Save Waterway Arms on Center St

Overview:

Before you read all of this know, there is a sign at our entrance that reads, "WE ARE A PRIVATE COMMUNITY GOVERNED BY RESTRICTIVE COVENENATS"

This is no longer a private community we are now a public resort. We have people come from long distances, Pennsylvania, Virgina, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Texas, Louisiana, California, and even Canada

WELCOME TO LIVING AT A RESORT, NOT A COMMUNITY

Refresh us how we are a Private Community and these people can rent for a few days and leave with no regard for our Covenants or our property!

A few STR’s have been operational for over a year now. We are now up to 14 - 16 operating on Center

& Harbor alone, as of April business license list. Most of them are confined to the North side of Waterway/Center.

Unfortunately for us we expect the trend to continue, homes sell to investors and after some updating/construction and a

business license from the town, they are operating. Many investors have purchased

multiple units and now we are surrounded in an already confined space. The consequences, rapid

growth rate, and the extent our Board is contaminated and involved in protecting STR owners is

shocking. No one is monitoring or managing any of this, this is remote operating hotels, we are left to

deal with the consequences and have been forced to take our time and compile information, build a

website, inform you. Unfortunately, thanks to the Board, the burden of proof is on us. Many of us feel

that this is wrong.

Not only are these owners/investors operating a resort in Waterway Arms, but they also hold

seats on our BOARD OF DIRECTORS for Waterway Arms. They do not live in our community but its ok that they profit from us

AND control the Board where we reside?

These consequences of these STRs has been too much for our residences in the area, there are so many of us now and we are so

upset and feel completely helpless and hopeless that this can be stopped or reversed. We are up

against the Board & a new management group, that is fully supportive of STR.

The high traffic, noise, cleaning vans, luggage up and down the stairs, bachelor & bachelorette parties,

spring breakers and other holidays, family reunions, domestic violence, drunk guests have mistakenly walked into back

entrance patios, they have urinated in our flowerbeds, shoot off fireworks all hours of the night,

park along the pool or park in someone else spot, damages to residence cars, overcrowding at the pool, trash at the pool,

bring dogs and let them use our lawns and dont abide by our guidelines, grocery deliveries/food deliveries, Ubers/taxi services,

and the big one, devaluation of our homes! High turnover on each unit already and summer season very busy here in Waterway....

This only means more strangers from all over the country arriving remotely and these issues will keep multiplying as new STRs operate.

Great for the investors, terrible for us that live here. But most important, the Board is backing the investors and not the residents!

However, There is NO recourse for us a residences to preserve our peace or protect our homes.

Who do we call? When will it stop? If our dogs get bit by Airbnb dog, what recourse do we have? We have a problem with a guest parking in our spot,

who do we call? Next day that person will be gone and we start all over....

Why is the Burdon of proof on us to prove our case that this is not appropriate?

Especially considering our space is very limited, after the fire of the STR at 710 Harbor and

its affect on innocent townhome owner. Renting to “Black Israelite” domestic terror group wasn’t enough to

denounce STR to our Board of Directors and our previous president or the Board? Most recently a STR on Center had

a water problem and it affected the house next to it, no one knew because they were both STRs. Luckily

they didn’t affect the rest of the 2 outside units. Now the construction is complete and that STR is back to functioning at

100% occupancy rate....

All of these circumstances were totally avoidable.

You must ask ourselves how this even was conceived in our development? Who approved this? Why

did the town at first reject the business licenses and then receive a letter from our HOA attorney and our acting President,

now former president then reverse course all within a few days?? Did we miss a vote?

ANSWER: NO

Who changed the bi-laws or covenants?

ANSWER: NO

What can be done and how can we nullify these agreements that we were not included in we are greatly

effected by?

Answer: Petition our Board and the town to revoke all licenses

We learned many things. Mostly what has really been happening behind our efforts to eliminate STR in Waterway Arms.

Again the STR were rejected because the town passed a agreement that any neighborhood that had a HOA attached to it couldn't have STR....

but then our President & HOA attorney wrote letters, here is a direct quote, as we have the correspondence...

The email from & signed, President of Waterway Arms Townhome Association and was dated January 29, 2020

“Waterway Arms Townhouses Owners Association has reviewed a copy of the letter from the Town of

Mt Pleasant to Mr.____________ dated January 28,2020, which denied Mr.________________

application for a short term rental permit for his Waterway Arms Townhouse on the basis that the

Waterway Arms Townhouses Declaration of Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions states that no

businesses activities of any kind shall be conducted on the property.

The Association has never considered this language in its Declarations to prohibit short term rentals.

