The gated community where my parents live has streets owned by the city. I'm not going to link the specific one, because I don't want to dox myself, but it does certainly happen. I specifically remember it because there was a tiff in the neighborhood over it when the city installed new stop signs within the community against the wishes of residents, but there wasn't anything the residents could do because the streets were owned by the city and thus had to abide by city traffic laws.
edit: after looking into it, it appears that one common scenario is for an HOA to enter an agreement with the city where the city continues to provide street services on the community streets even though the streets are owned by the HOA. I'm not sure if that was the situation with my parents hood, but it certainly muddles the water a bit.
Would you be able to call the police and tell them a non-resident is trespassing if they are just on the street? Either the street is privately owned, in which case it makes sense for the trespassing charge to stick, or it's public, in which case it doesn't, no?
I don't know for sure! But when I was reading about HOAs and private/public roads, I came across this:
>With regard to law enforcement, the Texas Penal Code defines a “public place” as any place to which the public or a substantial group of the public has access and includes, but is not limited to, streets ... In Woodruff v. State, 899 S.W.2d 443, 445-46 (Tex. App.–Austin 1995, no pet.), the defendant was arrested for driving while intoxicated on the grounds of Bergstrom Air Force Base. The court held that Bergstrom was a public place, even though it was fenced and the only entrance was through a guarded access gate. Is a gated community a place where a “substantial group of the public” has access? The answer is unclear. Some city police departments may adopt a policy to respond to certain types of calls from gated communities, but not others. Again, the problem involves the provision of public funds for private purposes, which is prohibited by the Constitution and state law.
That's interesting, so it's as though the HOA becomes a local government. I wonder if it would withstand a legal challenge, and the only issue is that no one has bothered to invest the time/money to do so.
edit: after looking into it, it appears that one common scenario is for an HOA to enter an agreement with the city where the city continues to provide street services on the community streets even though the streets are owned by the HOA. I'm not sure if that was the situation with my parents hood, but it certainly muddles the water a bit.