Need Copy of the PLATof my HOA community

Robert,
How old is your community? After a few years, all of these records go into archives and you have to go down and look for them yourself. Plats are very difficult to view on line because they are normally quite large and you will need help from someone in that office to understand some of it.

The developement next to mine did just what you stated. They worked it out that the County would take over the roadways within. Gates had to come down, police then enforced speed limits which had to be raised to legal limits (25 mph in this case) and the public came and went as they pleased.

Who told you that the roads and culverts are now the Countys responsibility? Do not take just anyones word on this. Your association would have recieved some official notices prior and the association would have to comply with the requirements (expenses to prepair)

Robert,

Instead of trying to obtain a copy of the Plat, why not just ask the board to show proof that the roads are no longer owned by the assn?

Mary the reason I asked, was because they refuse to give a copy of the Plat to me, if our community was tunred over to them it will show on the doc itself.

thank you Donna,

I was informed by Palm County the roads have not be dedicated to the county by our community and the County has not taken over the roads so we remain a private and not open community, however It was suggested to me to get a copy of the Plat to show this, but was not sure where to locate it, I will go to Delray Beach and see where I can purchase a copy of it.The Board is mis-leading the community or they themselves are confused. They want to dissolve the road reserve thinking the county now must maintain them and they need the money for a roof repair on our clubhouse and need the vote of the community.

Original Plats would show private rds. with gated access. For this to change
there would have to be a meeting of the minds between local and state governments.
Your plat would not show this change. You need to contact your planning dept.
or local county supervisor/representative. Board of supervisors/representatives
would have to sign a county resolution to adopt a private rd into a state rd. system.
The state rd system then would have to agree to accept the rds. All of this is
paperwork, not plats.
Edie

I would not bother with searching for a copy of the plat. The BOD will likely simply state that yours is out of date. (Because the only existing one is probably the original one.)

But for your roads to be accepted would require the vote of an elected body of government. This would mean that the City Council, or County Commissioners, or some such vote to accept the roads upon recommendation of the engineers. Go back to the office that you called earlier and ask them about the process. They can tell you who would have voted.

Then get the last year's worth of minutes. You will do this be submitting a "Freedom Of Information Request." There will likely be a fee for the copies. In my town, the first ten pages are free then it is 10 cents a page there after. You may be able to download a copy for free then the cost of printing is what you pay for supplies.

Then at the meeting hold up the minutes and challenge them. State what you were told. Then state that it is backed up by a lack of any action to accept the roads. Understand the BOD is not likely to back down from their story. You will have to convince your fellow owners that you are correct.

Then you need to consider what are the consequences of spending money as proposed.

It is highly likely that to give the roads to the government your gates would have to come down. The only exceptions I have heard of is that here in Texas a special district can be setup. But the upshot is a higher property tax and the possibility that if said tax doesn't cover road expenses they can hit you with a special assessment. And since it is the city then making the assessment you actually have less ability to prevent it and they have an easier time foreclosing for lack of payment.

Robert,

Instead of trying to get a copy of the plat, or the new updated plat, I would think a letter from the Co. stating the roads have not been dedicated to them would be much better. Or, better yet, demand the board show proof that the roads have been dedicated to the Co. Has the board mentioned closing down the guard house? If not, then, IMO, there has been no change. Donna is correct in saying that if the Co. takes back the roads the guardhouse cannot be used. I'm wondering if the board is making a false statement to support their plan to use the road reserve funds for something else.