‘It’s absolutely asinine’: This Arizona man’s HOA fined him for giving away water bottles out of a cooler in his driveway — a service his neighbors think is ‘fantastic’

Neighbors, delivery drivers and passers-through were welcome to grab water from the homemade stand — and they did.

“I figured, what better way to be an asset to [the] community than cold water,” the custom sneaker designer told a news team from Arizona’s Family, a group of local TV stations.

Martin kept the free water initiative going for the past four years. But now, his homeowner association (HOA) decided it’s unacceptable — and has fined him for it.

What happened

In May, Martin says, he received a letter from FS Residential, the management company for his HOA, the Canyon Trails Homeowners Association, according to Arizona’s Family.

FS Residential fined Martin $50 for storing items in plain view, referring to the cooler filled with water bottles.

Martin refused to pay. Arizona’s Family reports that FS Residential“increased the fines to $100 monthly for June, July and August.

“It’s absolutely asinine, I don’t understand,” Martin told Arizona’s Family. “I don’t feel like I am doing anything wrong. … I think I am doing what we’re supposed to do, which is taking care of the people around us.”

How the neighbors feel

Sometimes, HOAs hand out fines due to complaints by other association members. However, it doesn’t seem like that’s the case for Martin’s water stand.

Martin had only expected to have the free water stand out during the worst of the pandemic. But it became such a hit in the neighborhood that he continued to purchase the water bottles with his own money.

Eventually, neighbors started contributing to the stand.

“Every year, I am sure I get about 30-40 flats of water,” Martin told Arizona’s Family. “Water sometimes appears at the front door, and there are two flats. I don’t know who dropped them off. It’s just a surprise, it’s fun.”

His neighbor, Larry Marks, endorses the free water stand, saying “I think it’s fantastic.”