Hello. Please vote in support of HB528. I am fortunately part of a community whose HOA has very generally restrictive guidelines and I have been able to install rain collection barrels, a rain garden, and pollinator- and bird-friendly landscaping. That being said, I have friends in other HOA communities whose guidelines are highly restrictive. I understand wanting beautiful landscaping, and "beauty" is a subjective term. We cannot deny that traditional landscaping with turf lawns harm our ecosystems in a variety of ways, from the use of fertilizers to chase after a "green," manicured lawn which then corrupt the health of our streams. We cannot deny that we are seeing steep declines in pollinators due to the use of pesticides and gardening practices that reduce or eliminate habitat for our native insects. We cannot deny the need to be responsive to our changing climate and plant native species which, once established, are drought- and fire-resistant, thus requiring less water and chemicals to maintain. We CAN deny HOAs the power to restrict Commonwealth residents from planting sustainable, conservation landscaping. Please support this bill and continue to move it forward. Thank you.
Hello. Please vote in support of HB528. I am fortunately part of a community whose HOA has very generally restrictive guidelines and I have been able to install rain collection barrels, a rain garden, and pollinator- and bird-friendly landscaping. That being said, I have friends in other HOA communities whose guidelines are highly restrictive. I understand wanting beautiful landscaping, and "beauty" is a subjective term. We cannot deny that traditional landscaping with turf lawns harm our ecosystems in a variety of ways, from the use of fertilizers to chase after a "green," manicured lawn which then corrupt the health of our streams. We cannot deny that we are seeing steep declines in pollinators due to the use of pesticides and gardening practices that reduce or eliminate habitat for our native insects. We cannot deny the need to be responsive to our changing climate and plant native species which, once established, are drought- and fire-resistant, thus requiring less water and chemicals to maintain. We CAN deny HOAs the power to restrict Commonwealth residents from planting sustainable, conservation landscaping. Please support this bill and continue to move it forward. Thank you.