CAN THE HOA MAKE ME INSTALL A SIDEWALK

We are currently updating our HOA documents. There is an enclosure that states there should be a sidewalk on the three lots on my street. Two lots have homes on them and one does not. My house was the first house built as a model home 15 year ago. According to the documents, the developer was to install the sidewalk. Here we are 15 years later and now they want to enforce this. I have been in the house for two years and it was not disclosed to me during the buying process. The HOA sighted that it could be a liability if a kid got hit by a car while walking on the street. Our neighborhood only has partial sidewalks in two areas and many roads without sidewalks and not required to have them. Because we are a gated private community, the city does not enforce sidewalks, rather they provide guidance on how to build them. The HOA's Statue of Limitations I have been told is 5 years for enforcement. Since this sidewalk was not installed by the developer, could I be liable for this installation after 15 years?

Thanks
Luis

You have partial sidewalks, and some don’t want to complete them so they all connect?

Seriously?

You definitely need to consult with a lawyer on this one. Ask the lawyer this, Shouldn't this have been brought up when the declarant was turning over the HOA to the owners? Shouldn't this have been an issue before the original property manager and board signed off to release the bond? Well since the original property manager was hand picked by the declarant, nobody cared and the declarant wanted to scadattle..

LuisR4, first, the Declaration typically has a section that states who (HOA or individual owner) has the maintenance responsibility for various items. Does your Declaration have such a section? And if so, are sidewalks mentioned in it? Please quote verbatim what your Declaration says.

Second, let's assume the plats (on file with the county), show a sidewalk on your lot. It appears that courts have often (but not always?) found that plats represent an implied restrictive covenant. As you noted, under some circumstances courts can and have ruled that covenants that have not been enforced for years may be considered legally abandoned. The exact number of years of non-enforcement, that must pass for a covenant to be considered abandoned, is rarely, if ever, black and white. But I would say that 10 years passing means you are safe.

If the assumptions I list above prove to be true, then I would write your HOA a letter like the following:

Dear Board of Directors,

Would you please quote the legal authority for concluding that my lot's failure to have a sidewalk is a violation of the HOA's covenants, conditions and restrictions? I could be mistaken but, right now, I am not sure that there is any authority.

I believe that, even if there is a covenant or plat restriction that shows that I, as owner of my lot, have the responsibility for maintaining a sidewalk on my lot, then pursuant to the citations below, I believe this covenant or plat restriction has been abandoned, due to a failure to enforce it for some 15 years; the lack of a sidewalk having been open and obvious for some 15 years; and other lots also lacking a sidewalk.

I am not sure Florida statute 720.305 requires a hearing at this point. Still I think having a hearing would help resolve this dispute. Would you please give me three days when you are available for a hearing so that I may present my side and the HOA may present its side?

Sincerely,

Luis ____
Address
Phone number
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Citations:
-- https://home.howstuffworks.com/real-estate/buying-home/is-there-way-out-of-restrictive-covenant1.htm

-- https://www.hopb.co/blog/simply-unenforceable-hoa-covenants-and-how-they-can-go-too-far

-- Prisco v. Forest Villas Condominium Apartments, Inc., 847 So. 2d 1012, District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District, April 30, 2003.

-- Woodlands Civic Ass’n, Inc. v. Darrow 765 So. 2d 874 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 5th Dist. 2000).

-- https://www.law.ufl.edu/_pdf/academics/centers-clinics/clinics/conservation/resources/urbancon.pdf
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Send the letter certified mail, return receipt requested. When the HOA responds, report back here.

WalterH4, I think this is an interesting situation. You're kind.

Thanks for all the great comments. I sent a letter to all of the neighbors to get everyone's feel for the sidewalks. The consensus is that people don't want them and do not use the ones installed. We are such a small neighborhood with only 55 lots and currently 25 homes. It is developing very slowly and most folks either walk or run on the streets since there is very little traffic. There seems to be one member of the board that is acting as Jeff Dunham and the other two just following along. Everyone states the same thing. If we are to have sidewalks with a liability concern in mind, then we should have sidewalks on every street. The again, there are plenty of neighborhoods without any sidewalks at all. Hopefully we will meet in the not too distant future and will update. Thanks again for all of the support.

For many years the main street bordering our community didn't have sidewalks and so people had to walk on the street. That became a problem over the years as more condo complexes and apartment complexes were built, but the city kept saying there wasn't enough money (there were lots of neighborhoods around town in the same position).

That thinking changed when more and more people found themselves dodging cars - some were doing the speed limit and some were speeding. In my area, citizens finally said enough after two women living in the senior citizen apartment across the street from my community were victims of hit and runs (both died) and we got sidewalks built.

I understand debating the legalities of compelling people to build sidewalks after 15 years, but I have to agree with George - to me partial sidewalks make the neighborhood look unfinished and rather tacky, so I'd hesitate to buy a home there.

That said, I agree with first finding out if the sidewalks were intended to be common areas. If so, it seems to me the board needs to bite the bullet and figure out a way to get them built. To control costs, it could consider gradually installing them over a two or three year period.

I’m not sure voting anyone out is going to result in a neighborhood with sidewalks ... if the point is to have a lower price neighborhood, then vote everyone out, and go hide.