SNOQUALMIE, Wash. — Some homeowners living in a Snoqualmie neighborhood say their homeowner's association is trying to silence them by making them remove "Black Lives Matter" and pro-LGBTQ signs in their front yards. But the association says it's just following policy.
"They claim that it is content-neutral, that they're not targeting these signs," said one couple living in the Snoqualmie Ridge community. The couple asked KING 5 not to reveal their identity for fear of retaliation.
The couple said they believe the enforcement is coming because of what the signs say on them. "It's a 'Black Lives Matter' and 'Love Is Love' sign," they explained.
The couple said the Snoqualmie Ridge Residential Homeowners Association (HOA), which manages the community, is using a no signage policy to make them take the signs down. But the couple claimed the policy usually isn't enforced and there's never been an issue before.
"As a matter of fact, we've had a security sign in our front yard for 15 years," the couple told KING 5.
KING 5 reached out to the HOA President Cliff Gilley to get more clarification on the community's sign policy, and received a statement from the HOA Board of Directors that said in part:
"Restrictions on signage are a central feature in the use restrictions contained in a normal set of restrictive covenants. By law, owners have a limited right to post political signs, which the sign policy defines as a sign that contains a message supporting or opposing a candidate or ballot measure that will be on an upcoming primary or election ballot. The Association has actively informed owners about the ways in which they can exercise this limited right to post political signs."
The statement continued and said in light of "recent events" the Board decided to approve a six-week exemption on its signage policy.
"Recent events seemed to cause many to feel a need to express themselves on issues of importance unrelated to an impending election," said the HOA's statement. "Rather than strictly enforcing the political sign policy as it is written, the Board proactively refined the policy to enable the Board to temporarily suspend the definition of “political sign” where, in the judgment of the Board, doing so would be in the best interests of the Snoqualmie Ridge community as a whole."
But that six-week exemption expired on July 29, and the couple said they were sent a letter that stated their sign is now in violation and needs to be removed.
KING 5 was shown screenshots from the Snoqualmie Ridge community's Facebook page, where other homeowners expressed confusion over the sudden enforcement.
KING 5 delved into the HOA's policy on "temporary signage" that is exempt from their overall no sign policy. It covers where homeowners can put signs, how long they can keep them up, but it does not specify what the sign can or cannot say. At the end of the policy, it only encourages homeowners to "speak with a manager before placing any sign."
Members of the Board declined to do an on-camera interview with KING 5, only sending their statement and answering some questions via email. They did not answer questions involving whether they were targeting specific signs or if homeowners could be faced with fines or foreclosure for not removing them.
The couple KING 5 spoke with said they believe the board is being disingenuous.
"We'd love to believe that they're not targeting and not trying to suppress these peaceful, non-violent messages. But it's hard to believe," they said.
The Board claimed they are listening to the community's concerns and feedback regarding the sign policy.
"The temporary exemption recently expired. In the wake of its expiration, owners have been making their viewpoints and opinions known to the Board about how signage restrictions might best be handled going forward," said the HOA's statement. "The Board is listening to the information that it continues to receive from owners on the subject so that any more permanent action taken on signage is the product of having first listened to, and carefully considered, all of the points of view expressed by the association members. So far, the feedback received from the community has been roughly equally split between strict enforcement of the existing policy, and an extension of the exemption which recently expired."
The Board said while the conversations continue, the signage rights and restrictions remain in place and they are asking homeowners to abide by those restrictions.