I think it’s time to close this thread. I spoke to an attorney and he agreed that I am under no obligation to sign the CC&Rs given that the HOA lapsed into a voluntary HOA. Apparently, this group of homes had no registered CC&Rs for a year, during which time I purchased my house. A huge unforgivable mistake on the part of the HOA Board, but nevertheless they left it wide open for new home buyers to opt-out. BTW, I received a letter from the HOA’s attorney that reiterated that I wasn’t subject to any of the previous CC&Rs and could choose to join or not. Why the HOA would pay an attorney to send me a letter that backs up my position is beyond me.
So what happens next? Last week I got the permit for my Kayak Rack and that took some of the air out of their sails. The HOA President was on the Zoom call and had 3 letters from neighbors complaining about it, but the County said it was legal and that ended the discussion. According to my attorney, the best thing the HOA can do is disband and start over. If they involve the homeowners in drafting new CC&Rs and remove the onerous parts, I might even be willing to sign off, but that’s a big if. I have all of the leverage here and can sit back and do nothing. When I die, my wife will sit back and do nothing, and when she dies my kids have agreed to sit back and do nothing. Until they get 100% of the property owners to sign off on the existing or new CC&Rs they can NEVER BECOME A MANDATORY HOA . I figure for the next 40 years that’s not going to happen unless they change their position and agree to start over.