Social Committee Question

I have no direct experience, but do you allow members to reserve the clubhouse? If so then any member could do the reservation for the committee organized event.

ALL Owners' dues go the operating budget and into reserves for the daily maintenance of this recreational common area and into reserves to repair & replace roof, furniture, etc., etc. How does your Board justify denying any Owners the ability to reserve the space.

I have never heard of an HOA keeping Owners out of such common areas (except for disciplinary reasons). If any reader of this post lives in an HOA which keeps owners in good standing OUT of any recreational common areas, Please let us know.

And what the heck is this "merit' criterion ?????'

I should have phrased my question to you, David, & anyone else differently:

Does anyone reading this live in an HOA where only Board-approved groups may reserve your clubhouse or party room? To me, that bans qualified dues-paying Owners from the recreational common areas if a group of more than x(?) people. Or, well, unless they're the Karate Club. Please tell me, David, that KC member are not directors nor are related to directors.

We have basically two such rooms that any group of residents may reserve, pay a refundable deposit and a "rental fee" of an amount depending on the size of the party. They each hold about 50 people per the Fire Dept. occ. posting. They are open from 8am - 10pm 7 days a week. So long as there isn't a board meeting, training event for residents, e.g., a recent AED workshop, or Board-approved Social Committee event of the latter's choosing in the rooms, any other group of residents have exclusive use through a simple reservation system.

In 20 years we've never had a request to reserve the room once a week year 'round as with David's Karate Club. I do think our Board would want to discuss such a monopoly. Generally our rooms are reserved for wedding & baby showers, birthday & anniversary parties. I'd say they're maybe two of these a month, each for maybe 3 hours max. So... 6 hours out of 98/wk. We permit residents to invite non-residents to attend these parties. That leaves a great deal of time for residents to use the rooms. We have 200+ condo Units, so perhaps David's HOA is much larger and the room or clubhouse are few?

I think I recall David's HOA has some kind of CC&R about this topic?

The Social Committee has a couple of well-publicized events a year in the pool BBQ area, but there's still space for any other resident to use the pool/spa if they wish. They know well in advance there'll be a crowd. We do not permit reservations of these areas. Unlike the party rooms, they are in constant use by individual & small groups of residents.

Oh, I'm not at all suggesting your do anything about the Karate Club.And I do support you. I should think that my recent reply about a violent neighbor shows some thought. But to my eye, the karate club sets a precedent whereby any interest group should have equal access to the common area that their dues help fund. Your board, of course a can make rules about hours, frequency, etc. Our Book Club and a game club each have our room reserved for a couple of hours once a month on a weekday.

Well, perhaps no HOA that'a represented here has a Soc. Comm. that is not board-approved. You wanted to know how/if they use the clubhouse. No reply. Maybe this time.

So, imo, they may reserve the clubhouse like any other group of residents should be allowed to reserve the clubhouse. Since the event would serve the community, your board may want to not charge them a rental fee or deposit as is otherwise very common in many HOAs for resident-organized events. But, you're right, I am troubled that your HOA keeps out some groups who want to assemble in the clubhouse and not others. I find this very unjust.

DE has a lot of HOA statutes that mirror CA's open meeting Act (OMA) You might check it to see if there's anything there that applies to residents' use of the common area recreational amenities.
As you can see below, this CA legislation is almost the opposite of your Board's approach to your clubhouse.

"Civil Code § 4515. Assembly for Political Purposes; Flyers, ...
(a) It is the intent of the Legislature to ensure that members and residents of common interest developments [HOAs] have the ability to exercise their rights under law to peacefully assemble and freely communicate with one another and with others with respect to common interest development living or for SOCIAL [my emph.], political, or educational purposes.
(b) The governing documents, including bylaws and operating rules, shall not prohibit a member or resident of a common interest development from doing any of the following:
(1) Peacefully assembling or meeting with members, residents, and their invitees or guests during reasonable hours and in a reasonable manner for purposes relating to common interest development living, association elections, legislation, election to public office, or the initiative, referendum, or recall processes.
(2) Inviting public officials, candidates for public office, or representatives of homeowner organizations to meet with members, residents, and their invitees or guests and speak on matters of public interest.
(3) Using the common area, including the community or recreation hall or clubhouse,...for an assembly or meeting described in paragraph (1) or (2) when that facility or separate interest is not otherwise in use."
The above is only a portion. For the entire statutes, see https://www.davis-stirling.com/HOME/Statutes/Civil-Code-4515