Managing shared spaces in a neighborhood can get messy, especially when the responsibilities fall entirely on one person.
So, what would you do if you discovered a problematic “common area” pond was actually on your property and nobody else was willing to help maintain it?
Would you keep dealing with the hassle?
Or would you fill it in and be done with it?
In the following story, one homeowner finds themselves in this very situation.
Here’s the full story.
For the past several years, I’ve owned a property in a semi-rural area.
It is part of an HOA with only 12 houses over 1,000 acres, so we don’t get much in each other’s way.
There is a “common area” that abuts my property and on it, there is a “pond” that is fed via an irrigation headgate on a creek on my property and a cut that runs from it through my property.
I’ve come to discover this pond is a real pain.
One neighbor used to maintain it (without making a fuss) but he passed.
So dealing with it fell to me, as the neighbor most affected by it. And it’s a pain.
There are many issues with the pond, and it turns out, it’s completely on his land.
People trespass to go fishing or have their dogs swim in it.
People from outside have come to ice-skate on it (totally not safe!).
It has silting problems.
The headgate needs to be dug out every spring, sometimes multiple times.
The cut clogs up and has to be cleared.
Then a beaver took up residence and kept blocking the outflow culvert, causing a flood on the neighboring farmer’s land (he was rightly mad and I got the brunt of it).
I was clearing out beaver blockages several days a week.
Nobody else in the HOA would help.
I did some research and discovered that the water right for the headgate belonged to *me alone* and not the association (whoops!).
There was no easement for the irrigation cut and, cherry on the sundae, the pond is actually on my property and not common area.
Had a survey done just to be sure.
He found the perfect solution, but now some neighbors are mad.
I also discovered it wasn’t really a “pond” — it was a hole dug up to provide fill for our road and the original developer just routed irrigation into the hole and called it a “pond.”
This explains why it is such a mess.
A landowner a mile away is now digging out a proper pond and he has to pay a ton to dispose of the fill (even though it is clean).
I asked if it would help if he could put some of the fill in our “pond” and he offered to pay for the privilege.
I have closed the headgate and started draining the pond. Some members of the HOA have been yelling at me that they like the pond (just to look at as they drive out to the main road).
So I said, ok, if you like it, pay up to $10K a year for someone to deal with the nonsense.
They refused, I said that in that case the pond is getting filled in and planted with native grass, using the money from taking the fill.
They called me selfish.
AITA?
Wow! It’s easy to see this from both sides, but that does sound like a lot of work for one person.
Let’s see what type of advice the fine folks over at Reddit have to offer.
This person has a great point.
Here’s the perspective of a property management professional.
As this person points out, it’s their land, so they’re free to do whatever.
Yes! This person turns it around on the other people.
Those are some rude neighbors!
If they want the pond so bad, they should take care of it.
If you liked that post, check this one about a guy who got revenge on his condo by making his own Christmas light rules.
