60 days has passed

Hi,
I purchased my first home in a FL HOA community. When I moved in I decided I wanted to replace my concrete slab driveway with pavers. The model homes had them as did 4-5 other homes in the neighborhood and I think a general opinion is they are aesthetically pleasing and as an appraiser I know they do add incremental value. When I asked the hoa president about it he flat out said they were not allowed. I thought that was strange because the documents made no direct mention and homes already had them. A neighbor then had their driveway done, when I questioned their installation I was told that their approval was an accident. I decided to move forward and submit a complete application. It's been 60 days since I've submitted the application.

My problem is that the arc application has a statement that you initial that says you agree not to proceed with construction of the project. However the ccr's state that if the application is not responded to in 30 days it is deemed approved. It's been 60 days and no denial or word from the boa/arc committee. My thoughts are that the ccr's outweighs the wording on the arc application. I also know when it was received because I requested confirmation.

I did contact the hoa president and his response was that the application had my signature stating I would not proceed with construction without a written arc approval.

Is it legal to proceed?

Can the hoa be held responsible for the attorney fees if it comes to that?

AIW3

Was a case in SC like yours. The time has passed and the owner went ahead and built a garage. It ended up in court. Owner had to remove the garage.

I suggest you talk to other BOD Members about just wanting to do as others have done.

the '60 day clause' allows you to proceed with a COMPLIANT and 'would have been approved' project w/o actual approval

it DOES NOT, repeat NOT, permit you to violate the Covenant's restrictions

eg.

you apply to repaint your home with an approved and posted color
the request sits for 66 days w/o action
you may go ahead and paint as you are NOT in violation of restrictions

you apply to repaint your home with an UNAPPROVED and UNPOSTED color or 'scheme' such as striping
the request sits for 66 days w/o action
you may NOT go ahead and paint as you ARE in violations of restrictions]

Happy Thanksgiving and good luck with your attempt at finding a 'loophole' to get YOUR way

Are you saying alW3, that the prez ALONE can disapprove ARC apps?? Isn't there a committee for that? Or the whole board or part of it IS the ARC?

KerryL1, from what I have been told the arc committee was told by the hoa president that "he" did not want paved driveways in the neighborhood. There was never a mention of the ccr article that the paver driveway violated. A neighbor submitted an arc application for the pavers and the arc committee approved the application because again the modification did not violate the ccr's. The hoa president was livid and instructed that any request involving pavers be brought to his attention. To me this felt like more of a personal situation with the president than a violation of any kind. When I questioned the arc committee about the status they indicated that they needed to run it past the hoa president.

PitA,
I was going to buy the developer exception explanation until I read the ccr's for myself I was then made aware of the "modification" installation of pavers on an existing home. I do have emails which are of course time stamped. If there was wording that prohibited stone paved driveways or even referred to them I would not be pursuing the matter. However there is no mention of it at all. Am i missing something? Is there a section that is commonly used to address such things?

My other issue is that my arc application contained multiple request.....all which are normal..standard fencing and what not. I have received no response. I even contacted the president to ask the status, nothing.

So your ARC is not comprised of board members, is that right, AlW?

Does FL or do your own documents give you recourse to present your application to the Board is the ARC rejects your app? Surely the ARC's rejection must b in writing!! Ours given H/Os recourse to submit their app to the Board if the ARC rejects it and it might even be CA state law.

How many are on the board?? Surely they don't let this prez bully them---or do they?

I don't think it's generally the case where the prez & prez alone can make these decision!

And what does this mean? "Also our association specifies that we do not send any correspondence using traceable mail or mail that requires a signature." Just who is your "association"? Is this a written policy somewhere.

I hope someone from FL checks in and helps.

KerryL1,
The Arc as explained to us is comprised of separate members from the board. I am currently researching what recourse may be available but to this date I have not received a denial or approval. I was "told" that the law states when a denial is presented it must be accompanied with an explanation. Im looking for the statue that explains that now. I know that the application was received because I emailed the hoa president and arc committee to make sure they received the application and they confirmed receipt of the application. At a meeting they told us to send it via regular mail because they are not always available to sign and it may slow down the processing of the application.

AllisonD,
Thank your for checking in. I have read the ccr and saw no mention of an exclusion of pavers. I did find verbiage today in the design guidelines under garages that states "driveways shall be of poured concrete with a minimum depth of 4 inches or as required by the county". From my understanding the stone are poured concrete and meet the depth requirement. I spoke with 3 of the homeowners who have them and the 1 that just had her application approved. Her's is the one I gave the most weight to as hers was installed as a modification. She basically stated that the arc committee said it was within the guidelines but a few days after the install was complete the hoa president came to her door raising hell even after she showed him the approval. This is when he supposedly told board and committee that pavers were not allowed. I reviewed all of the pages in the ccr thoroughly and did not find a single mention of pavers being prohibited. I also did not find any amendments to the documents on the county website.

AllisonD,
You absolutely right they are separate pieces. I was a little confused by it as well. The paver company that my neighbor (who's application was approved) used gave me an estimate to install the driveway. They explained to me that to meet most of the county's in the areas guidelines for driveways they use 3-4 inch pavers, and that the pavers are made of concrete. Im assuming it's poured concrete, I could be wrong. If what the installation company explained is incorrect would that imply that pavers are prohibited? I'm also trying to figure out what would be done about the other request on the application?

To my mind, "poured" concrete mean a slap, basically. We poured concrete driveway years ago at our home and then had it stamped in a really interesting pattern. Looked great!

I'm still trying to understand why the Prez has so much power. How many are on the Board? Are all of them on then ARC? And your neighbor with the pavers as approval in writing for pavers?

Say, Allison, I don't get how it could be "fair" for the president to insist that a stamped 4-inch concrete driveway is NOT allowed?

I did not say it was not allowed, I said it was not what the ARB committee approved. I think we all agree that a poured driveway is different than a poured driveway with a stamped design.