Litigation Update  June 13, 2011

Post date: Jun 14, 2011 4:19:15 PM

Dear RGCA Members,

As promised, here is a summarization of where we stand today with the litigation regarding winter access to our grove. As you know, in the last couple of months, the Association has won two major court decisions in favor of our special summer community.  First, Judge Nolan’s decision reaffirmed the seasonal nature of our community, and then the State Appellate Court overturned Judge Williams’ decision regarding year-round vehicular access to our grove.  The combination of these two court decisions affirms what most of us have always understood about our leases; that they do not permit winter residency and that we have the ability to close and lock the gate at the main access road during the winter.  In the opinion of the Board, the courts have spoken and we now know what our leases mean.  The Board has achieved the outcome sought by our membership with respect to the recent litigation and we will not be pursuing anything further unless required to do so in response to any additional legal actions from Moore, Bellone, and Hitchcock. 

The Board will now turn to reviewing our interim rules and regulations - put in place for the past two winter seasons - and will be updating them to reflect these findings.  We plan to present the revised regulations, along with potential recommendations for a new, more automated gate, to you at the August 20th membership meeting.  It is time to put this whole matter behind us and move on with an enjoyable summer season.

 We are indebted to the 17 leaseholders that made generous donations to our legal expense fund.  To date, close to $30,000 has been raised!  These generous members helped the Board avoid having to increase dues or drain RGCA savings during this difficult time. We offer our sincere thanks to every family who stepped up and made this difference possible.

Thank you again for your patience and trust.

Sincerely,

Will Seyse and Cynde Schwartz