forgive me for tonight's rant (especially after so long an absence).
mta (otherwise known as mililani town association) sent me a notice. according to the town covenants (whatever), any improvement to the house must be approved by the board before being made. inspectors recently noted that i had put up rain gutters on my house (they are now roughly five years old), and that i had a "driveway extension." each of these "infractions" will cost me $100 in "after the fact" fees; plus, i will have to reapply to have these "additions" approved. if they aren't, i will have to "take them down."
let's take these renovations into account one by one.
first, the rain gutters. i don't know who got these renovations (vital, if you ask me) "approved" by mta. most people just hire a contractor and put them up. if you don't, and soon after buying a house, you're in for some water damage. my parents never had to get these "common sense" renovations approved...
second, the "driveway extension." it isn't really a driveway extension at all. it is beside the driveway, but it is a sidewalk. and, i got this approved when i had my wall built (the sidewalks were done at the same time). i plan to fish for the original blueprints which mta approved, and shove it in their face (okay, maybe after cooling off).
right now, i consider mta as a big money making operation. think about it. they get at least $400 from each household in the town for annual "association dues." you might imagine that this would pay for things like automatic membership, and grant you access to pools and such, but to participate in any mta activities, you have to pay for these separately. in addition, if you ever are delinquent in your dues (i had the misfortune of being delinquent), they quickly hire lawyers who enforce the due collection, and instantly charge an additional $200 for the lawyer fees.
guess what mta dues go for? sure, they go for landscaping, which i have to admit, they do a great job of. but they also pay for people to drive around the town and snoop for "rule breakers," so that they can filch some more money out of town residents. i mean, give me a break!
to be honest, i believe that it is our immediate neighbors who have been part of this recent effort at persecution. supposedly, our neighbor is some kind of "hot shot" with influence. they have been pissed off ever since we built a planter box on their side to shore up the foundation of their rock wall. after the wall was built, they called the city and state to check on us, to see whether the plans had been submitted, etc. at the time, the plans were going through (if you aren't aware of it, it's a very time-consuming process; you have to take off work 4 or 5 days sometimes just to make sure an architect looks at the plans). i almost got charged for this.
we are a relatively happy, carefree family, and i think it galls our neighbors to see us so relaxed. they are the sort of people who are constantly bickering amongst themselves (fundamentally unhappy; i always hear them barking at each other), and are eager to "share the wealth."
well, whatever. i'm mad right now, primarily at mta, somewhat at the neighbors (largely because it's just strong suspicion), but i won't let either win. i'll pay if i have to... but for all you mililani-ans out there, especially with new houses: are you aware:
that if you want something like raingutters or air conditioners or tinted windows, you have to get prior approval from mta? better get busy or the "renovation cops" will be sending you a letter pretty soon!!!
[other ridiculousness... you can't hang up laundry on lines, even within the privacy of your own home, because covenant rules say so... so much for being a green town, and trying to save needless energy on dryer costs!!!]
... i know i'll be asking forgiveness for this later, but if any mililani-ans are out there with similar sentiments, PLEASE RANT!
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