Some HOAs struggle with boundaries.

This one targeted a homeowner who never joined.

His waterfront cottage came with a dock, safety buoys, and one seaplane.

Then the neighborhood rulebook tried taking flight.

Let’s digest all the details below.

AITA for ignoring my neighbors and their HOA group?

I live in a cottage that I inherited after my grandfather passed away three years ago.

The cottage is one of the oldest homes in the area and unlike my neighbors I am not a member of the HOA.

The cottage itself is a waterfront one in which I have a small grass yard that turns into a beach on the lake.

I never had a problem until recently over a seaplane and buoys.

Due to having a private pilot’s license and being really fortunate, I own a Piper Super Cub on floats.

When I am not flying, the plane is either tied to my dock or is pulled up onto the beach and strapped down when the weather is bad.

He made some changes.

A month ago I decided to make some new additions to my property, these additions were two lines of buoys at the edge of my property with signs on each.

The buoys extend 15 feet past my dock and are still technically on my property.

The signs themselves are ones that I got custom-made warning about prop wash.

I decided to add the buoys and signs because whenever I take my seaplane out there are sometimes boaters/ kayakers who will stop to watch me leave.

Normally this is not an issue if they keep their distance however recently they have been getting too close for comfort.

These changes are to keep himself and onlookers safe.

With the addition of the buoys, I can keep a 100 X 300 ft safety rectangle. This makes it so that at the bare minimum I will always have around 100ft off of each wing of safe space.

Additionally, it prevents people from cutting me off when I come to dock or park on the beach.

About a week and a half ago I got a letter from the HOA.

The HOA is demanding I move my plane to a local seaplane base as well as remove my buoys and signs.

Here’s how he responded to the HOA.

In response, I wrote them a letter explaining the reasons behind having the buoys and told them I have no intention of changing anything.

About two days later I got an angry visitor who was an HOA member, I told her that if she or the HOA comes onto my property again they will get arrested for trespassing.

Before leaving she used some very colorful words and called me a jerk.

He’s not part of the HOA. The HOA can say whatever they want, but they have no power over what he does on his property.

Let’s see how Reddit reacted to this story.

This person points out the type of person who likes an HOA.

Another person is really annoyed by HOA people.

This person is on their side but also understands why the neighbors are unhappy.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a resident who is not amused by new parking rules, so locks a lot gate to teach management a lesson.

Everyone agrees the he shouldn’t give in to the HOA.

After the nonmember installed safety buoys around his docked seaplane, the HOA demanded he remove everything and relocate the aircraft.

OP refused, warned an angry representative against trespassing, and earned overwhelming NTA support alongside advice to hire a lawyer and install cameras.

The HOA’s authority never quite cleared the runway.