Oviedo family’s mini library drawing legal fire from HOA
Please turn to BOOKS, A22
Even before lawyers for the Oviedo homeowners association got involved, Bob Garick looked at the birdhouse-shaped Little Free Library box in the front yard and asked his wife, Autumn, “Is this worth a fight?”
They decided it was after the board governing the Bentley Woods neighborhood voted unanimously last month to direct a lawyer to send the Garicks a certified letter demanding they take down the box filled with children’s books such as “Where the Wild Things Are,” arguing the mini library is prohibited by association rules.
“Why is it a crime?” asked Sherry Hynoski, who lives in the middle-class community south of State Road 434 and east of State Road 417 and signed a petition asking the association to let the book-lending box stay. “Who’s it hurting?”
The Bentley Woods Community Association lawyer’s letter, which also demands $194.75 for
“attorney fees and costs,” contends covenants or rules were “created to help protect and maintain the values of the properties within the Association.” Attorney Ryan Fong alleges that the Garicks violated a rule requiring homeowners to submit a “complete set of plans and specifications for the proposed improvements” before starting “construction.”
The association tried a softer approach earlier. On Dec. 1, Bentley Woods’ property manager Raymond Shrum sent the Garicks a letter that began, “On behalf of the Association, we take pleasure of saying ‘Thank you’ for having a Lending Library for the community.”
That letter also asked the Garicks to mail in an “architectural review” application for the library and offered them the option of relocating the Little Free Library to association-owned property near a pond and community bench. The Garicks aren’t interested in that option.
The box in dispute is part of the Little Free Library movement started in 2009 by a Wisconsin man who built a book-sharing nook shaped like a oneroom schoolhouse to honor his mother, a teacher.
Since then, more than 60,000 “branches” have sprouted around the world — including several dozen in Central Florida neighborhoods, according to littlefreelibrary.org, a website for a nonprofit group created to promote community book exchanges.
As requested, Autumn Garick, who preferred to keep the little library at her home, sent in the application typically required for building an addition, adding a pool, installing a fence or repainting — all of which need the association’s OK.
Four days later, the association responded with a rejection letter informing the Garicks that their request for the small mounted lending library at their home had been “diapproved” without citing a reason.
“The Community is charged with the responsibility of preserving the aesthetic appearance of the Community to help protect the value of the homes. Occasionally, this means rejecting a Request for Approval,” the HOA response explained. “Please do not get discouraged from making Requests in the future.”
Autumn Garick, who performs in area schools, libraries and festivals as a storyteller, was heartbroken. She had nurtured a love of reading in her daughters, one of whom, Sydney, will graduate this month from Yale University.
“Honestly, I thought how are they going to have trouble with this? It was really small, about the size of a birdhouse,” Autumn Garick said of the 24-inch tall, 20-inch deep, 24-inch wide red cube. “It was about making connections with people and doing something nice.”
Others in the well-kept community thought so, too.
About half of the 200plus households signed a petition Garick carried door-to-door that read, “I like the little library on Bentley Street. Please let it stay.” As an added touch, she handed out book markers featuring birdhouses.
Linda Trocine, a realestate agent and Bentley Woods resident for 25 years, said the homeowner group can protect property values but vague rules and selective nitpicking are why some prospective homebuyers don’t want to look at houses in neighborhoods governed by an association.
While some residents believe relocating the Garicks’ lending library to association property is a reasonable solution, Trocine said the group’s proposed compromise seems illogical.
“If the problem is the box, why is the box OK if it’s on HOA [homeowners association] property and, on her property, it’s not OK?”
The disagreement over the tiny library isn’t the Garicks’ first run-in with the association in their 17 years in Bentley Woods.
About a year ago, a board member visited the couple’s home, hoping to persuade the Garicks to take down a sign in their landscaping.
In all caps and multicolored lettering, the sign reads: “In this house, we believe: black lives matter; women’s rights are human rights; no human is illegal; science is real; love is love; no matter your faith or ability kindness is everything.”
The Garicks said their sign was no different — and about the same size as — others allowed on lawns in the neighborhood promoting CrossLife Church.
They refused to remove it, and the association dropped the issue.
Last month, the Garicks replaced their original little library to a scaled down birdhouse-shaped box near their sidewalk, hoping it would win approval. But it didn’t matter to the homeowners association.
“I really love it. More importantly, my granddaughter really loves it,” said Leo Gomez, who lives next door. “When they come to visit, she walks over and starts pointing, pointing, pointing at the books. I don’t understand how it can bother anybody.”