Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Builder's woes stir property concerns - al.com
Builder's woes stir property concerns - al.com: "Several dozen homeowners met Tuesday night at the Laurenwood Preserve clubhouse to discuss ways to keep the remaining 250 undeveloped lots in the subdivision on Capshaw Road from being built under more lenient covenants than the ones their homes were built under. The subdivision's original builder filed for bankruptcy."
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2 comments:
The restrictive covenants almost certainly allowed the declarant to add or remove property from the subdivision at his whim. The residents have no expectation of controlling property outside the bounds of the HOA. The new declarant can simply make the new lots part of a different subdivision and there is nothing they can do. The declarant can also relax restrictions and there is nothing they can do. The developer can change portions of it to commercial and there is nothing they can do. The declarant can release restrictions in there portion and there is nothing they can do. It's also doubtful whether this icon of democracy (the HOA) is organized to permit them to have any vote at all until such a time as the developer yields control or willingly terminates the developer control period - which could be never. Perhaps the rule against perpetuities could be used to address the "developer control period". Aside from that, perhaps these folks could learn that a corporate community is not a community at all. What they could do to get better control over their own future is to a) incorporate as a political subdivision of the state (declarants, HOAs, and nonresident lot owners don't get to vote); b) exercise eminent domain to terminate the HOA and the restrictive covenants - no compensation is due; c) adopt ordinances that govern (in accordance with constitutional principles) land use in the area.
It's great to see someone -- even though they choose to remain anonymous -- propose some true public policy options in the direction of local government deprivatization instead of the usual astroturfed Lord of the Flies statehouse battles over who gets the last word on swingsets, clothelines, paint colors, solar panels etc. etc.
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