Check to make sure that the HOA actually has the power to do this. As a land owner you are bound to follow the covenants that run with the land, but you are only actually bound to follow those covenants. You don't have to do random stuff just because the HOA board or even a majority of the HOA voters say so, you only actually have to do what's in the covenants.

Unless the covenants say that you agree to follow a bunch of dog-related rules to be defined later, you almost certainly are allowed to park your dog in your own front yard or in that of any consenting neighbor.

Clearly the solution to start owning wolves.

How the fuck are they going to enforce this?

Find out when the next meeting is. Tell them you're going to attend.

Organize all the other dog owners and all of you attend. Explain why the new rule is a burden on you all. Explain what you want. Listen to their reasoning. Come to an agreeable compromise.

Move to a place that is not in an HOA because fuck HOAs.

A complicating factor: I would say ~50% of the houses are rented and only the homeowners have a say in HOA matters. So, assuming any owners without dogs (including the whole board) and any landlord would logically vote to ban all use of the grass, while all dog-owning homeowners would vote to allow dogs near the grass.

Obviously that's generalizing what the votes would be - even though the majority of the houses have dogs, I would say the minority are homeowners with dogs.

The reason I bring this up is a petition-style response may be dismissed as "well those dog owners have no say as they are not homeowners"

So the AKC has this page that lists about half a dozen alternatives to outright banning dogs on grass.

https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/home-living/dog-pee-killing-grass/

I agree this very much sounds like the HOA taking the laziest route possible at the expense of it's residents.

But also, fuck HOAs. Get on the board and take that shit down from the inside, only reliable way to destroy those parasites.

Former real estate agent here

All you can do is talk to the hoa board. That is it. If they won't listen then you have no options. Other then pointing out this wont solve the problem and only punish members. Good luck.

I've read some folks being a bottle of water on walks to dilute the pee so it's less likely to ruin grass. But in fairness if some dog pee is ruining grass, owners are not watering their lawns enough. There are plenty of dogs in my neighborhood that are walked and I don't think there are many pee spot issues.

But even better would be to not use grass :) uses too much water in the first place hehe

shit like this is the reason I will never ever participate in an HOA

Is this legal? My understanding is that the strip of grass between the sidewalk and street is "semi-private", in that the homeowner has to maintain it, but that the city actually owns it.

I'd check local laws and see if the HOA has any right to restrict dogs there.

I am still confused how these "home owner associations" have any legal right to tell you to do anything…

HOAs often impose yard upkeep rules on owners. I have a buddy whose front yard grass keeps dying from dog walkers letting their dogs pee in his yard, and then as an insult to injury, the HOA cites him.

It'd be ideal if your neighborhood had a dog park established as an alternative, but honestly, this rule is on the more agreeable side as far as HOAs go.

In an additional effort to refocus this thread to ground cover, has anyone here in the northeast US gone with a clover ground cover, rather than grass?

Set all the grass on fire. Boom, no more grass.

You have been living there for 8 yrs. Is this the first time the board has been unreasonable? If not, you might not have much recourse. Except for becoming president of the HOA and changing by-laws yourself. Unfortunately, HOAs in America are fucking weird she mostly unregulated which leads to these power tripping people.

If so, I would converse with them and present the same arguments you posted here.

In both cases, it would help if you can get your neighbors on the same page and agree. If more than half of the neighbors come to the consensus that it’s unreasonable, could easily force the board’s hand and revert. If they don’t bend, I would then ask your neighbors to re-elect the board. If at this point, you would need to check your HOA by-laws since it wildly differs across the USA.

I know this is more of a petty answer, but if the head of your HOA lives in the HOA and you know where, have your dog deliberately shit in their yard if there are no security cameras. Early in the morning, be sure to take pictures as proof there was a dog in their grass at some point.

If enough people in the area start doing it, the rule will either change or you can start complaining like Hell that the head is of HOA isn't following the rules and hope that changes things. If not, and you are willing to be locked away, arson on the HOA owners' home (if they live in the HOA) isn't a bad option either, assuming you start the fire in their bedroom so they can burn to death.

Collect all your dogshit and dump it in the yard of the HOA president.