The Fondells’ daughter needed a space to play. Their Grafton HOA says it must come down.

Elise Fondell spent the summer playing outside, happily moving between her dollhouse and her play stove, free from prying eyes in the shelter of the family’s deck.

Carl Fondell smiles at the memory. His daughter, 16 has 9p syndrome, a rare genetic deletion disorder, and an overpowering social anxiety that tends to keep her out of open spaces. Before fence panels were put up around his deck, she rarely played outdoors.

“It was so wonderful, to see her playing outside, to just — play,” he said during an interview at his Flint Pond Estates home. “They want to take that away and it just breaks my heart. Just because of a fence. Panels that looks like everyone else’s panels.”

“They” are the Flint Pond homeowners association, the board responsible for keeping the 72-unit townhouse community in order. if the roofs are in need of repair, the HOA handles it. Trash pickup? That’s an HOA problem. Has someone put up a Christmas display that’s not in line with everyone else’s? The HOA may demand it be taken down and the owner fined.

If you put up a fence panel, similar to the other perpendicular privacy panels that separate the units’ backyards, that runs parallel, thus closing off the space underneath your deck? The HOA will order you to take it down, store it, create an architectural drawing of the space, document the contractor’s insurance status, and maybe, just maybe, allow you to reinstall the exact same panels. 

Or maybe not, and Carl Fondell has lost hope. It took him a couple years to save up the $1,800 for the fence. He doesn’t have the money to take it down, nor the money to pay for both storage and labor if the HOA has it taken down for him, or have it re-installed. He can’t even afford an attorney.

But he does have a daughter who needs a safe outdoor space where she won’t feel like strangers are staring. That means the Fondell family needs to fight for their fence.

The clock is ticking. The Fondells have until January 22 to remove the fence, according to condominium manager Jud Goodnow, speaking for the board of trustees.

“Bottom line, the Board clearly articulated the issue with the fence to Carl and has repeatedly told Carl that the Board will work with him to find an appropriate fence solution,” Goodnow said in an email to Grafton Common. “The Board has given Carl numerous opportunities to work out a productive solution; regrettably, he has not participated in a meaningful dialogue and instead has threatened the Board and disseminated false information to other unit owners.”

Carl and Elinor Fondell are originally from Sweden and have four children, the oldest of whom is a missionary in Taiwan. Three children remain at home, along with an additional foster baby, and like other families in the time of Covid, they scramble to find space so the children can virtually attend class while their parents work from home.

“We are trying to be good people, good neighbors,” Carl Fondell said. “It’s a difficult situation.”

The Fondells moved to Flint Pond Estates in 2014, purchasing one of the 18 affordable units in the 72-unit complex, built off Creeper Hill Road. They settled in, made friends with neighbors, and Carl Fondell even became a board member on the HOA.

He brought up the fence plan with Tony Lea, then-HOA chairman, a couple years ago, then took some time to save up the money.

Much to his regret, he never got that agreement in writing, which was echoed by Goodnow.

“In December 2015, the Fondells were given preliminary permission to install a privacy panel on the side parallel to his unit to Flint Pond Drive so long as it was installed by a licensed and insured contractor and matched all other privacy panels on site (the standard approved by the Board),” Goodnow wrote. “The fence style was also to be submitted for board approval before installation. That request was not fulfilled.”

Goodnow added that despite the board’s written concerns about the fence in August 2020, Fondell did not mention his daughter’s medical needs until the following month, which he denies. The HOA also believes the fence was damaged during an October storm and could present a danger.

“We have offered him several opportunities for him to comply and to submit plans for an installation of compliant fence/paneling to no avail,” Goodnow wrote.  

“In closing we have told him that:

1. The fence is a serious safety issue to all owners that may pass by
2. The fence was installed in a tilted fashion against the install instructions of the manufacturer
3. A new fence can be installed after he submits a new request and the plan is approved
4. The fence must be installed by a licensed and insured contractor
5. Dig safe must be called before a new installation so area is marked for safe digging (previously not done)
6. He can store the panels in his garage until new plan is approved
7. If the panels are not removed we reserve the right to remove them and have them stored at his expense.”

Carl Fondell has attempted to rally neighbors to his cause, hanging petitions pleading his cause from doorknobs and suggesting the HOA board could be recalled. Thirty-two people have offered support.

“I can’t afford this,” he said. “I can’t pay to get it taken down. I can’t afford a lawyer to fight this. My intention with this is clear. They should be able to find it in their hearts to forgive this.”

Support Grafton Common and local, independent journalism!