Monday, October 19, 2015

Concord (VA) homeowners struggle to get roads paved


"The Holiday Forest subdivision in Concord has been fighting a 40-year battle to get all of the neighborhood’s roads paved."

Yes--but the state doesn't want to do it because they are private roads.  The picture concerning who is responsible for the hefty price tag now is complicated:

"A 1975 letter from VDOT to the then county administrator stated “I was amazed to find a number of streets constructed in a rather haphazard manner with apparently no regard for proper drainage design.” To pay for maintenance of the unpaved roads, the homeowners’ association collects $100 per house or $90 from an undeveloped lot. Goldman said they have an annual budget of $15,000 to $17,000 to maintain the roads. If the association were to raise rates, homeowners can cancel their membership in the association, as stated in association’s by-laws. The by-laws also state the association will dissolve in 2025, he said. When the subdivision was created in the 1970s, the old subdivision ordinance stated if all new lots were five acres or more, all roads within the subdivision were privately maintained and not maintained by VDOT. The subdivision was developed by Holiday Forest Corporation. “Also over the years, the homeowners have complained about the roads and decided they would rather have state maintained (roads),” said Campbell County Community Development Director Paul Harvey. About half of the roads in Holiday Forest have been taken over by VDOT but five miles still remain unpaved and under the care of the property owners’ association."


http://www.newsadvance.com/news/local/concord-homeowners-struggle-to-get-roads-paved/article_0a4905df-0318-5aaa-8ce8-0ca284d65a6f.html

1 comment:

IC_deLight said...

Wow - there is an opportunity to "opt out" of the HOA corporation. Sounds great.