?

I don't think they're as tacky as a spiderweb of cables running along the street to every house in the neighborhood. Those cables are necessary. Just like trashcans are necessary. People produce trash. It's a fact of American life. I personally think that excessive Christmas lights are tacky. However, I have no desire to send anyone a threatening letter telling them what they can and can't do with the house that they paid money for. It's a trashcan. Everyone has one. Everyone knows what they look like. Get over it. Nobody is driving down the street saying ''Oh my god! That family produces TRASH!''

I skimmed the covenants. When I read the part about how they can change any rule at any time, I wrote them off as invalid. The association is supposedly run by the homeowners. I'm a homeowner and I never approved any of these rules. I certainly didn't approve a 400% association fee hike over a 2 year period.