As part of our continuing efforts to properly administer the Spring Hill Neighborhood Association, Inc. and improve its operations as well as reasonably protect the community, we have decided to introduce two amendments to our documents.
AMENDMENT A: This amendment, if passed, would limit additional rental homes throughout Spring Hill (all phases), so that a cap is placed on the number of rental homes. We propose this amendment for a few reasons.
First, we believe that an amendment that requires future purchasers to be residents of the property is a good concept. Rather than a potential “apartment complex” atmosphere, we can maintain a community of all resident-owners. Problems with conduct normally associated with some tenants would be avoided.
Second, eliminating the rental of homes will strengthen the ability of future buyers of homes in Spring Hill to obtain financing since lending institutions are wary of associations with a significant number of rental homes. Re-financing of mortgages on homes is also easier when there are more owner-occupants within the community.
Third, the proposed restriction has some flexibility and contains a few built-in exceptions to make it reasonable for everyone. These exceptions are: 1) The leasing restriction would not apply to current owners who are renting their homes. CURRENT RENTAL HOMES ARE GRANDFATHERED FOR AS LONG AS YOU OWN THE HOME. 2) If you own a home but only your child(ren) or parent(s) lives in the home, that living arrangement is excluded from the rental restriction. 3. The amendment contains an automatic, one-time right for all owners to lease their home for up to 24 months. If an owner is behind in their maintenance fees and needs to rent the home to pay the fees, the amendment calls for the rent to be paid directly to the Association until the account is paid in full.
AMENDMENT B: The Declaration is not clear on who, the Association or the Owner, is to maintain and replace the trees on the “devil strip” or “tree lawn.”
As you know, past and present practice throughout Spring Hill (all phases) has always been that the Owner maintain and replace their own landscaping, including trees, on the entire lot.
Having the Owner responsible for tree maintenance and replacement is sensible as the owner is in the best position to know when such work is needed. This also helps maintain the value of the Owner’s home and enables the Association to keep maintenance fees at a reasonable level. If the Association were to be responsible for the maintenance and replacement of trees on the “devil strip” or “tree lawn,” the Association would obviously have to significantly increase fees to cover this additional responsibility.
If adopted, this amendment would require that trees in the “devil strip” or “tree lawn” are replaced with a Celebration Maple to ensure consistency with the rest of Spring Hill and that each tree purchased and replaced by the Owner must have a trunk diameter of at least 1-3/4” (inches).
At this time, we ask that the owner of each lot sign, date, and return the enclosed limited proxy ballot to the Board in the self-addressed envelope enclosed for your convenience. Please note that the limited proxy ballot must be signed and returned whether you are in favor of or against the amendments. As you may be aware, our governing documents require 66% approval of the voting power of the Association to pass each amendment. Again, we urge you to consent to these amendments.
To complete this process in a timely manner, we ask that you return your consent ballot at your earliest convenience.
JULY 13, 2017 PUBLIC MEETING –
Formal voting procedures for the above proposed amendments will take place at our summer meeting to be held on Thursday, July 13 @ 7:00pm at the John Torok Senior Center (see below). All residents are encouraged to attend in order to participate in the discussion of the proposed amendments, as well as voting. In addition, the HOA Board will also be reviewing various updates and taking questions and ideas for future topics.
