Members of a Colorado homeowners’ association were left fuming after receiving violations for brown grass — as city officials urged people to conserve water amidst a historic drought.
Colorado declared a state-wide drought emergency on June 4 due to record-low snowpack and persistent, extremely warm temperatures across the state.
Despite the declaration, members of the Rock Creek Homeowners Association, which covers a neighborhood in Superior, about 20 miles northwest of Denver, say they’ve received notice from the HOA after parts of their lawn turned brown amidst the drought.
“This is not a neglect issue,” HOA member James Shima, who received a courtesy notice about his lawn, told 9 News. “This is basically attempting to preserve water.”
The notice Shima received, dated June 11, notes the violation category as “landscape maintenance.” Under the violation observed section, it lists: “Please address the brown turf/dirt areas of the yard.”
The notice asks homeowners to fix the issue within 30 days, by either sharing a photo with the HOA showing that the issue has been corrected or by submitting a plan to correct it. The notice also states that failure to respond to the association within 30 days “may result in escalation of the violation process,” according to the report.
Shima said he and his wife tried to reseed their lawn this spring, but the grass struggled to grow amid the recent hot weather, which has soared into the 90s across the state this month.
Another resident, Michelle, told the news station she felt the violation was tone deaf given the current situation.
“The HOA is not operating within a vacuum. The HOA is operating within a larger community,” she said. “Having a green lawn is not where we should be prioritizing our water usage.”
In an email to residents, the Rock Creek HOA community manager acknowledged the drought, but also said that Superior has not implemented mandatory watering restrictions and that the state’s drought emergency makes homeowners exempt from maintaining their properties.
“The Board’s fiduciary duty is to all homeowners, which includes protecting the appearance of the community and the property values those standards help support. As a result, drought conditions alone do not automatically exempt properties from maintenance requirements,” the HOA community manager wrote.
It was not immediately clear if HOA residents were being fined for these violations. The Independent has contacted the HOA for comment.
Shima, who received the violation, noted he is not asking the HOA to ignore its own rules — but said it should be more lenient given the circumstances.
“I understand you’re in an HOA, you want your property to look nice,” he said. “There’s circumstances to everything, and things like drought, that’s above and beyond what an HOA bylaw might say.”
