This note was originally included in large part in a community-wide printed letter ahead of the October 2021 meeting. The message below has been edited slightly for updates - and is worth reading when considering the HOA and how the Board views our approach.
When the topic of CCRs and changes comes up as it does from time to tome, one frequent theme is around where the board is spending time, why don’t we just live with the current CCRs, why attention is paid to the complainers, and why the “Board” or “HOA” is involving itself in the “overreach” of [insert your cause].
When you buy a home, future value is of natural concern which can be affected by those around you and the decisions they make as to both improvements on their lot and use of said lots. There are plenty of acreage sites (often further out into the county) that have no such HOA management or restrictions - you do whatever you want within the bounds of Federal, State and County laws. According to recent statistics, about ~20% of homes are in an HOA and for new homes (as of 2021) just under 70% are in an HOA.
Let's assume that by moving into a community with an active HOA and documented and posted restrictions (CC&Rs) that the majority of us consciously decided on being “in community” - on subjecting our own rights as landowners and our usage of our land to some level of community agreement - in our case these are codified in the CC&Rs and our actions are governed by the ByLaws as published and filed with the County. It is clear each year that at least some members (neighbors) do not like some portion of these CC&Rs. In fact, in our 2021 poll, 30% of the responses suggested that the HOA Board should not actually enforce the CC&Rs as written. Think on that for a minute - the elected Board should just operate without a rudder and behave in a way that… is unclear and unpredictable at best. We suspect that in reality some neighbors just don’t like the CC&Rs as written, don’t wish to work to change them - or fear they are in the minority as far as voting is concerned. Bottom line - any CC&R edits proposed are entirely in service to our community, not as “overreach.” If you have not read the existing CC&Rs, now is a good time to do so. Absolutely nothing will change without the community vote - which requires that 67% of our eligible voting Members says "yes." That is 104 homes that must vote FOR any change.
As Board members, the Bylaws protect the Directors from liability as long as we act with a Duty of Loyalty and Fiduciary responsibility. We couldn’t have a Board of willing volunteers unless such protections were actually in place - and shouldn’t if we aren’t going to direct the Board to operate in accordance with the ByLaws.
Due to very different levels or prior enforcement (developer), we’ve come to expect certain variances - certain clear CC&R restrictions that just aren’t enforced. That represents risk for the officers of the Board and what is perhaps worse, many moved into the neighborhood believing and counting on the fact that their neighbor would only own two dogs or less, wouldn’t set off fireworks in the neighborhood, and that pink or purple garage doors wouldn’t be a thing here to name a few. Should the board just pick which ones we would like to enforce? The better answer is to listen, collect feedback publicly and privately and create a forum in which the community can spell out what it is we expect of each other. This process is dictated by our ByLaws.
The Board is interested in collecting feedback often and orchestrating representative community governance. So, moving forward, for those who suggest the HOA should “not involve itself with ... [fill in the blank]” or that we should change the rules, there is a genuine path forward for you - with enough demonstrated interest , we can put a ballot together to change whatever we want. Until then though, the Board will carry out its elected duty faithfully - no matter how cumbersome that can be at times. To be clear, the Board is not the police and we have no intentions of “going on patrol” - we simply don’t have that time as volunteers, but we do field concerns weekly from neighbors who move in with one understanding and are seeing something different unfold.
Pet ownership, fireworks, backyard fire pits, restrictions on operating a business and other “overreach” - The Board’s position is simple: these exist in the CC&Rs that are documented with the County today and therefore require addressing by the Board (or Property manager) when issues are raised. Having heard from many that to varying degrees many CC&Rs seem “unnecessary,” the Board collects feedback and will facilitate change on behalf of the community. For example, we took a poll in March 2021 and only 41% were in favor of eliminating the 2 dog limit. We can poll again next year, but there were over 132 unique responses this year. To change these CC&Rs we need 67% of the 155 homes voting for the change (also in the CC&R’s). This is not a Board point of view - this is simple fact - in fact our points of view matter exactly 1/155 or .006% each. We respect that.
When the issue of dog ownership limits was raised, we orchestrated the feedback in our community and heard loud and clear that we should maintain the CC&R’ we all moved in with where dogs and limits are concerned. In quite a different result, a Fireworks poll showed that 83% of the community wanted Fireworks but wanted the Board to set limited dates and times for approved Fireworks. A ballot was distributed and the community enacted the change to our CC&Rs.
If there is an issue that is important to you and you feel you represent a good portion of the community, gather the interest and bring it to the Board where we can help you evaluate it and get it in front of the community for change.
Regards,
Saratoga HOA Board
