No other maintenance issue has been more controversial than
driveway strips.
CC&Rs 8.1 requires the HOA to maintain "any grass
located within... a driveway..."
CC&Rs 7.9 requires that "garages shall be used for
parking automobiles only..."
CC&Rs 8.5 stipulates that "an Owner who by his or
her negligent or willful act causes damage to any portions of the Project maintained
by the HOA... shall bear the whole cost of repairing the damage."
For many reasons most Mendocino homeowners do not park in
the garages and use driveways instead.
Repeated parking over a grass strip damages the grass by:
a) emitting heat and dripping oil/grease on the grass;
b) blocking the sun during the day;
c) blocking the water from the sprinklers from reaching the
grass;
d) driving over the strips.
Initially the HOA kept replacing the damaged driveway grass
strips at no charge - no questions asked. The homeowners who did not park in
the driveways but paid the same HOA dues found this practice grossly unfair as
they in effect were subsidizing the homeowners who knowingly and repeatedly violated
the CC&Rs.
Eventually the board realized that free grass replacement
was unsustainable without substantial dues hikes. To use the HOA resources more
equitably, the board started charging the homeowners for grass replacement.
The practice of charging for grass replacement was
discontinued a few years ago when Sacramento imposed drought watering
restrictions and most grass strips died. When the restrictions were lifted the
board was back to the drawing board: how to pay for the repeatedly damaged
grass strips.
The problem was exacerbated by dirt build up over the years.
The grass needs to be flush with the concrete to absorb water. Over the years
dirt and grass clippings had lifted the grass way ABOVE that level, which made
partial replacements impossible and wasted water that ran off the strips onto
the concrete. (The board also considered replacing the driveway grass strips
with rocks but abandoned the idea because the driveways are owned by the
homeowners and the HOA is prohibited from capital improvements on homeowner
property - CC&Rs 4.5.1)
A new solution was found:
The HOA will maintain the driveway grass strips if the
homeowner pledges not to park in the driveway - i.e. promises to not knowingly
damage HOA-maintained property (CC&Rs 8.5); otherwise homeowners were
encouraged to convert to a hardscape if they wanted to avoid paying for repeated repair and replacement. Those who signed the pledge got their
grass strips replaced.
The problem is still not fully resolved as the remaining
driveway grass strips are being damaged by cottontails and gophers.
