2019 CC&R Amendment Overview

The CC&R changes were the result efforts started in 2016 to clarify and correct gaps in the document. The initial effort resulted in a minor change in 2016 that clarified that the HOA does not take care of home exteriors in the maintained section, but many other needed changes were not addressed.

These revisions were the results of multiple legal reviews with attorneys, extensive discussion among the board, and feedback from members after a first change proposal was presented at the annual meeting in January, 2019. The general intent of these changes are described below. See the adopted version of the CC&Rs in the documents section.

1. Added “business judgement rule” as a guideline for board decisions and actions

2. Removed multiple references to Declarant (the bankrupt developer) since they are no longer relevant. This included removing reference to their membership class and the 10x voting privileges they had.

3. Clarified language related to reinvestment fees (collected when a home sells) in order to comply with state code requirements… these are already in place at $200 and there is no intent to increase them. But we put a limit on how quickly they could increase should future boards try to increase them.

4. Clarified which landscaping is covered in the HOA maintenance in the PUD areas to ensure fairness so neighbors aren’t paying for others special additions to their yards. Made it clear that the HOA could bill for special extra work on individual lots that result from custom changes people have made .

5. Added specific language to provide a basis for the HOA to manage parking on HOA owned property and in parking easements the HOA has. This may not have been essential because state statute and the CC&Rs currently provide for rule-making authority for the HOA through the Board, but we wanted to make this explicit and clear because there was already some mention of parking in the existing CC&RS.

6. Removed artificial caps on dues, which were not relevant or enforceable, and established a logical cost-based budgeting approach to setting dues. This is already the approach we have taken, and as residents should remember, dues were lowered in some cases in the prior year. The HOA has no need or intent to collect more money than is necessary to meet its obligations.

7. Also added flexibility of quarterly billing, as well as monthly, should that ever make sense for the non-maintained homes (again, to save administrative costs).

8. Allow for variations in assessment rates for lots in the same sections where costs may differ. This was essential because we have maintained homes where the HOA provides water for some, but not others, and they need to be assessed at different rates. This is also essential because the soon-to-be-build McArthur townhomes will require a different assessment level and budget than the existing townhomes.

9. Clarified that all homeowners are responsible for maintaining the common area street frontages in their yards, with the exception of sidewalks which the HOA maintains. This has been the standard since the creation of the development.

10. Clarified that the HOA will not be responsible for any exterior structural maintenance in the PUD maintained home sections, including exterior doors, as part of the dues-funded services. All homeowners are responsible for their own exterior maintenance.

11. However, clarified that the HOA may coordinate the exterior repair on PUD (maintained) homes (such as new roofs on the townhomes), but that costs would be billed back to the specific lots or homes which benefit.

12. Established a higher limit on the size of repair contracts a third-party manager could execute (from $1000 to $2000) and clarified how emergency repairs could be handled by a third-party manager (i.e., someone other than the board)

13. Clarified the language around what could be considered nuisances on lots (anything making them unsightly or detrimental to other owners). Language referred to debris but was broadened to include other items. Also specified weeds and nuisances on unbuilt lots. These are in response to pushback from a lot owners arguing that these could not be considered (despite multiple existing provisions that allow for rules governing general appearance, including 7.3(f) and 8.2.

14. Clarified working around noise nuisances (re-worded from “level” to “volume”)

15. Revised rules to allow for real estate signs and political signs (as required by state law now)

16. Corrected language so that is was consistent throughout (Architectural Control Committee instead of Architectural Review Committee, ACC is the specified name), or “Planned Development” instead of “PUD” where appropriate

    1. Corrected the address of the association referenced in the CC&Rs

    2. Along with removal of declarant rights and powers, removed declarant's obligations, as part of the changes, since they are not around to complete any of these, and the HOA has been correcting these deficiencies for year now

    3. Remove first-mortgagee requirement to approve amendments (since this was changed by state law)

    4. Adjusted a couple of other typos in the original document ("enjoyment" instead of "employment", deleted extra words)