Nurses are the world’s frontline defense against the invisible enemy known as the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), but one Homeowner’s Association (HOA) in Florida is mounting a battle against a nurse for her proactive measures to stop the spread of the deadly contagion.
According to independent television station WJXT, Sarah Lynch works as a clinical nurse coordinator for a hospital group in the metropolitan Jacksonville area. She lives in Magnolia Point Golf and Country Club in nearby Green Cove Springs.
Lynch recently brought her family’s recreational vehicle (RV) to their property just in case she or anyone else in the area eventually needed to self-quarantine. But her selfless act was a little too hard for the HOA board to stomach, however, and that’s when the trouble began.
A few days after placing the vehicle in their driveway for usufructual public health purposes, she and her husband saw that a note had been affixed to the side of the camper. The message: move your RV immediately or pay a small fortune in steadily increasing fines.
“They had a big argument, discussion via the board without speaking to us and decided that we needed to remove our RV or we would be charged $100 a day, up to $1,000, if we left it here,” Lynch told the local TV station.
Lynch and her husband also responded to the note with their own notes:
TO THE BUSY BODY who came on our property to post HOA guidelines on our RV during this PANDEMIC
President Trump has made [a] Disaster Declaration under FEMA and Governor DeSantis has issued Executive Orders declaring [a] State of Emergency, both in our view outrank the everyday HOA guidelines. Please stay safe and mind social distancing guidelines and stay six feet off the property. Thank you…oh and Wash your hands!
Lynch said she argued with the HOA board–noting that the 34-foot-long RV made perfect sense as an isolation solution because it comes equipped with a bathroom, bedroom and kitchen. The neighborly HOA board, however, determined the presence of the vehicle was simply a nuisance and said the issue was not up for debate. The president of the organization resolutely refused to negotiate.
She also called out the NIMBY bureaucrats in charge:
It didn’t seem they were concerned about our health concerns or our jobs as essential personnel.
Lynch is not currently working at the hospital–she’s triaging patients and staff from home–but expects she’ll be called in soon to deal with Coronavirus-infected patients, ultimately necessitating some way for her to quarantine away from her family.
“The time will come when I will probably need to isolate myself,” she said.
The only thing that’s been isolated so far, though, is the HOA from general conceptions of human decency.
“Also, this,” tweeted the Heritage Foundation’s Senior Legal Policy Analyst Amy Swearer. “Don’t be this HOA member.”
Others put it a bit more succinctly.
“HOAs are evil,” another Twitter used commented.
“We figured the HOA would be more lenient as the community is all pulling together,” Lynch added.
[image via screengrab/WJXT]
