Residents in the Crossings neighborhood last week voted overwhelmingly to overturn a set of new rules and fines that some believed would have forced a neighborhood dessert shop to close down.

The new rules were approved earlier this year by board members of the Crossings Homeowners' Association. Among the revisions, the rules would set stricter fines on parking and other violations in the neighborhood. But the change that drew the most attention was a rule to force businesses to abide by "quiet hours" after 6 p.m.

In effect, that rule only impacted SnoZen, a shop specializing in Taiwanese shaved snow and the only business that stays open in the evenings. SnoZen owners complained they were being unfairly targeted by an HOA board member who lives directly above the shop. A number of other residents rallied to their cause, and in the process, a loose opposition group dubbing itself "the Crossings Resistance" set up a website and hired its own attorney to scrutinize the board's actions.

In recent days, the brouhaha even got its own election after some neighbors petitioned to veto the board's revised rules. In a vote taken among about 230 households in the neighborhood last week, approximately 71 percent of the residents opted to overturn the new rules.

Pressing the advantage, opponents are now seeking to recall the entire HOA board. In recent days they presented a petition signed by more than 80 residents that calls for a special vote on a recall. If successful, an entirely new board of directors would need to be elected.

Mark Noack