One Minnesota homeowner is ready for a legal war against her homeowners association over the right to grow native plants in her yard, the Minnesota Star Tribune reported.
When Bonnie Scott moved into the Churchill Farms neighborhood, it had no landscaping rules governing native plants. That was a major draw for Scott, who removed the standard lawn around her home to plant short native grasses and wildflowers in the front yard and tall prairie grass sloping down to the pond in the backyard.
Scott's intention was to attract beneficial and beautiful wildlife: lightning bugs, frogs, wood ducks, and pollinators. She also wanted plants that were low-maintenance, unlike turf grass. These are some of the biggest benefits of rewilding with native plants, along with their low water needs, which reduces the cost of keeping them healthy.
Unfortunately, many HOAs react badly to changes that make homes stand out, even if they are not against the rules as written. Some homeowners have had to go as far as to change state law just to have a lawn like Scott's.
In this case, the HOA pushed back strongly against the changes. Scott received advice to run her plan by the architectural committee, even though it involved no architectural changes, and once her native grass was installed, an unidentified party drove over it in a vehicle, leaving tire marks. After she installed cameras, another neighbor mowed part of her yard without permission and was eventually ordered to pay over $4,000 for the vandalism.
Meanwhile, at a meeting that Scott said she was not informed about, the HOA created new landscaping rules that forbid the type of lawn she had. Based on those rules, she started receiving fines.
Scott is mounting a legal challenge based on a new Minnesota state law that protects native lawns. However, the law as written only prevents cities and towns from outlawing native lawns; it doesn't cover HOAs. Scott hopes to generate case law that will clarify the issue and hopefully prevent associations like hers from enacting these bans.
"Nobody wins in a lawsuit," she said, per the Minnesota Star Tribune. "But at this point, that law needs to be better."
When an HOA is being more reasonable, it doesn't necessarily take a legal challenge to make a change. Instead, you can work with its internal processes to update the bylaws.
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If you were to switch from a grass lawn to a more natural option, which of these factors would be your primary motivation?
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