Excuse me for the irreverence in the header, but i wanted to get your attention. The Sun City Home Owners Association (SCHOA), was formed in 1963. The initial Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions (CC&R's) were in large part written by the Del E Webb Development Corporation as they guided the organization along the path of self-governance. In 1998 and 1999 one board member saw the need to "fix" them. He argued SCHOA wasn't able to enforce them without using the county as the primary source of enforcement. While that wasn't entirely true, it was too easy to blame the county if something wasn't addressed. The process took two long years and while the SCHOA board supported the idea, Jerry Schwintek worked tirelessly to get it done. SCHOA had more members than they do now, and frankly, those living in Sun City were better versed in how the community worked. If you think about it, everyone living here (in 1998) were from the "greatest generation." They had a better appreciation and respect for organizations. Rules weren't something to figure out how to get around. Fast forward and we see enormous numbers of baby boomers living in Sun City. I'll be kind and just say, we are different from our predecessors. Membership in SCHOA stands at about 8200, but better than 1500 have been given free one year memberships. All of the above sets up what i would consider the perfect storm. To even consider redrafting the CC&R's to be more concise would be a Herculean undertaking. So, the question obviously is why? I'll explain after coffee with an old friend. Stay tuned.
A little slow in getting back to you all, sorry. For those unfamiliar with SCHOA, it is a free standing organization that enforces the CC&R's otherwise know as the community standards. These "rules" are attached to your deed restrictions and when you buy the house, you agree to conform to them. Unlike most other communities, ours are easy to follow and are steeped in common sense. Of course, there are all kinds of folks living here who either don't care or don't know they exist. SCHOA fields 4000-5000 complaints a year, some valid, some not. Most often a simple, single letter results in a quick correction of the problem. Occasionally, owners will test SCHOA by ignoring the letters they send. That old mind set, my property, i'll do what i want mentality kicks in and creates problems that can get costly to the home owner. Doesn't happen often, but SCHOA has taken stubborn, stupid people to court; to my knowledge they have never lost a court case. SCHOA is unique because their first efforts are always pleasant and with a single goal of getting to compliance. Plus there is an appeal process to a committee of their peers that often finds solutions. With that info out of the way, when our CC&R's were rewritten and voted on by the home owners in 1998 and 1999, it was a massive undertaking. Unfortunately, those writing them put in conflicting sections that has caused any number of problems. Added to the confusion, boards passed resolutions to attach to the existing documents they called "clarifications." While on the board our attorney made it abundantly clear that clarifications could not change the intent or the content of the original document. Apparently boards along the way didn't ask or didn't want to find out. The net of what exists today is confusion on a host of topics. For example, one section says there can't be garages on the property, another says if there are, they have to meet the setbacks and be on the back half of the lot. Another says you can have "pergolas" but SCHOA has told folks they can't have gazebo's. Compounding the problem has been the fact that boomers move here with more toys than previous generations of owners. SCHOA doesn't allow sheds unless they are attached to the house and enclosed with the same materials as the home. Clothes lines aren't allowed unless they are contained behind a wall/fence. If it can't be seen, it's okay. And then there is the whole issue of violations being grandfathered after a period of time. The point being, cleaning the CC&R's up, would be great for the community, the organization and especially for the compliance officers trying to enforce them. Here's the rub and why it is such a nightmare: There are 57 units of single family homes in Sun City. A unit is a designation created by DEVCO that allocates a number of homes to a portion of each division. Added to that is 386 separate condo associations that are not included in those units and would not vote on the rewrite but would be impacted should they pass. Condo associations in many cases include in their CC&R's a clause that allows SCHOA to intervene if necessary. Back to the problem at hand, the 57 units each has to pass by 50% plus 1 the redrafted CC&R's. That equates to roughly 350 single family homes per unit, with 180 owners voting yes to the revised CC&R's. If you do the math on membership, the percentage of people belonging to SCHOA is far from the majority. To say it would be a huge educational process is a severe understatement. That said, it would be an incredible opportunity to help residents get their head around how and why Sun City works. The committee will be making recommendations to the SCHOA board in the next couple of months, just curious how readers feel about this challenge?
Before i answer your questions, and they are excellent; let me ask all of you one to ponder. If you went and asked the 40,000+ residents who SCHOA is, how many could tell you? And to further compound the plight, a number of the 200 or so that took the time to answer the email SCHOA sent out regarding the CC&R review committee, there were several who thought SCHOA and the RCSC were one in the same. Here's the answeres to your questions e: So once the committee recommends the change(s), is there a ballot mailed to each of the homeowners in all the units to vote on the changes? In 98/99 they did initial mailings to every single family home with return ballots simply telling people to return the postage paid card to SCHOA. There was only a yes vote indicated, so to vote no, they should not return it. That process took all kinds of heat and by the time they did Phase 3, they had both yes and no on the card. The cost today to do that, between postage, printing and return postage would be extremely expensive. What Jerry did in 98/99 was track each of the 56 units (#57 is now KHov Manor) and when he knew where he was, he went door to door in each unit to get enough signed cards to meet the requirement. And if so, who decides what recommendations are included on the ballot? The SCHOA board will ultimately decide the process. The committee will simply make a recommendation. All of this will be done in consultation with their attorney to insure it will survive any legal challenge. Personally i would love to see us present the changes we would be proposing in a colorful magazine format so those voting get a solid handle on what they are voting on. That kicks the cost even higher, so who knows what the attorney will recommend. Also, is it required that homeowners who can vote be members of SCHOA?[/QUOTE] Every single family home owner, member or not will be included in the vote. Again, that poses a problem with the number of rental units out there. It's not the renter, but the property owner who need vote.
