HOA orders Doctor Who TARDIS to disappear from in front of Parrish home

WFTS Tampa Bay ^ | 01/05/15 | Chris Trenkmann

[zeugma]

For the Moders, science fiction is a family affair.

LeAnn Moder's father liked Star Wars, her mother was a Trekkie, while she and her kids are devout Doctor Who fans.

And their family has what every Who fan wished they could own: a TARDIS.  

For the uninitiated, the TARDIS is a blue police box that doubles as a time machine. On the show, it's bigger on the inside than on the outside, with a full control room that takes the Doctor and his companions through space and time.

The Moders version isn't quite so elaborate. It's made from a $1000 worth of plywood and is painted to look remarkably like the actual police box used on the TV series.

Much to the delight of her kids and many of her neighbors, this TARDIS is a rarity that few have the privilege to own.

It was built by Moder's father as a wedding set piece, and she and her husband, David, were married in front of it.

"My husband mentioned, 'Do you want to do a Doctor Who themed wedding?'" Moder said. "That could be fun."

Since then, their TARDIS has been used at sci-fi conventions and parties, and was even the focus of a Halloween haunt the Moders set up on their driveway in October.

And that's where the homeowners association came in.

The Lexington HOA sent the Moders a letter ordering them to remove the TARDIS within 15 days.

"It just struck me as a funny formal letter about a silly blue box," Moder said.

But to avoid any kind of intergalactic incident, the Moders agreed to dismantle the police box and take it out of sight. They expect it to rematerialize in their backyard.

When Moder posted the controversy on Facebook and Doctor Who blogs, she was overwhelmed with responses from Who fans offering their support.

"It's cool that there are people who love the show as much as we do and are as nerdy as we are about the show," Moder said.

The Doctor Who program started on the air in Great Britain more than 50 years ago, and despite having worldwide popularity, the Doctor's TARDIS has never been sold as a full size replica. You have to build one yourself.

"It's really amazing that it's touched so many people's lives," Moder said. "I think it's really amazing that everyone's like, 'Long live the TARDIS.'"  

UPDATE: Moder says they will hold a moving party for the TARDIS at 5:45 p.m. on Wednesday.

For information on the TARDIS moving party, visit their event page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/827865583943623/?fref=ts

 

[zeugma]

UPDATE: Moder says they will hold a moving party for the TARDIS at 5:45 p.m. on Wednesday.

Uh, wouldn't it be more appropriate to have the moving party last Wednesday?

[Rusty0604]

I was in an HOA one time; big mistake.

[Alex Murphy]

Why does it have to be moved at all? Can’t it simply be time-shifted into three seconds ago?

[Klemper]

I was so glad to get out from under my HOA. I was so tired of paying some committee $75 per year to tell me how not to use my property.

[RightOnTheBorder]

I know they can get out of control but I think a neighbor with a large, blue, plywood eyesore in the front yard is the reason HOA’s were created.

[zeugma]

I was in an HOA one time; big mistake.

Last time I was looking for a house, the first instruction to the realtor was that if it was in an HOA, we weren't interested at all.

[TexasRepublic]

That’s ridiculous. If busybody HOA officers want to enforce social conformity that badly, they should move to Cuba.

[ChildOfThe60s]

I’m happy to pay $75 a year to the HOA so it can tell my neighbor to shut his damn dog up, mow his damn lawn and pick his damn trash cans up 24 hours after the collectors come by.

HOAs can & do run amok. OTOH, when you have had an asshole neighbor that is a pig and their dog barks 12 hours a day, an HOA takes on a different perspective.

IMO an HOA works when the people running it are content to have a neighborhood with a sensible level of civilized behavior. And are willing to smack down that one butthole in every neighborhood that thinks an HOA is his private tool for harassing everyone.

[stinkerpot65]

Uh, yeah. I get sick of whining over HOAs. No one forces you to buy a house in an HOA neighborhood. HOAs are not new and everyone knows what the possibilities are.

Some HOA’s are crazy, but if they are reasonably run, your neighborhood will look nicer and your home value will be higher.

If you don’t want the rules don’t buy the house, morons.

[cableguymn]

we are in the early stages of looking for a larger home.. Very first thing we told the Realtor.. NO HOA’s! After that “no restrictions on using 4 wheelers/snowmobiles on my own land..

She said “do you know how far out of town you will end up?”

My reply. Yes, the further the better ;)

[FreedomStar3028]

But, I bet you don’t like being taxed to death.

Pretty much everywhere you go has a HOA. That you’re forced to join. Under penalty of a legally placed lien. Eat my shorts.

[Mears]

They moved there.

Rules are rules.

They can just move and take that idiotic thing with them

.

[dfwgator]

EXTERMINATE!

[AU72]

I remember the Duck Dynasty episode where the brother got all hot bothered about a restriction that he went to the Board meeting and when it was pointed out he agreed to the restriction in the original contract he said “uh alright” and left.

[Zeppo]

Is it bigger on the inside than it looks from the outside?

[hoosierham]

Obviously some ,even here,are not comfortable with freedom.

[stinkerpot65]

Yes! There are horror stories with HOAs.

But a big blue box in the front yard is not a horror story. If you want to be a kook, move out in the country.

Imagine someone joins the military and is stunned when they learn they will have to do pushups.

[sparklite2]

I’ve lived in one for the last 12 years. It’s like a little bit of East Germany in America.

[Salgak]

There’s a problem with that. In some areas, EVERY house is in one or another HOA, in any desirable neighborhood. . .

[AF_Blue]

Imagine someone buys a house near an Air Force base, and is stunned when they hear the jets flying overhead, pilots practicing touch-and-go’s, or, if they’re lucky, practicing on the firing range.