Villages of Westcreek (San Antonio, Live Oak, Anton: homebuyer, gardening, delivery)

[wellguy]

Thanks for the info. I just read something on our webpage about Volunteers in each Village. I'm under the impression that every Village has its own members which they would patrol.

[BamaSailor]

Originally Posted by Steel Man

I agree. I'm all for improving the general areas in WC. Improving the children's play area is a step in the right direction...but more needs to be done. On the other hand, the expanded parking lot with gravel and RR timber is now an eyesore. They should keep the quarterly garage sales at the school...a small cost for what we have now. For many years they harped about preserving property values, but sadly, the money seems to go toward social events, personnel, etc..

I think the school option was stopped due to some complaints about having to pay to use the public school to have a rummage sale. Not on HOA property.

I think there are two easy options to pick from ref yard sales:
1) Allow residents to have no more than two yard sales per year at their residence on any day they desire. The HOA could sell a permit for $2 in order to track the sales. The state comptroller does not consider yard sales to be commercial activity and so does not collect sales tax as long as there are no more than two per year. The HOA says you can't have a yard sale because the Standards does not allow for commercial activity to which the public is invited. What if only WC residents were invited?
2) Allow any resident to have a yard sale at their residence but only on the first Saturday in April and the first Saturday in August (or whatever months work best).

Either of these would still keep the amount of yard sales and yard sale traffic in check.

Thoughts?

[BamaSailor]

Originally Posted by wellguy

Thanks for the info. I just read something on our webpage about Volunteers in each Village. I'm under the impression that every Village has its own members which they would patrol.

I've heard talk of this in the past but didn't realize that it was in practice.

[Steel Man]

Originally Posted by wc2005

I think the school option was stopped due to some complaints about having to pay to use the public school to have a rummage sale. Not on HOA property.

I think there are two easy options to pick from ref yard sales:
1) Allow residents to have no more than two yard sales per year at their residence on any day they desire. The HOA could sell a permit for $2 in order to track the sales. The state comptroller does not consider yard sales to be commercial activity and so does not collect sales tax as long as there are no more than two per year. The HOA says you can't have a yard sale because the Standards does not allow for commercial activity to which the public is invited. What if only WC residents were invited?
2) Allow any resident to have a yard sale at their residence but only on the first Saturday in April and the first Saturday in August (or whatever months work best).

Either of these would still keep the amount of yard sales and yard sale traffic in check.

Thoughts?

Although your options are tempting, I don't think the HOA would go along with it. The biggest problem would be signs as people would be posting them all over the place to attract buyers. Now, maybe they could allow them by village (instead of individual residences) twice a year.

[CH1960]

Originally Posted by wellguy

growber and NCFC1PILOT -Thank you both for the information. growber- I'm sincerely sorry for being a butt. I will admit that I expect things to happen at a quicker pace than what they do. I know by talking to the HOA Staff that there are processes which sometimes take more time than expected.

Can any of you please tell me if the COPS Program is active in Westcreek?

At 7:00am this morning while leaving for work I saw that my neighbor's SUV had been egged and while driving out onto Garston there was another egged car. I felt I did the right thing by waking my neighbor up and telling him about the eggs and the fact that they can damage paint. I guess he didn't care since the SUV still had the eggs on it at 6:40pm when I got home. My company pickup was egged a couple of months ago. Maybe someones' water bill was too high. There were several other vehicles that they got at that time.

Has anyone else experienced this?

My son's car was egged back sometime early spring. A neighbor's teenager had problems with a bunch of old friends. They got his car bad; my sons' was just a victim of finishing up the last egg or two in the carton on the way out. It makes you wonder about parents purchasing vehicles for their teenagers and giving them the freedoms to run the street all hours of the night. I am a COP trained member. David Panther is supposed to be the representative - but he'll just tell you to contact Officer Lopez or Officer Flores with the Bexar County Sheriff's Office to get signed up for a class. At least two classes I know of; have been advertised with poor attendance. Most people wait until crime has gotten out of control before they step up to the plate and volunteer. Now is the time to get involved; while we still control our neighborhoods. I patrol my village because I know the vehicles that belong and the residents in the area. So I know what is suspicious activity within my area. The Bexar County Website had a COP link; I don't know if it is still there.

[CH1960]

Originally Posted by Steel Man

Although your options are tempting, I don't think the HOA would go along with it. The biggest problem would be signs as people would be posting them all over the place to attract buyers. Now, maybe they could allow them by village (instead of individual residences) twice a year.

It sounds good in concept; but, I'm not so sure I want more cars and traffic on my already congested street. We already have issues with solicitors, no parking and difficulty getting out of my own driveway. Since we are not a gated community and have numerous entrances; I would think it difficult to control and monitor yard sales and the public as a whole. After all, 3,400, homes is not exactly a small subdivision. Then, again, that's my opinion.....

[Steel Man]

Originally Posted by CH1960

It sounds good in concept; but, I'm not so sure I want more cars and traffic on my already congested street. We already have issues with solicitors, no parking and difficulty getting out of my own driveway. Since we are not a gated community and have numerous entrances; I would think it difficult to control and monitor yard sales and the public as a whole. After all, 3,400, homes is not exactly a small subdivision. Then, again, that's my opinion.....

I'm not much for yard sales, but it was just an idea for wc2005. I would rather have it at the school...heck, we saved money on street cleaning that could pay the cost.

BTW: I was talking about separate villages in Westcreek, not the whole subdivision.

[gwrober]

The COP program is active again, but as usual there aren't enough volunteers to make it effective here. If I recall correctly, all the training, etc needs to go through BCSO.

The rummage sale was stopped at the schools, because NISD rules prohibit using school property for sales. The alternative was the parking lot/sports park area - but weather has to be on our side! People will have to bring their belongings in from the street or parking areas to the soccer field. We'll have to see how the new rec director will handle this one.

The HOA has gone through lots of turbulence the past few years - so they're not as polished as they should be. We have a new Manager and Asst Manager, and a new rec director (sometime soon he'll start), so we'll have to see how they all mesh together...


The website makeover was a huge step in the right direction - their plans are to use it as an immediate communication tool. They are currently working on email sign up/notification, and utilizing the calendar on the site more.

[BamaSailor]

Originally Posted by Steel Man

Although your options are tempting, I don't think the HOA would go along with it. The biggest problem would be signs as people would be posting them all over the place to attract buyers. Now, maybe they could allow them by village (instead of individual residences) twice a year.

About the HOA prohibiting signs...they really don't have the authority to do so because Bexar County owns the right of way, not the HOA. That said, I don't want to see signs everywhere but this is another place that the HOA muscles it authority over what it truly has.

[wellguy]

wc2005 -Yes you are correct about signage. A City Permit since we are in the ETJ is needed for all signs that are used to adverstise a program /business which will result in payment /making money. I'm not being a butt, but the HOA cannot legally enforce upon signs in a Public Right of Way. The COSA Sign Ordinance is pretty difficult to understand. Even City Staff have a hard time with the questions that are posed to them.

CH1960 -iI 'm sorry to hear about your son's car. How due you feel about the question /commentt I raised a while back about window decals identifying VOWC Residents Vehicles?