Homeowner fined for handing out free water now raising $50K for legal battle with HOA

The Arizona homeowner hit with fines for giving out free bottled water is ready to throw down.

David Martin from Goodyear, AZ, made a splash when he racked up $650 worth of citations from his homeowner’s association for leaving a cooler of free bottled water in his driveway.

Now he’s trying to raise as much as $50,000 to take the group to court.

The saga began in 2020, when Martin placed the cooler on his property to help passersby beat the heat, but his HOA said the ice chest violates bylaws about unsightly junk.

“There are kids, delivery drivers, people walking outside in the heat, and I want to do something to help them,” Martin told The Post.

The citations began rolling in last summer, first for $25, then going up to $100 when Martin neither paid them nor moved the cooler.

Martin believes the cooler doesn’t break any rules. Plus, it provides an invaluable service in his neighborhood, which is currently roasting under 100+ degree daily highs, he said.

Now, the would-be obscure dispute has gone viral, with Martin landing in national headlines and supporters rallying behind his cause.

“People have sent me more than 150 cases of bottled water to date,” he said.

The battle has raged for more than a year, and suing the Canyon Trails Unit 4 West Homeowners’ Association could cost $40,000 to $50,000 in legal fees, according to several lawyers Martin consulted.

But he’s not backing down.

Martin can’t afford to pay lawyers out of pocket, but he has begun selling T-shirts, banking on his new virality, on the website for his custom sneaker business, Candy Man Kicks.

The shirts say “Free. Cold. Water.” on the front with an image of a bottle on the back, and all proceeds will support his fight to keep the cooler in the driveway, he said.

​​The HOA said it has no problem with Martin handing out water, but stated he cannot advertise such projects on his lawn.

“The Association does not object to a resident providing water bottles within the community; however, the community’s rules do not allow a resident to advertise water bottle distribution from a portable ice chest, located next to their garage that is visible from neighboring property,” the board said in a statement to 12News.

Martin countered that the cooler doesn’t violate rules against permanently stored items since he wheels it inside every night.

For him, the issue is bigger than the water bottles.

The cooler was inspired by his grandfather, who turned his house into a community food pantry and would hand out free food to anyone who came knocking, Martin said.

“My grandfather inspired me. He always said, ‘You’re a good boy. Always do the right thing.’ And I want to do the right thing.”

Martin believes the citations, which began rolling in last summer, started as random HOA nitpicking, but the situation escalated to a full-blown vendetta when he circulated a petition around the neighborhood to get three board members ousted.

A special meeting was held on July 10 to settle the matter.

Out of 210 ballots, 190 voted for the removal of the three members, with the board recognizing the supermajority vote.

The targeted members were due to be removed from their roles the next day, but they called an emergency session to invalidate the vote, claiming there wasn’t enough notice for the meeting. Board members also questioned whether the 210 votes were enough to establish a quorum in a community with over a thousand homes.

Martin showed The Post records he claims prove the meeting was held within an acceptable timeframe and that the number of votes did represent a quorum of 20% of homeowners.

He acknowledged that there is more at stake for the HOA than one cooler in one driveway now that their spat is in national news.

“If the HOA backs down now, they’re setting a bad precedent for HOAs all over the country.”

Martin said if a court ruled that the waters were, indeed, in violation of his homeowners’ agreement, he would find some other way to keep the neighborhood hydrated – perhaps with a permanent structure akin to the “Little Free Library” book exchanges that have popped up in neighborhoods across the country.

But for now, the priority is to sell his shirts, lawyer up, and let the courts decide who gets a drink – and who takes a bath.