Greetings,
I want to thank all of you for the feedback both in person and electronically. I’ve been trying to figure out a way to send this email. Honestly, I’ve been avoiding it. I don’t like being in this position any more than you enjoy it, but however we got here, we are here. I want you to know that I understand how some of this stuff may sound and come across, especially if you are just getting up to speed. Most of you don’t know the board or even the other homeowners outside your neck of the woods, and now you are being asked to sign off on a document that is full of lots of stuff, parts of which sound overreaching. I get it. So here is what I’m going to attempt to do – summarize what appear to be the sticky points.
Lawsuits – Yuck.
We arrived at this juncture, because our current articles of incorporation state that the ACC (that’s the committee that actually has to talk to the homeowners when the CC&R’s aren’t being followed) has the authority to levy fines and possible legal action against a homeowner who is not following the current (the old) CC&R’s. That’s 3 people making decisions with no oversight. Yup, we thought that was out of balance too. So we (the current board along with the ACC) decided to go talk with an attorney to see how we can fix it. The proposed change is that the ACC and the HOA board would make that decision together IF the need ever arose. We also added (per our last meeting) that IF that ever happened where we would get to the point of legal action, we would call a special meeting with the entire HOA, to discuss what was going on and to get input. The board and the ACC would then take all of that information and vote on how to proceed. I know that sounds awful. I agree. In the 30 years of our existence, it has never happened. I also understand that in a perfect world getting the entire HOA together to vote would be ideal. The truth is, it has taken 2 years to get to this point. Trying to call a vote on something like this would be near impossible and, consider for a moment, that you are the neighbor(s) who are dealing with the difficulty. If I live on the other side of the neighborhood, chances are I’m not going to be too interested because it doesn’t directly impact me. That’s why we have a board. That’s why we try to get people from each section of the neighborhood to be on the board. These are the cards we are dealt. To change or disband the HOA would take a ton of work, and the person who would make that proposal would also have to see it through. (Did I mention we’ve been at this for two years?) Now of course, we can choose to do nothing and leave the current CC&R’s the way they are. Agreed. But remember, that means that the ACC can pretty much do what they want with no oversight. That’s why we sought out the lawyer. That’s why we are proposing these changes, along with the new suggestions from our meeting.
Adult Home
After the meeting we went back to the lawyer. You can see his responses on our website. He said to leave it because the language states that if someone ever heads down that road, they would have to meet the state requirements.
Lawn Patrol
I don’t want someone telling me my length of lawn, right? Agreed. The purpose for that section is to protect the surrounding homeowners from a property that might, for example, go into foreclosure and the owner lets the yard go to scrap. We actually had that happen a few years back.
Multiple Boat/RV
The question was raised about having a boat and a second RV/trailer. Here is what we are changing/proposing. If you have both, you need to: A – follow the proposed storage CC&R’s, B – write a letter to the board letting them know what you are doing and C – you must be the owner of both items. This prevents someone from making their property a storage yard.
I believe those were the biggies. Here’s the deal. We need 56 signatures to make the changes. Currently we have 22 either signed or in the process of signing. We are having a meeting on March 23, 7pm, same location, to have any further discussion/questions answered. If you are going to make a proposal for any additional changes (for example disbanding the HOA), please come prepared. That means please read the items we have sent and if possible, ask us directly for any clarification or further information. You will also need the proposal in writing and then you, after our meeting, you will have to get 56 signatures from the homeowners in order to get it passed.
In conclusion, I want to state as clearly as I can. Despite what you read, despite your previous experiences with an HOA, no one here is looking to rule Westridge with an iron hand. If we decide to reject the current proposal, then we all fall back and agreed to live under the current CC&R’s, which are more restrictive and somewhat more difficult to interpret, and we allow whoever is on the ACC to enforce them however they see fit. That’s not a scare tactic. I just want everyone to understand where we are. I can tell you that I nor my fellow board members have the energy to continue doing rewrites to come up with the perfect document that will cover and appease everyone. I believe what we have, with the proposed changes from you and our lawyer, is a pretty solid document. So I would encourage you to read the new, and the old, and then we can decide together what to do as neighbors. I’m hoping we can wrap this up, either way, and get on to better things like yard sales and lawn of the month awards. Remember, if you don’t show up to the meeting, just know that other people are potentially going to make decisions for your neighborhood. Regardless, at our meeting we will be respectful of each other. At the end of the day, we are neighbors.
I want to personally thank Larry Keeton, for the unbelievable amount of work you have put into this document and helping us navigate into clarity. We would be lost without you. Thank you everyone for taking the time to read this lengthy response. I look forward to seeing you on March 23rd.
Kevin
Acting HOA President
Westridge HOA Silverdale, WA 