Homeowners association backs down from sign removal after I-Team 8 contacts them
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The yard signs that scatter lawns in Geist Harbour, near East 79th Street and Fall Creek Road, show pride in their community.
They support health care workers, celebrate students and thank employees. But, some people were upset when the property owners’ association (POA) asked them to take the signs down.
Brent Holverson’s daughter got a sign from her school, for sixth-grade graduation.
“She was very happy to get it. She was really happy to get it,” Holverson said. “So it’s kind of a cool thing in a crazy time to be able to showcase for the sixth-graders as opposed to what they weren’t able to do at school.”
When he heard online others had been asked by the POA to take their signs down, he was not happy.
“I think it’s ridiculous,” Holverson said. “I’m all about a homeowners association and kind of keeping things clean and cool, but this is something that’s special to the kids. Crazy times definitely call for different measures.”
Just a few houses down from the Holversons, a sign sits in a neighbor’s yard. Debbie Baker got hers from the school where she works as a counselor.
“I loved it because it showed that they appreciated what everyone was doing,” Baker said. “Because this is a different way to try to connect with your kids and the teachers are trying to teach kids in a whole new way. So, we loved being appreciated.”
Neither the Bakers nor the Holversons have heard from the POA about their signs. I-Team 8 reached out to the POA, and got a following statement a few hours later.
“We are in the process of informing our residents to ignore any violation letters regarding COVID related yard signage. Our intent was to respond to complaints from some residents about the springtime proliferation of yard signs, which is the usual protocol for our covenant enforcement. We believe that we underestimated the significance and importance of these sign displays, and apologize if our actions appeared insensitive and uncaring. That was not our intention. We were simply trying to discharge our responsibility of covenant enforcement to the best of our ability.”
Susan Lew, president, Geist Harbour Property Owners Association