Its like a snow ball effect.

If you ask the manager to justify a fee and he starts hemming and hawing, move on or require them to remove the fee.

How have others effectively dealt with these types of HOA situations?

If something isnt removed, protest it again. 

If so, there’s not a real easy way for you to remove them even if you wanted to. 

One can spend hours talking about risks.At a high level you can remove all risks by doing 2 things 1) Adding disclaimer when you sell AND/OR 2) Doing double close aka you buy first and then you sell. 

If FoxConn happens it is so big, it does not matter where you are, ripple and displacement effects will raise the tide for all boats in the greater Milwaukee metro area.

Find a good inspector that is trusted by professionals in your area and get a good pulse on the effective life of your big ticket items (Roof, HVAC, HW heater, etc.) and calculate out how much each will cost to replace, then do the math backwards for what you need to put aside for CAPex and maintenance. 

If the community was able to petition the government to remove the community from the floodplain and succeeded, great!!

The owner doesn't want to sell the land, they just want to sell the home, she wants it removed from the land so she can built another home.