#504-O, Barnes v. Montgomery Village Foundation (Sept. 11, 2001) (Panel: Van Grack, Price, Wertleib)

The homeowner (HO) challenged the decision of his homeowner association (HOA) to approve a basketball hoop in the yard of his next-door neighbor.

The evidence at the hearing showed that the next-door neighbor, who was not a party to the case, had applied for permission to install a basketball hoop, pole and backboard in his yard.The HOA originally denied the application, but reconsidered and approved it with modifications.The HOA took into account that there was a 5-foot wide bike path between the HO's lot and the next-door neighbor's lot, and that the neighbor had planted shrubbery along the property line.There were no floodlights for night-time use and basketball was usually played only during daylight hours.

The hearing panel first ruled that the next-door neighbor was not an essential third party to the dispute.The panel further found that the HOA's basketball backboard policy was properly adopted under its governing documents and that the HOA followed that policy when it approved the next-door neighbor's basketball backboard.The panel concluded that the HOA acted within its legal discretion in permitting the backboard, and denied the HO's request to overturn the decision.