Ponte Vedra area

[Robyn55]

First off - you're entitled to a hearing before any determination has been made concerning a rules violation. It isn't a question of an "appeal". Note that my husband's committee does inform owners of potential fines when it sends a notice of hearing letter. So people don't take the hearing lightly.

Our management company does make an effort to contact people and try to resolve any problems before any hearing is held. Some people cooperate - some don't.

Some problems can be resolved in 14 days. Others can't. For example - you don't want to re-sod in August. Too hot for new sod to do well. And I guess if someone loses a job - it's a question of what the rest of the community is willing to tolerate (if the community really feels sorry for someone - it can pitch in to help in terms of time/labor/money). We have some houses in foreclosure here - houses falling into disrepair - and there's basically nothing a CVHC can do except impose fines (that won't get paid).

The Florida friendly landscape law doesn't eliminate the ability of HOAs to regulate landscapes. Nor does it restrict landscape regulation in any particular way In fact - it's pretty vague. There have been a ton of articles and discussions about this on line. I don't think there's anything definitive that says a HOA can't require all Augustine grass - mostly because Augustine grass has certain environmental advantages:

Florida Friendly Landscape FAQ's

But I doubt a rule saying that you have to cover 100% of your yard with Augustine grass would pass muster.

I think there is at least one good argument in favor of a single kind of grass. Which is that most of the grasses here "crawl" and spread. So if you have an Augustine lawn next to a Zoysia lawn - you're going to have Augustine in the Zoysia - and Zoysia in the Augustine. Doesn't make it easy to maintain either lawn.

Of course - all rules/regulations/covenants that an association seeks to enforce must be in writing - and recorded with the Clerk of Court. A BOD can't just make things up from one meeting to the next. Were these rules about garage doors and wood siding in the covenants? I tend to doubt it (our covenants/ARB rules don't say anything that specific about those things). OTOH - I recall that one of the things I disliked when I was looking at the Plantation was the covenants required you to have wood soffits (and I didn't want wood soffits). So you never know what you're going to find when you look at a particular set of covenants.

Finally - I moved from New Jersey when I went to college. Never came back . So I know zip about HOAs in New Jersey. Robyn

[grayrunner]

'My perfect neighbor is someone who can afford the house - who is willing and able to do an adequate job maintaining it - and who doesn't have yappy dogs that wake you up in the middle of the night . I suspect if you ask people in different communities in different price ranges - their thinking isn't very different than mine. Robyn'

I guess then you should stay in your 'perfect world' .. A friend of mine asked me for my honest opinion of buying into a golf community outside Phoenix, (way outside, 30 min drive for groceries, much like Nocatee). Usual billing as luxury blah blah, average buy in around 850.

You can buy that property now for around 450 but you won't be saving much because the maintenance costs have doubled not that it would make any difference to me. If someone gave me one of these perfect world residences and I had to live there I would probably hang myself in a closet inside a year! He was surprised I said that at first. Now after 4 years, he's pretty close to taking the jump!

[donisanasfan]

is he jumping to hang himself in a closet? I think you mixed your metaphor.... By the way , my drive for groceries is about 2 minutes. Maybe you want to insert Palencia next time , as they are now a half hour away from a grocery store . Now go talk your friend down from that closet.

[madcapmagishion]

Isn't there a Publix in the middle of Nocatee? Less than 5 minutes away from just about anywhere in Nocatee?

[bmfphaedrus]

Originally Posted by madcapmagishion

Isn't there a Publix in the middle of Nocatee? Less than 5 minutes away from just about anywhere in Nocatee?

Yes, there is.

[Robyn55]

Originally Posted by grayrunner

'My perfect neighbor is someone who can afford the house - who is willing and able to do an adequate job maintaining it - and who doesn't have yappy dogs that wake you up in the middle of the night . I suspect if you ask people in different communities in different price ranges - their thinking isn't very different than mine. Robyn'

I guess then you should stay in your 'perfect world' .. A friend of mine asked me for my honest opinion of buying into a golf community outside Phoenix, (way outside, 30 min drive for groceries, much like Nocatee). Usual billing as luxury blah blah, average buy in around 850.

You can buy that property now for around 450 but you won't be saving much because the maintenance costs have doubled not that it would make any difference to me. If someone gave me one of these perfect world residences and I had to live there I would probably hang myself in a closet inside a year! He was surprised I said that at first. Now after 4 years, he's pretty close to taking the jump!

I don't think hoping you have good neighbors has anything to do with deciding whether or not to live "in the middle of nowhere" (unless a person thinks that the only good neighbors are those who live a mile away - in which case - "the middle of nowhere" is probably a good place for that person to live). Robyn