Wednesday, May 05, 2010


Common Grounds Ratification

Last week Director Montalvo asked if the Village could make a parking lot next to the swing bridge to correct a growing prohibited parking problem. The Board said we had to get 75% of the owners to consent to that and asked for any other ideas. Well here’s one.
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How about putting together plans for a new parking lot, approving it, and notify the owners of a special meeting to ratify your decision. If at this meeting 75% of voting owners PRESENT say yes, it’s ratified. Am I wrong? I don't think so and hear is why.

Some believe that you need 75% of the total Association membership to ratify substantial alterations and additions. Both the Bylaws and Declaration of Covenants say otherwise? These tell when our Board makes a decision to substantially add or alter the Village common grounds, it must set up a meeting, notify owners to come to the meeting in order to ratify their decision. To ratify the Board must receieve a 75% affirmative number of votes from voting owners who showed up. That’s it.

None of the other voting provisions except Article VII (Bylaws) and Article X (Declaration of Covenants) is there this language that calls for a three fourths affrimative vote from voting owners PRESENT at a called meeting. All other voting provisions first require a vote casting percentage from the total Association membership and then require a majority of those casted votes to be affirmative.
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Technically it seems as few as 5 owners could ratify a Board decision on substantial additions or material alterations.
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For those owners who do care about the appearance of our Park, Article VII (Bylaws) and Article X (Declaration of Covenants) are the checks and balances for decisions made by nine temporary Directors to change the appearance of our Park.

March 2005 Restated Bylaws
Article VII. Substantial Additions or Alterations
There shall be no substantial additions or alterations to the Common Elements or Limited Common Elements by the Association unless the same are authorized by the Board of Directors and ratified by the affirmative vote of the Voting members casting not less than 75% of the total votes of the Unit Owners PRESENT at any regular or special meeting of the Unit Owners called for that purpose.

March 2005 Restatement of the Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions.
Article X, Maintenance and Alterations
B. Although the Association may construct additional facilities for the benefit of the Condominium, there shall be no material alterations or substantial additions to the Common Elements or Limited Common Elements, except as provided hereinabove in Section A, or except as the same are authorized by the Board of Directors and ratified by the affirmative vote of Voting Members casting not less than seventy-five percent (75%) of the total votes of the members of the Association PRESENT at any regular or special meeting of the Unit Owners called for that purpose.

A board member a few years ago asked what defines this word substantial? How much is a substantial addition? How much is a substantial material alteration? Do we go by size or by the amount spent?
The scope of what is being altered/added can always a debated. A fixed amount of money can't. It seems then that a fixed amount being spent seems most applicable and should be used as the definer. Our current Board could easily use the same monetary number that previous Boards considered substantial, such as the max amount our GM can spend on his credit card within a month or the minimum amount that requires having three bids from contractors for a project.
What do you think?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I agree, clearly states 75% of owners present, not 75% of all owners.

But I think substantial additions or alterations means more than just a substantial dollar amount - also implies something that substantially alters the usage of the common property. For example, a small parking lot doesn't cost very much, but if you put that parking lot on the 9th and 18th holes on the golf course, that would be substantial alteration.