Mr_______ has asked that the Association send this letter to advise the Town that the Board of

Directors of the Association is currently in the process of seeking an amendment to its Declaration

which will specifically allow short term rentals in Waterway Arms Townhomes. “

The letter from the HOA attorney, reads identical, with the exception of the following:

“and I am working with the Board to draft language of such and amendment to present to the owners

for a vote”

WHO GAVE THEM THE RIGHT TO SEND THIS?

Facts we want you to keep in mind

JUST BY US NOT VOTING ON THIS, ALL TECHNICALITIES THAT ALL BUSINESS LICENSES AND STR

ARE IN VIOLATION AND SHOULD BE IMMEDIATELY SUSPENDED ALL STR WITHOUT A VOTE.

1- All STR investors were denied licenses when the town of MT P passed the requirement of

business licenses to operate in our town. This STR investor, who now owns 2 properties on

Center and doesn’t live in our townhomes, received a letter from the town dated January 28th of

denial… Our president & HOA Attorney responded by January 29 to make sure this investor and

all other STR investors licenses were approved, 1 day later? Wow that is some quick work for

someone who doesn’t live here & has a “business” on our property! Wonder why this was

pushed thru so fast? Have we ever settled something this fast in the past prior, especially

something that is going to change the entire landscape and negatively effect the value of our

homes and all of the homes in the Old Village. As the letters did admitted to

not voting on allowance of STR, why did they take it upon themselves to immediately

circumvent all of us until the residence can vote on it, you allow the STR to function, protect the

investors without any precedence to back you up? Why not have the investors rent out long

term in the interim, after all they have been operating prior without our consent or abiding by

any management or leadership prior to the town requiring business licenses, plenty of profit

was accrued prior for these investors! Now it’s simply going in the other direction, only STR are coming

here, not permanent residences.

2- multiple units, there are 2 investors, both own

multiple units. 1 investor owns 2 units on center, the other investors hold a seat on the board

and has 2 units on Harbor. We also have a second investor on Harbor that has a seat on our

Board. We don’t know of any STR owner that lives in Waterway Arms Townhomes. This is

simply a business and a way to make money from our neighborhood. According to the town back in April

there were 11 on Center & Harbor with business licenses, we know there have been new addresses operating since.

3- We can all agree that there is NO question these are businesses/HOTELS/RESORT and have

proven a failure in our neighborhood , it will ONLY continue to negatively effect neighborhoods.

So, IF an argument can be made that the word “BUSINESS ACTIVITIES OF ANY KIND shall be

conducted on the property” (which they don’t dispute the verbiage in our covenants, because

our own HOA attorney & the President stated that fact in the letter) the existence of STR was NOT

INVENTED YET. Furthermore, you need a BUSINESS LICENSE to operate a STR by the Town's standards.

Clearly our Board and our management company is not managing our neighborhood.

4- There is no preventing any of these issues from happening, how do you control guests that can

create a fake profile or even book a home with a real profile, show up with bikes, coolers, moving

in a townhome at 11pm at night, door slamming, luggage up & down hardwood stairs, dog running up

and down, barking .... then the obvious check out day on a Saturday at 7am, same packing of

the car on check out day… how do you control a drunk bachelorette party that enters your back

patio and tries to enter your home because they entered the wrong residence? How do you

control a group of guests that take over the pool with their kids and floats when we are paying 5

times the amount of assessment for a pool that we can’t even use our pool because of overcrowding?

How do you stop a drunk STR from urinating in your flowerbed while you are yelling at them and then

them cussing you out....

ALL OF THESE EXAMPLES ARE REAL STORIES FROM THE SAME PEOPLE YOU CALL NEIGHBORS!

5- Again, we can all agree a “vote” never happened on this subject, because it is a fact. I am sure

you all recall the last vote/online survey, that addressed the STR and other voting subjects. The

board wanted to cap the STR ratio to 45%, can you imagine? 45% STR in this little space. We

couldn’t figure out why the owners of STR & the board wanted to cap it at all? Ask yourself

why? If you watch the video of the meeting or was online for the live meeting held during

Covid, we tried to discuss with the Board of why are we capping it at 45%, why are they even

allowed, why are you allowing our neighborhood to be ruined, how did this happen, these STR

have caused havoc to our residence and explain the same issues we are having on Harbor &

Center, what is wrong with long term rental, who allowed this, we were MUTED ON MANY

OCCASIONS, when we suggested to lower the percentage to a more reasonable number, we

were told no, and muted again. The President(new President, Miles) felt that we didn’t have time to

discuss it, we were not getting anywhere, etc…. During this exchange many of the STR owners

who sit on our Board choose to tell us our facts are wrong, things like this didn’t happen. How

can they say it didn’t happen? They don’t live here? But more importantly, they have the

power and there is a tremendous amount of profit that they make! Why is there a solidarity

between members of our Board & STR owners.

