One of the basic tenets of a Home Owner's Association includes elected leaders who seek an effective balance between the preferences of individual residents and the collective rights of homeowners.  However, leaders and residents should be reasonable, flexible and open to the possibility -- and benefits -- of compromise.  Within our Declarations of Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions, Article VII, Section 7.02 and 7.04 provides guidance to private single dwellings on a lot (no less than 1750sq ft in Sections 1-3) but provides exclusions for accessory units such as sheds, gazebos, and garages.  It does not provide specific restrictions to utilities provided to those units.  Any such improvement to lots (accessory units, fences, mailboxes, etc) require approval by the Architectural Review Board (ARB).  The ARB recently denied my request to build a 494 square feet (~23ft x 24ft) accessory dwelling unit (ADU), equal in size or less than many accessory buildings already in existence on other lots.  It was denied based on Section 7.04 due to the ADU being smaller than 1750 sq feet; this section being applicable to the main dwelling on the property.   In full transparency, the intent of this structure is for a "granny pod":  " a tiny home built, or placed, on the same property as the home of someone who will look after the occupant. Having their own living space gives the senior some privacy while the proximity to the caregiver makes it easier for them to monitor their loved one's health and safety."  Like many of you, I am balancing raising my family while caring for an aging parent.  The structure would adhere to required set-back lines and would be similar in style and color to our home (see picture).  It would be minimally visible to neighbors as we live in a cul-de-sac (Kathy Ct.), of which wooded land behind us is not owned by the home owner's association.  Per the Fluvanna County Community Development Senior Planner, accessory dwellings are a permitted residential use by right in R-3 zoned areas.  Please consider supporting my appeal to the Sycamore Square Home Owner's Association Board (also serving as the ARB) to allow the building of a small structure to balance independence with proximity and safety of an aging mother/grandmother.