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cc: Neighbors in PBH #4
June 17, 2009
I disagree with your premise that there is a great benefit
to having a single set of covenants.
It would make it easier for activists who like telling
others how to live their lives. This is a bad thing. There are hells on
earth where busybodies from the local HOA drive around and look for ways
to harass their neighbors. A lawyer friend of mine could go on all day
about people living in Highlands Ranch being subjected to the wrath of
these types. It would be a lot like having your identity stolen.
If you like conformity, then perhaps a place like Superior
would be more suited to your tastes. All the roof lines - lined up.
Every house painted from the same vat of paint.
Each of us put our money down based on the covenants in
place at the time. I don't see how, in a Republic such as ours, it would
be possible for a simple majority of neighbors to come along and change
the terms I agreed to. In a democracy, perhaps, but in a Republic with
constitutional rights ascribed to individuals, (as opposed to groups),
no. I should think that I would be the only person necessary to simply
say no to any changes having an effect on me. I would not consider myself
bound by any such changes to the covenants.
Simply put, I am suspect of anybody who has the inclination
to impose their wishes on others. I live in the mountains to get away
from people who want to tell me how to live my life. And after living in
pleasant solitude for the past 25 years here in Pine Brook Hills, let it
be known I will fight heartily to preserve my sovereignty.
But beyond philosophical and legal matters...
Would I have to put an addition on my house in order to
comply with the requirement that there be a minimum of 1000 square feet on
the main floor? Who is going to pay for that? Who is going to heat that
extra space I don't want? Who is going to pay the additional taxes on
that real estate? No? How about when I sell the house? Will the new
owners have to attain compliance?
And how about the comparative advantage I now have
because I am allowed more garage space than others? If others suddenly
have this allowance, I have more competition for potential buyers
interested in this feature. Fair to me? No.
If it makes sense to have one single set of covenants for
all 7 Pine Brook Units, where does such logic end? How about having one
set of covenants for everybody in Colorado? My point is that your basic
argument has no foundation other than to grant power to a few individuals
(activists) who take over the HOA. And how about this voluntary aspect?
No, you don't have to join or make contributions to the HOA, but only
those who do can make policy? So, how about the scenario (this is just a
thought experiment) where the dues are raised to $10,000 and only three
people join? Then these three people can make everybody dance to their
tune?
You, or somebody here, are unquestionably looking for power
over others. Here is the first line from your letter of Dec 10, 2009:
(emphasis added)
"As you know, we believe that all Pine Brook Hills
owners would benefit greatly from having one single, rationalized, set of
Covenants with effective enforcement capabilities
that apply uniformly to the entire Pine Brook Hills community."
I don't know who "we" in the above are, but if you are not
from unit 4, as am I, then you have nothing to say about what I do; and I
want to keep it that way. People who live in, say, Grand Junction, have
no such business with me either. It is difficult enough to deal with
Boulder County and other presently existing authorities, including the
existing covenants. If our HOA has little more than moral authority,
that's a good thing.
How ironic is it that the existing covenants, designed to
restrict house sizes, have evolved to the point that the new people on the
block, with massive houses, want to use these same covenants to proscribe
that my little house is now the one not in compliance for being too
small? Want to cut down your house size to meet the 1 1/2 to 2 story
limits? What if the HOA had any teeth then?
I say leave things alone. There is a wise old Polish
expression which loosely translated says, "If you don't poke that sh__, it
won't stink so much".
Reid Baumgartner
Valley View Way
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