I just spent the last 40 minutes reading every post in this thread.
I've lived this he11 myself and it ain't no fun. Was out with my 100' tape measure beside my barn, staking out where I was gonna punch some holes for the lean-to on my pole barn. Had all the materials lined up to make sure everything matched all purtyful and such.
My 70-something old woman neighbor came over and asked what I was doing. I politely told her. She got all snippy and said "You don't have enough room to build there. The HOA says you have to maintain 10' off the property line when building and I don't want to look at an eye-sore."
I just stood there in disbelief... thinking HOA? What HOA?
I asked the guy next door on the other side and he said "Yeah, I'm the HOA president and we have one and it says that."
WTF? I've lived here almost nine years and just now find out we have an HOA? (This leads into another story for another time)
Bottom line is that the COUNTY says I have to maintain 3' from the side property line, gotta file a permit for the lean-to, and that the HOA "may" be allowed to impose greater restrictions, blah, blah, blah... so I cease all forward motion while I try to sort out the issues and facts, but the grumpy old woman (who has nothing else to do) in the meantime stirs up a bunch of crap with my other neighbors and soon I'm feelin' just like Dave.
My solution? A 40' CONEX BOX planted where I was gonna build the lean-to and it is EXACTLY 38" from the property line. 100% legal and no HOA clauses nor county issues. I didn't "BUILD" anything, it is not a structure and is considered the same as one of those storage sheds on skids and no permit nor any other "approvals" are needed. Why didn't I think of this sooner?!?
Grouchy hag is furious, tries to stir up more crap with neighbors, calls the county, they come out, look, measure with their tape, determine I am not violating any codes or laws and away they go. This ticks off 'helga the furious' even more.
So now Broom Hilda has planted some sort of fast growing bushes so she doesn't have to look at it and I have dry storage for less than what I was gonna spend on the lean-to. If I ever decide i am done with it, the scrap value (at least right now) is greater than what I paid for the unit and delivery. WIN-WIN
Keep a level head Dave and smile when the sh!t gets deep. I'm pullin' for ya!