Everyone deserves to live in a happy, healthy, and thriving community. Community involvement is crucial because what goes on in your community directly affects you and your family. All too often we hear the same excuses for not getting involved. “I don’t have the time.” “I have nothing to offer.” “It is too much work”.

Scrolling through social media you can find many complaints about neighborhood HOAs, complaints about infrastructure, complaints about new housing developments, and so on. I have to admit, until recently I was not aware of how to get involved in the decision making process in regards to changes in zoning and new construction in my area. But when a developer tried to put a 3 story apartment complex in between my neighborhood and the one next to me, I got involved. Instead of sitting back and complaining on social media, I started a petition, I spoke with like minded neighbors, and I attended a Commissioners meeting and spoke out as to how this would negatively impact the infrastructure and property values for myself and my neighbors.

Here are some ways you can get involved:

• Attend your community HOA meetings. Any homeowner can attend and speak at meetings. Why not be part of the decision making process, fix problems in your neighborhood, or help plan community events? Who knows, you might even meet a few of your neighbors and make new friends in the process.
• Agendas for Commissioner’s meetings and the Department of Zoning and Planning are posted monthly in advance of the meetings. Mark your calendar to check them often for anything new that would impact you. If you have time, attend a meeting and familiarize yourself with how decisions for your community are made.
• Look for zoning variance signs throughout your community. Those signs usually mean a change is coming. Take a moment to read the sign and then research what this means for you and your neighbors. Signs are usually only placed two weeks before a meeting is set to discuss the matter at hand, so act quickly.

If you see a change that would affect your area, research it and make sure it would be a good fit. If it isn’t, consider attending the meeting and speak out. Sharing your findings on social media and getting likeminded neighbors involved will help your cause too. The more people who speak out against a new proposal will show the people in charge of making the decision that there is a lot of opposition.  This may buy you some time to regroup and gain more strength. It’s your neighborhood. Take pride in it and get involved.