We moved to our property in 1985, and at the time didn't have an POA (HOA). I believe it was either 98 or 99 that a POA was formed, and then a few years later some Californians decided they wanted to get on the board and make some changes. They decided they didn't want anyone shooting on their land. We had a range that had been established since we bought the place. They tried everything, including calling the Sheriff on us. The Sheriff told them there was nothing he could do, as we are in the county and on private property. They began calling my parents and telling them they couldn't shoot on their property, so my parents called the Sheriff and told them the POA was harassing them. The calls stopped quickly.
We paid our dues every year, but since we were the only ones that lived on the west side of the canyon, the roads were not maintained. When we asked why, they said they could only maintain the east side of the canyon because that is where the majority of the people lived.
What I got out of the entire issue was, they want our money, they want to tell us what we can and can't do on our property, but they don't want to do anything for those requests. We do whatever we want on our property within the LAW, not the POA. Why should we have to change things we have been doing for well over 20 years now because some new comers don't like it.