ACB guidlines

HeatherB4 (Florida)
Posts: 51

Posted:

We are a family friendly community and there are about 50 playsets already put up in the neighborhood of 325 lots. None of those 50 playsets got approval from the ACB, one of those playsets are mine.

The chair of the ACB is my neighbor, and a good friend. I asked him if I should formaly ask for premission. He say "no, don't worry about it."

Well, fast forward a few months. My neighbor across the street bought a playest and filed an application with the ABC, the request went through the Managment office and got forwarded to the BOD. The BOD is made up of older poeple that do not want playset in the neighborhood.

Our ACB guildlines states..."No playset that can be seen from the street." Which I understand I am in clear violation, and so are others in the neighborhood.

The backyard of every home in our neighborhood is visable from one or more street. Really the guildlines are moot and should say "no playsets allowed." because no house could have a playset and not be seen from a street.

When the BOD got the application for the playset from the person stated above, they told the ACB not to approve the request, because the playset can be seen from a street that is behind the house, not from the street the house resides on.

Here's the question... The ACB is clearly upset at this, they feel the BOD is going above the head of the ACB. The ACB says they have the athority to accept the request. For the request is in good taste and the ACB argues the ABC guildlines are guildlines, not rules and should be followed as such. What do you think?

I feel, and so does the ACB, that the guildline for the playset was written to prevent a playset going up in the front yard or the side of the yard.

Also, the ACB wants to rewrite the ACB guildline for the playset to say... "Playsets are allowed if the playset can't be seen from the street from the front of the house that the playset is on."

Our BY-laws say that the ACB can make changes to the guildlines with board oversight.

Its very unclear as to what is oversight? would the BOD have to vote on that at a meeting?

Advice? comments?

JanetB2 (Colorado)
Posts: 4,219

Posted:

Hi Heather:

I have the architectural control statute noted below. The only item I see at this time you need to be careful with regards to your documents would possibly be:

... such rights and privileges shall not be unreasonably infringed upon or impaired by the association or any architectural, construction improvement, or other such similar committee of the association

No matter what most swing/play sets are going to be visible to some extent. My personal thoughts are if you have a 6' fence what is the difference in viewing a swing set a little above the top of the fence vs. viewing a motorhome or trailer above the top of the fence vs. viewing a storage shed, etc. What HOA's need to determine is where do they draw the line between rules and homeowner's property rights. Do you want a subdivision where individuals feel like their fenced backyard is enjoyable or one where everyone picks everything to death so everyone begins to hate living within the subdivision.

Here is the statute:

720.3035 Architectural control covenants; parcel owner improvements; rights and privileges.

(1) The authority of an association or any architectural, construction improvement, or other such similar committee of an association to review and approve plans and specifications for the location, size, type, or appearance of any structure or other improvement on a parcel, or to enforce standards for the external appearance of any structure or improvement located on a parcel, shall be permitted only to the extent that the authority is specifically stated or reasonably inferred as to such location, size, type, or appearance in the declaration of covenants or other published guidelines and standards authorized by the declaration of covenants.

(2) If the declaration of covenants or other published guidelines and standards authorized by the declaration of covenants provides options for the use of material, the size of the structure or improvement, the design of the structure or improvement, or the location of the structure or improvement on the parcel, neither the association nor any architectural, construction improvement, or other such similar committee of the association shall restrict the right of a parcel owner to select from the options provided in the declaration of covenants or other published guidelines and standards authorized by the declaration of covenants.

(3) Unless otherwise specifically stated in the declaration of covenants or other published guidelines and standards authorized by the declaration of covenants, each parcel shall be deemed to have only one front for purposes of determining the required front setback even if the parcel is bounded by a roadway or other easement on more than one side. When the declaration of covenants or other published guidelines and standards authorized by the declaration of covenants do not provide for specific setback limitations, the applicable county or municipal setback limitations shall apply, and neither the association nor any architectural, construction improvement, or other such similar committee of the association shall enforce or attempt to enforce any setback limitation that is inconsistent with the applicable county or municipal standard or standards.

(4) Each parcel owner shall be entitled to the rights and privileges set forth in the declaration of covenants or other published guidelines and standards authorized by the declaration of covenants concerning the architectural use of the parcel, and the construction of permitted structures and improvements on the parcel and such rights and privileges shall not be unreasonably infringed upon or impaired by the association or any architectural, construction improvement, or other such similar committee of the association. If the association or any architectural, construction improvement, or other such similar committee of the association should unreasonably, knowingly, and willfully infringe upon or impair the rights and privileges set forth in the declaration of covenants or other published guidelines and standards authorized by the declaration of covenants, the adversely affected parcel owner shall be entitled to recover damages caused by such infringement or impairment, including any costs and reasonable attorney’s fees incurred in preserving or restoring the rights and privileges of the parcel owner set forth in the declaration of covenants or other published guidelines and standards authorized by the declaration of covenants.

(5) Neither the association nor any architectural, construction improvement, or other such similar committee of the association shall enforce any policy or restriction that is inconsistent with the rights and privileges of a parcel owner set forth in the declaration of covenants or other published guidelines and standards authorized by the declaration of covenants, whether uniformly applied or not. Neither the association nor any architectural, construction improvement, or other such similar committee of the association may rely upon a policy or restriction that is inconsistent with the declaration of covenants or other published guidelines and standards authorized by the declaration of covenants, whether uniformly applied or not, in defense of any action taken in the name of or on behalf of the association against a parcel owner.

History.s. 11, ch. 2007-173.

SusanW1 (Michigan)
Posts: 5,202

Posted:

There must be something unique about this particular placement.

Is it a corner lot?

What a mess!!

There seems to be a disregard of the CCRs and an inconsistency in application of the rules and confusion as to who has authority to approve.