6- We don’t understand why they are backing them with such ferocity, respond within 24 hours of

receiving a legal letter, and why after all of these situations they can’t see that this is so

detrimental to our residence safety, reverse all licenses without us having to force this issue and

to divulge a tremendous amount of time to writing and talking to neighbors. So we can

eliminate STRs against these investors? Don’t they care about our neighborhood, the residence

they represent, or the consequences to the Old Village in general? Let’s face it, this is a historic

area, very precious to the Town/and to visitors of Charleston. This area has been protected

have been set in place by every Mayor, the trees, enforced speed limits, etc.. I can assure you

Will Haynie was heartbroken to learn what has happened to our Townhome neighborhood.

Again, what gave the HOA the right to set this action into place?

7- Look at how the real estate market has affected prices in the Old Village? Its an amazing thing

to watch and who knows what is going to happen. Any family that has purchased or is

concerned about the value or even the History of this area, they will be unwilling to live in the

backyard or close to our neighborhood. It is a stain on our reputation. So many people in

passing, don’t realize that this amount of STR hotels are operating in the Old Village. Remember

the protesting and all of the hard work of the residence of the Old Village & the outrage

surrounding the B & B and the parking issues on Royall Ave? This is exactly the same.

8- We are in a terrible cycle, MANY people that have moved out of Waterway recently have stated

not only do they want to sell because they feel that they can get high return right now but they

are also selling because they don’t want to live next store to a STR anymore and again, feel

helpless to the neighborhood returning to our normal residence pace. They list their home &

we watch the construction, and then we see the cycle of car licenses, and all other supporting

traffic in our neighborhood. The days of having a new family or long term renter are over. We

have learned that once you see the new furniture going in, chances are it’s a STR and brace for

more nonsense! That being said, we are so grateful to our neighbors on Harbor, they did a

wonderful job on the new place and rented it out long term. Many of us on Center and Harbor

were relieved!

9- Police & the Town – The police have been contacted many times, especially during the

suspension of Airbnb during COVID. There were many that were operational during this time,

the guests even had a “story” that they were here to work at MUSC as nurses. Do nurses smoke

pot and never go to work? Hmmmm. The police couldn’t do anything about it. The police have

not been an answer and shouldn’t be. We shouldn’t have to manage this or feel obligated to

call for these type of problems or gather pictures, police incident reports, etc….

10- They now know about this website. They also know they are not following procedures according to our covenant's. They didnt follow

protocol on voting at last vote, improper notice to everyone on last meeting, conducted a video conference and not allowed people to speak,

and they combined a special assessment with a annual meeting. These are violations of our rights & our covenants.

Now we were told we cant speak to the landscaping company?

We have also been told by multiple residents that are receiving letters about the color of their fence, or the placement of their trashcan,

falling behind on payments because of the massive increase in the assessment and as a consequence they will be cut off from using the facilities like the pool

But its OK that they send a letter for allowing the STR's via email from our Attorney & our previous President. Can you see the comparison's?

They are going to claim this website is "harassment" , we are "harassing their guests".... Nothing has been said to guests. We are documenting

everything we can so educate & show the ridiculous conditions that we have been forced to live for investors profits.

We must banned together and agree that these STR will devalue our homes, are not what we stand for,

not what this community was intended for, it was such a nice place to raise the family, now it is a FULLY

REMOTELY OPERATING RESORT, in the Old Village. Hard to imagine the homeowners of the Old Village

know what is going on and how long until they join our movement…

Don’t you remember when it was so nice and peaceful in our neighborhood. You could go to the pool

and congregate with neighbors, now we have strangers constantly coming and going. It is really not fun

living next to them, near them or around them. Our sense of community is long gone, as long as these are operating.

Please click on the below link & sign the petition!

https://www.change.org/savewaterwayarms1

After reviewing the pictures below, tell us once again how these are NOT BUSINESSES....

If you would like to read about this Historic area, we have attached some websites that will help you understand why we feel that it should be preserved for Residence not HOTELS/RESORTS

https://www.tompsc.com/83/Our-History

https://www.postandcourier.com/charleston_scene/your-neighborhood-guide-to-mount-pleasants-historic-old-village/article_507facbe-d888-11e9-91bd-4f102d9bd623.html

https://mountpleasanthistorical.org/tours/show/1

http://oldvillagedistrict.com/about/