I figure corporations and celebrities write open letters to the public all the time (or I guess have people write them for them), so I should be able to do the same. As a lot of people know, I’ve been complaining a lot about the HOA for my neighborhood recently and their nonsense rules. For one, I have a real issue that the HOA here has absolutely no representation from the homeowners on it. Something just doesn’t seem right about that to me. I’m not going to use this point to complain, however, as it is an apology letter after all.

I’m writing this as an open apology to my neighbors for my continued violations of the HOA’s “rules” for the exteriors of our homes. I have a tendency to ignore the notices they send me for my violations because I just can’t see the point in some of the policies. First, it was all the notices to take down my Georgia Tech flag from the front of my house.  I finally caved and took it down. So I’m sorry for showing school spirit and appreciation for the school that got me to the point where I am today.  It was not my intention to show such an inappropriate display of support.

Then it was for not putting my garbage can inside my garage.  We’ll disregard the fact that my garage door opener was inoperable and stuck in the closed position.  I’ll admit, I’m just lazy and didn’t feel like taking the huge outdoor trash can through the front door, up the entry stairs and back downstairs to get it in the garage.  Have no fear, good neigbors.  I fixed my garage door and haven’t left it outside since.

The next set of notices was for planting cucumbers in my backyard.  I’m sorry to all of you for planting something green and food-bearing in a location that it didn’t interfere with your lives.  These “unauthorized vine plantings” were completely inappropriate for me to have growing by my deck and I should have thought about the detrimental impact I must have been having to the environment and appearance in the neighborhood.  And to all of those neighbors that I gave cucumbers to from my plantings, I’m sorry for making you an accessory to my crime and feeding you with forbidden vegetables.

Now all of these are issues from the past.  I have received roughly 30 notices of violation for these things over time from the HOA overlords and, eventually, have resolved all of the issues of which they were notifying me. The root of my apology to all of my neighbors is my most recent saga involving the planter on my back deck.  Now I’ve been receiving notices on this one for the past three months or so that I had “unapproved planter boxes in a common area”.

This common area that is being referenced happens to be my deck and I built this planter to add some flowers and color to the back side of my house.  Further research from the HOA (in other words, more and more angry letters that they sent me) indicated that my planter was a violation because it was not manufactured as outdoor furniture and therefore, was not allowed to be on my deck.

The most recent letter, sent via certified mail mind you, gave me 10 days to remove the planter from my deck or face an attorney and a lein against my property.  I finally gave in and dismantled the planter this week, just so that I could stop dealing with this nonsense.  You win, HOA, you win. I figure it’s only fair that I post a picture of my violation so that everyone can see my crimes and the disgrace that I have brought upong my neighborhood.

So to all of my neighbors, consider this my apology for my repeated transgression.  I’m sorry for building a planter in a “common area” and for making your neighborhood an eyesore.  I shouldn’t have been so selfish in my intentions.  It won’t happen again.