Maintaining a Standard
The Tara Civic Association is fully committed to keeping our neighborhood beautiful and protecting everyone's property values. To do this effectively, it is our obligation to ensure that both our Unified Deed Restrictions and local city ordinances are followed consistently. Moving forward, we are making our enforcement process more efficient and reliable through the following two initiatives:
The Spring Clean Campaign: Our Yearly Deed Restriction Check
The Tara Civic Association has completed our neighborhood drive-around for the annual Spring Clean Campaign. We plan to mail out letters in August and September. Depending on what we noticed, you will receive one of two letters:
Courtesy Reminders: Sent for smaller, common maintenance violations to home and yard. Our intention is that these letters will provide feedback on overlooked maintenance items that can be addressed during the cooler months of the year prior to our next annual drive-around.
Violation Letters: Sent for larger scale or ongoing violations. These notices will outline the specific violation and provide a clear timeframe for resolution.
We fully understand that minor maintenance items can easily be overlooked or simply haven't been reached on your weekend to-do list prior to our drive-around.
Overall, our neighborhood looks fantastic! We truly appreciate everything you do to take care of your property, and we thank you in advance for taking quick action once your letter arrives.
City Ordinances: Where They Intersect with Our Deed Restrictions
Many of our Tara deed restrictions mirror city ordinances. Most residents correct issues promptly after receiving our first notice. However, if that notice goes ignored, Tara Civic Association must spend limited neighborhood funds on attorneys to resolve it.
To enforce our Unified Deed Restrictions and Architectural Control Committee (ACC) approval process as efficiently as possible, we are streamlining our enforcement to a one-notice process for overlapping property standards. When an unapproved project or shared city ordinance violation is found, Tara Civic Association will send a single formal notice with a specific deadline to fix or address it before forwarding the matter to city code enforcement for final resolution. This strategy preserves our funds for neighborhood maintenance, beautification, community events, and engaging our attorneys to strictly enforce the unique deed restrictions specific to Tara. It also protects our community standards, because unfair or inconsistent enforcement sends the wrong message and degrades the very deed restrictions that maintain our collective property values.
Our Streamlined One-Notice Process:
1. The Single Notice: When a violation or unapproved project is identified, you will receive a single notice giving you a specific timeframe to either fix the issue or respond to the board with your intended action plan. No second notices will be sent before escalating the matter to the city.
2. Completion ≠ Compliance: Finishing a project quickly (like a roof or driveway done in a single day) does not exempt it from the ACC approval process. If a completed project did not get proper approval, you will still be required to submit plans to the ACC and potentially secure city permits after the fact.
3. The Financial Risk: If a completed project breaks our Unified Deed Restrictions or ACC approval process, any required modifications or removals will be entirely at the homeowner’s expense. While residential construction permits can easily double to $500+ for applying after construction began, the city-parish also issues standard non-compliance fines and forced cleanup bills for daily maintenance issues like property blight, street-dumping, and right-of-way blockages.
The streamlined enforcement process of overlapping property standards includes, but is not limited to, the following infractions:
Improvements Without City Permits. These are required for many improvement projects especially anything structural or that interacts with city infrastructure. Contractors frequently misinform residents that a permit isn't required, but it is ultimately the homeowner's responsibility to verify city permit requirements before work begins. Separate ACC approval is mandatory before any exterior work starts, and providing your city permit number (when required by the city) is necessary to receive final ACC approval.
Yard Waste: Blowing grass clippings and yard debris into the public roadway clogs city storm drains and negatively impacts our local water drainage systems. Homeowners and their hired landscaping services must blow all debris back onto the lawn.
Parking Violations: Parking any vehicle on the grass or lawn is strictly prohibited. Vehicles must stay exclusively on concrete driveway surfaces. This includes the public right-of-way easement between the curb and the sidewalk. On-street parking is limited to a strict maximum of 9 hours total within any 24-hour period. Shuffling cars in intervals does not reset this cumulative city clock.
Property Blight: Properties experiencing continual maintenance neglect violate city-parish codes. Keeping inoperable, dismantled, or wrecked vehicles anywhere on the property is classified as blight. This also includes using open carports or driveways for permanent storage of household junk and debris visible from the street. Completely overgrown yards and unchecked brush along property lines are also classified as blight because they attract rodents. The city has the legal right to enter and clear these properties entirely at the homeowner's expense.
Property Lines & Encroachments: This refers to unapproved permanent structures placed directly on property lot lines. It also includes unauthorized items installed within the public right-of-way easement (the grass patch between the street curb and the sidewalk)—while homeowners must maintain this patch of land, it remains public property and cannot be altered, built on, or permanently obstructed without a permit.
We appreciate your understanding and cooperation in our shared efforts to help keep our community a wonderful and beautiful place to live.
