‘I’m so tired of fighting,’ says the veteran as drivers constantly block the entrance and sidewalk – he left more than 40 notes

A VETERAN’S cries to stop obstructing sidewalks went unheard by his community, his HOA and his neighbors.

His HOA told him that the sidewalk counts as the homeowner’s driveway, so no ADA regulations were being violated.

Bob Calderon, a disabled veteran, moved to a Manatee, Florida subdivision governed by the Greyhawk Landing Homeowners Association to retire with his wife and enjoy a reliable, clean, and safe neighborhood.

Calderon lost both legs after stepping on a landmine in Vietnam during the war, leaving him wheelchair-bound and a severe case of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Southeast Guide Dogs, a non-profit organization that trains and provides guide dogs to people with disabilities through community funding, assigned him Mae – a young Labrador Retriever to help him cope.

However, his wife passed away in 2012 from cancer and his son passed away in 2017 from liver failure, so the double amputee Vietnam veteran’s only companion was his service dog.

In 2020, the pandemic left Calderón with few options to exercise his dog and get outside, so he took walks around the neighborhood to enjoy the sun and move Mae.

It was then that his problems with his inconsiderate neighbors became fully visible.

During their walks, Calderón regularly encountered vehicles obstructing the sidewalk, forcing the two to go out into the street.

“My therapist and my psychiatrist said, what do you like to do? Well,” Calderon told Herald Tribune.

“I said I like walking my dog. She gets exercise and it gets me out of the house. Mae changed my life. But now I don’t know what to do. And I feel really bad for Mae.”

For the most part, Calderón said the neighborhood was quiet and safe, except for a few reckless young drivers.

When he is forced to move around vehicles and into the street, it makes him nervous, both for him and for Mae.

“Teenagers, when they’re out of school, drive like maniacs,” he said.

“I’ve almost been run over a few times, so it’s not worth going out on the road. The delivery guys sometimes go crazy too.”

Nervousness and difficulty navigating cars on the sidewalk reduced the time he spent outdoors with Mae, causing Mae to become overweight – a problem noticed by the agency that gave her Mae during her monthly check-ins.

“In a situation where a dog gains significant weight, which puts the dog’s health at risk, our team provides specific weight management plans and carefully monitors the dog’s progress and health,” said agency CEO Titus Herman.

“In rare situations where the dog becomes morbidly obese, the organization will bring the dog back to campus and nurse it back to health.”

Mae is all I have now. I don’t know if I could handle it if they took her away from me.

Bob Calderon

Calderon, under pressure to get Mae back into shape, resorted to printing and distributing 40 flyers throughout the neighborhood with a note asking neighbors to consider leaving the sidewalk open for people with disabilities.

Their efforts were not met with enthusiasm by neighbors.

“One person actually said, ‘You can move around.’ I said, why don’t you get in a wheelchair and try to get around a car that’s blocking the sidewalk,” she said.

“I’m really not trying to be a jerk, you know? I just don’t know why people can’t be more considerate. I’m so tired of fighting.”

Rebecca Williams, principal information specialist for Southeast ADA, said that typically, HOA subdivisions in many states are not legally required to comply with federal ADA regulations.

However, the state of Florida requires that they be serviced in accordance with Title XXIII, Chapter 316.1945 (1)(a)2 Motor Vehicles.

“It doesn’t say a city sidewalk. It says a sidewalk, period,” Williams reiterated.

What is an HOA?

One in five Americans lives in an area with a Home Owners Association – or HOA. But what exactly do they do?

• An HOA is a homeowners association – an organization that aims to maintain a clean, cohesive place for its residents to live.
• Entire neighborhoods, subdivisions, condominiums, single-family homes or townhouses within “a planned development” will often constitute an HOA.
• They also serve as a regulatory body for the tenants, who manage and finance the HOA through monthly fees.
• Its main goals are to keep the community functional and visually appealing and maintain property values.
• They focus primarily on a neighborhood’s common areas, like roads, parks, and pools — but they can also stipulate what residents can do with their properties, like yards and sidewalks.
• These restrictions often impose uniformity on properties, for example, ensuring that most houses look the same and that all sidewalks are free of weeds.
• An HOA Rule Book of Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions (CC&R) is distributed to all residents, and an elected volunteer board of directors enforces these regulations.
• Violating these rules can result in penalties such as fines and even litigation – as most HOAs are incorporated and subject to state law.
• HOAs are often the subject of controversy, with some members feeling that the rules are too punitive and restrictive, or that the leadership has too much power.
• But other HOAs like this give communities the power of self-government and can ensure a degree of harmony among residents.

“We get a lot of calls like this, but most people just don’t know who to talk to about it.”

Calderon contacted his association about the blocked sidewalks per Williams’ instructions and received a dead-end response.

“I took a look at the sidewalks in question during my most recent inspection at Greyhawk Landing,” read the email from Tamara Gilman of Argus Property Management.

“Although you may feel that the cars are blocking the sidewalk, I understand that you were previously told that they are not blocking the sidewalk as that part of the driveway is not sidewalk.”

With no option but to move around vehicles and onto a busy street, Calderon was worried about his dog being taken away without a reliable way to keep her healthy.

“Mae is all I have now,” he said.

“I don’t think I could handle it if they took her away from me.”

The US Sun has reached out to the Greyhawk Landing Homeowners Association for comment and an update.