Hamilton Mill Homeowners Demand HOA Let Them 'Swim At Own Risk'

DACULA, GA — With summer approaching and pandemic restrictions gradually relaxing, even one homeowner’s association is arguing how best to maintain social distancing.

Channel 2 Action News reports that some residents of the Hamilton Mills community have started an online petition demanding their right to “swim at their own risk” in the area’s swimming pools.

For now, both the Mill View and Lake View pools are closed. When the Lake View pool opens on June 1, it will be with HOA restrictions that allow no more than 50 people at a time and a reservation system for two-hour time slots, each slot followed by one hour of cleaning time. The Mill View pool will remain closed. Other restrictions include no swim lessons and no pool toys.

“Simply let the residents handle their own social distancing,” resident Ron Willis told Action News reporter Berndt Petersen. "The board has gone way too far going past the recommendations of the CDC and the governor."

The change.org petition — which had more than 150 signatures as of Monday morning — said that the Center for Disease Control has found no evidence of COVID-19 spreading through treated swimming water and that with warm weather the pool is “safer than shopping at Walmart, Target, Kroger or Home Depot.”

The petition demands "the opening of both the Mill View and Lake View pools safely, but without the additional requirements the HOA has decided to instill." It suggests as an alternative that homeowners be allowed to sign waivers relieving the HOA of any responsibility in the matter.

A post to the Hamilton Mill Facebook page by HOA president Jerry Hanes directs residents to documents on the community’s website. It also asks residents to “be nice” to lifeguards and supervisors, because they are “merely doing their jobs” in a “difficult” situation.

Patch.com has contacted the homeowner’s association for a response and will add it to this story when it becomes available.