Community Bulletin Board

The Mountain Park Board of Directors want to hear from members of the community. Please contact us at TalkToUs@mtparkhoa.com

Why are you not allowing political signs? It is my right to freedom of speech. 5/9/08

Thank you for your e-mail. The recent reminder to respect the CC&R’s regarding political signs has generated a flurry of calls and e-mails. 

About half have come from residents expressing concern or even outrage that their free speech rights were being violated. The other half have come from residents expressing their gratitude that the CC&R’s are being enforced.

Some historic perspective may help us all understand this situation. The original documents creating our planned community specifically prohibited signs with the exception of Real Estate signs that had to fit specific criteria. Here is the text from the CC&R’s

“No sign or other advertising device of any character shall be erected on any Lot or Building Site or maintained upon any part of the Properties except one sign not larger than 18” by 24” advertising the Lot or Building Site for sale or rent by the Builder of the improvements on such property or the Owner. Signs advertising the property for sale or rent by a real estate broker shall not be permitted.”

We received several complaints from residents that this provision was not being enforced and the Mountain Park Board recently reviewed the topic.  Being concerned that a prohibition of political signs was an unconstitutional infringement on the rights of residents, the Board sought a legal opinion.

The answer was that it is not. The issue has been litigated several times and the courts have uniformly held that HOA’s may ban political signs.

That leaves the Association with no real choice. We are not free to pick and choose which rules we will follow. If we behave with integrity, we are obliged to enforce the restrictions set forth in our CC&R’s. As members, we can change the CC&R’s if 2/3 of members vote for the change. The current board isn’t anti-sign; we simply have a duty to follow the rules, even if we don’t personally like them.

We understand that this is an emotional issue and that some are unhappy with this policy, created by the founders of our neighborhood. We hope that those who feel that their free speech rights are being violated will also be respectful of the rights of their neighbors.

Many people moved to Mountain Park specifically because it is a planned community with a number of restrictions designed to preserve the beauty of the neighborhood. They have a right to have the restrictions that all residents agreed to abide by when they purchased or leased property enforced.

Please help support our planned community values by keeping our neighborhood uncluttered. Thank you for your cooperation.

Mountain Park Board of Directors