January 17, 2010
5 Comments
Dispute Heat Up
CR/CW HOA Rule Banning Daycares
Hits Air Waves, Fees Total $111,000
This video posted by King 5 Television on January 14 features all three daycares in the Candlewood Ridge/Carriage Wood neighborhoods.
This video posted by KOMO 4 Television on January 13 interviews Kevin Lowery, who owes the CR/CW HOA $111,000 for attorney fees.
If local Candlewood Ridge and Carriage Wood homeowners have been reading their monthly HOA Board Minutes, they have probably wondered about references to a lawsuit waged by a local neighbor and subsequent activities associated with paying legal costs.
Recently the vague references have become clearer as more information was revealed by local television stations. Apparently the CR/CW Homeowners Association Board has ordered three families to close down local home daycare businesses by January 27, claiming they violate HOA rules and regulations.
On the other hand, the three families contend those rules are open to interpretation. The reference reported by the news media is that the local daycare businesses reportedly were considered a "nuisance" to the neighborhood and therefore, must be closed.
It's unclear about whether the HOA Board and daycares attempted to mediate a compromise without legal action. Unfortunately, someone or some group will now have a hefty bill, with a reported $111,000 in legal fees. The attorney appears to be the biggest winner in the dispute.
KING and KOMO Contacted, Flier Distributed
Three families are featured in the television news stories: the Lowery, the Johnson and the Hernandez families.
Not only has the local media been contacted, anonymous fliers have been distributed throughout the CR/CW neighborhoods to encourage attendance at the annual Homeowners Association Meeting.
Second Flier Distributed
Another anonymous flier was distributed in the CR/CW neighborhoods earlier this month, encouraging homeowners to vote to drop the HOA subscription for the Fairwood Flyer. According to flier distributed, cancelling the HOA subscription (reportedly costs the HOA members $5,500/year) would hold HOA dues to their current levels rather than imposing a proposed increase of 3 percent in HOA dues.
The flier argues the HOA's minutes can be read on online on the HOA's site and can also be published free of charge on the FCN website, the printed news is out of date, the HOA's subscription subsidizes heavy amounts of advertising, the paper can be read at the library or via individual subscriptions, and HOA dues should be used "wisely."
The Fairwood West Homeowner's Association is also currently discussing whether they will continue their paid subscription with the paper. This HOA does take advantage of the free hosting Fairwood Community News offers to local HOAs.
Needless to say, the CR/CW all-volunteer HOA Board is probably preparing for some challenging discussions at its upcoming meeting.
Candlewood Ridge/Carriage Wood HOA Annual Meeting |
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Annual CR/CW Homeowners Association Meeting | |
| When: | January 26, 2010, 7-9 pm | ||
Where: |
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To review the CR/CW HOA Documents regarding businesses, CLICK HERE.
To review the daycare owner's presentation of a summons & complaint, CLICK HERE.
To review the latest reference to the judgment in HOA minutes, CLICK HERE.
We could not locate the HOA minutes document referenced in the KOMO report. If our readers are able to locate it, please let us know where it is, and we'll post the link.
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Responses to
"CR/CW HOA Closes Neighborhood Daycares"
January 31 - 10:43 pm
Anonymous said: Karen, I attended the HOA annual meeting as well and the board was likely defensive because the lynch mob started firing away at them from the get go. Instead of yelling, how about listening to what they said - the rules can only be changed by a vote of the homeowners. Do you really think electing a different board member solves that? What I heard is that a some people requested more information on changing the rules just a week prior and they're working on it. So are you assuming they're biased because they didn't get you an answer in one week?
January 27 - 8:59 am
Karen said: This is a great policy statement by the National Association for Family Child Care. It defines Family Child Care, in contrast to Day Care Centers, and discusses the importance of Family Child Care in our communities. My opinion is that the rules in the Carriagewood/Candlewood Ridge CCR's need to be updated to include a provision for Family Child Care. I understand the rules as they are now stated, but hope that the board members can put their bias aside and move forward to resolve this important issue in the best interest of our neighborhood. I say 'bias' because, after attending two board meetings in as many weeks, I have realized that the board is still on the defense, perhaps understandably so, after the process they have been through. Unfortunately, we were not able to implement change by voting in a new board member because the number of proxy votes submitted by the board far outnumbered the number of homeowners in attendance. I would like this issue to proceed with the support of our board, rather than against it.
Karen Gates
Carriagewood Homeowner and Parent
http://www.nafcc.org/documents/Zoning%20and%20
Restrictive%20Covenants%20revised%2011%2030%
202007.pdf
January 21, 2010 - 5:09 pm
Anonymous said: Wow! I am a resident of Carriage Wood with small children. This issue has gotten ridiculous! The HOA documents specifically state that Daycares are not allowed in this neighborhood. Go move somewhere that they are allowed and let this neighborhood live in peace.
January 19, 2010 - 9:45 am
Erin Aboudara said: Daycares and many other service oriented businesses have never been allowed in Fairwood's covenanted communities. Read your Bylaws and CC&R's.
If you don't like the rules and cannot live by them, then sell your home and move somewhere that allows them, which is likely not an HOA community--your neighbors who are paying a lot of money to live in your neighborhood do not want a bunch of kids running around in your back yard all day, screaming.
It is different when it is the homeowners' or tenants' own children. It is not a big deal if someone has one or two extra kids that they might babysit, but an "in-home daycare business", whether licensed or not, is not to be in an HOA neighborhood as far as I am concerned. This same issue came up when we lived in Nevada--the daycares were shut down by the HOA of our previous neighborhood. When I take my kids to the HOA parks in Fairwood Greens, we should not have to compete for the use of the playground equipment with someone else's daycare "clients" (children unrelated to the adults who brought them there to play that are not simply friends or guests). It would not be fair to me and my kids or all of the other owners'/tenants' children when we have paid the $300 per year HOA dues and many of us are also paying $300 grand+ to live in Fairwood Greens and other nearby communities.
I think there should also be some limits on the number and type of pets you are allowed to have on your property. The previous owners of our home had 4 dogs and 2 cats. That is ridiculous! After we bought the house, the neighbors all around us were relieved that those dogs were gone. Two of our women neighbors reported that they were scared to go out to their back yards because the dogs were large and threatening to them even with fully fenced yards. We do not have a dog to this day, just over 7 years later, because of how bad our house smelled when we bought it. The HOAs in Fairwood need to "toughen up" the rules on these things, as far as I am concerned.
January 18, 2010 - 7:18 am
Kary Kismer said: Thank you for not being as one-sided as Komo, and actually doing a bit of work (e.g. a link to the complaint). However the reference to nuisance is probably unnecessary, and something the KOMO reporter didn't understand. Daycares are specifically prohibited by the rule that you linked.
It's interesting that some want to terminate the Fairwood Flyer. If they read the thing they'd actually have some understanding of the rules and the issues in their neighborhood. Ignorance is part of the problem, not part of the solution.