Batting cage fight in Blue Springs

Todd Campbell has struck out.

The former Fort Osage baseball athlete and current Blue Springs resident is engaged in what he believes is an uphill battle with his homeowners association at Cumberland Falls, a development of about 80 homes off Pink Hill and Owens School roads.

The issue?

The Campbell Baseball Machine.

A simple invention made for Campbell’s two boys and the local neighborhood children, the machine resembles a typical pitching machine and enclosed batting cage: four 9-foot poles painted dark green and wrapped in netting, stretching nearly the length of the yard with a machine that pitches rubber balls at all those who are willing to swing.

And there have been plenty of willing batters.

“Kids love it,” Campbell said. “It’s something that keeps kids busy and active and keeps them in the neighborhood. I’d rather them be at my house than wandering around.”

Campbell designed and built it, installing it in his backyard on Cumberland Drive in April. Because he already had a trampoline and a pool on his property, Campbell thought there would be no conflict with the association. He even called the president of the association, wrote letters, in an effort to confirm the project did not violate any association rules and regulations.

No response.

“So we went ahead and put it up,” he said. “We didn’t see any problem with it. Rules about outside structures were always a bit vague, and there was even discussion about the board wanting to define them better.”

Then the letter from the association’s attorney came on April 30, informing Campbell that he had not obtained prior written approval from the board of directors. Attorneys requested that the cage be removed no later than May 21 or face a court-ordered injunction for its removal – and reimbursement of legal and attorney fees, as well as possible fines imposed as a lien against his property.

Strike one.

“I had people in the neighborhood telling me that the attorneys were going to contact me,” Campbell said. “I told them I didn’t believe that. But they were right.”

Campbell eventually contacted the board president, who informed him that all he needed to do was collect 80 percent, or about 60 signatures, and present the petition to the board.

Paper in hand and some children in tow, Campbell went door to door, collecting 63 signatures.

Campbell even hired his own attorney, who planned to attend the appeals meeting. With the proper number of signatures and obvious support throughout the neighborhood, Campbell felt pretty confident he could make a strong case.

When the board turned him down, the group of five members also agreed that if Campbell could make the poles collapsible, they would reconsider.

Campbell and a friend, an engineer, redesigned it, constructing it in such a way that the four poles, set in cement, could be removed when not in use.

“We took about a week to redesign it,” he said. “After I sent it in the mail, I was told they wouldn’t even look at the plans.”

Strike two.

Campbell could have gone around the housing development a second time and collected signatures to contest the appeals ruling, but that would have required notarizations.

More effort.

More money in addition to the $5,000 he’s estimated he has already spent.

So he took down his Campbell Baseball Machine. They covered it up and stacked the poles in the backyard.

Despite repeated efforts, Cumberland Falls Homeowners’ Association President Sondra Cooper has not been able to be reached to tell the association’s side of the story.

But some other homeowners in the neighborhood who spoke to The Examiner, such as Brian and Audra Clardy, whose home is the only home in the neighborhood with a full view of the Campbell’s back yard, said the whole experience dumbfounds them.

“I honestly don’t understand it,” Audra said. “Their house is very nice, they keep it clean and in order. Having a batting cage where kids can come over makes sense.

“That’s the point of a neighborhood, isn’t it, to bring people together?”

Brian Clardy said he understands perfectly why it’s happening.

“It all comes down to living in a homeowner’s association,” he said. “I’d always wanted to live like this, but it’s difficult to feel that way when an organization does things like this.”

He’s not particularly pleased to hear that the association may raise annual dues, which are $120 currently. In a letter drafted by the HOA and provided to The Examiner by Campbell, the board informed residents that the homeowners’ association has spent more than $800 in legal fees so far for 2009.

The document reads:

“These (legal fees) are a direct result of the homeowners ignoring the responsibility to consult with the board prior to installation of the structure and ignoring subsequent requests to await further clarification on the established processes for addressing modifications.”

A neighbor of Campbell’s later wrote a letter of concern and mailed it to residents, complaining that the board’s actions continue to “disrupt and split our neighborhood... Their way is to throw our yearly dues to the lawyers.”

The letter continued:

“There are much bigger ‘eyesores’ than a commercial vehicle parked in a driveway and a batting cage. Where do our dues go? We don’t have the amenities other neighborhoods have like a pool or a pond.”

Brian said an overwhelming number of residents on Cumberland Drive and Ridge Creek Drive approve of the batting cage, but residents of Hans Drive oppose it. Both Brian Clardy and Campbell describe the housing development as having splintered into “cliques” and “groups,” where Hans Drive residents enjoy some benefits that others can’t.

“I know for a fact that there’s a basketball court in the backyard of a home here,” Campbell said. “Two hoops on 12-foot poles. A cement court and everything.”

Campbell doesn’t know the next step. He’s had some offers from friends to put the device up at their house. One friend offered to put it in a maintenance garage where kids could use it.

“But there are a lot of kids here who want to use it,” he said.

“It’s no good to the kids here if it’s somewhere else. They’re losing out.”

Strike three.