I have had a few problems with my HOA and getting them to allow even the smallest improvements to my home. All the improvements I want to do are for sustainable reasons. Here's a list

- photovoltaic panels on my south facing roof (away from the street)
- Solar thermal panels on the same roof
- rain barrels on my downspouts
- clothes line in the back yard (private fenced)
- xeriscaping my yard

All were rejected. Why? My HOA says that these improvements will reduce the value of my neighbors' homes. WTF. In the face of a sustainable movement with staying power in this country, my HOA seems to think that waste and appearances are more important than our energy future. I know I am not alone here. I just want to do what is right but the HOA just wants to control everything.

Good luck with that. HOAs are indeed one of the single most destructive forces to the sustainable housing movement. Somewhere along the line, having a home that looks like or "fits in" with all the other homes became more valuable than the individual nature of a home. Suburbia has become cookie cutter land where all the homes fit a formula and you can't stray from it. Developers turn a blind eye to the power that these people wield and typically set them up without understanding what they will eventually do to a neighborhood.

HOAs have, through legal protections, taken over partial ownership and a controlling interest in all the homes in many neighborhoods. I do wish you luck but I can tell you now that this will be an uphill battle that you are unlikely to win.

I hate my HOA. I really do. I put a clothes line in my backyard and within a week, someone from the HOA was over saying my neighbor (wouldn't say which one) complained and wanted it taken down. The thing was in my back yard. C'mon.