First off, sorry HOA are one reason I'll never live inside city limits or any where they have them. I have heard the horror stories and even seen the crap that the power tripping head tries to pull. Secondly the easement really is still owned by who ever owns the land. If you can get the owner of the addition or the land manager of that addition and explain to them whats going on, I bet they would or could over rule the HOA. Good Luck.