Page 18 - Sun Rays_December 2015

CA NEWS

News from Covenants Committee

by Judy Koczian, Covenants Committee Chair

The Community Association (CA) Every new resident receives the property owner is billed for the total
Board of Directors appoints five a letter from the Community cost as well as an administra-tive fee.
resident volunteers to serve on the Standards Department wel- So far this year, the Covenants Commit-
Covenants Committee to investigate al- coming them to the commu- tee has conducted hearings on a variety
leged violations of our Governing Docu- nity and reminding them of landscaping issues. In several cases
ments. Most cases are referred to the they have 60 days to submit involving either the failure to submit an
Committee by the Community Standards an initial landscaping plan. initial landscaping plan or the failure
Department after Standards staff has to maintain landscaping, just sending a
exhausted every effort in person and then times that’s all it takes and the Com- hearing invitation letter was sufficient
through a series of three notice of violation mittee decides that no further action is incentive for the resident to come into
letters to resolve the issue themselves. needed. However, after completing their compliance and no further action was
investigation, the Covenants Commit- required. However, in some cases a Ben-
Cases involve a variety of issues such as tee may set a deadline for correcting the efitted Assessment was authorized.
resident misconduct, pet issues, excessive violation or perhaps a fine (sanction) may It is understandable that with more
yard ornamentation or modification to the be needed as further incentive. In more homes being completed each year, the
property without an appropriate permit difficult cases, a Benefitted Assessment is potential exists for more violation alle-
or approved plan. So far this year, the imposed. In this instance, the Community gations to be referred to the Covenants
Committee has investigated 26 total cases Standards Department hires an appropri- Committee. However, maybe by alerting
with six involving improper conduct and ate contractor to install landscaping or to residents to some of the issues investi-
13 lacking an initial landscaping plan or complete the necessary maintenance and gated by the Committee, some cases may
a failure to properly maintain landscap- be avoided. Our goal is always to strive to
ing. Since half of the cases so far this year maintain the high community standard
involved landscaping violations, perhaps a we have come to expect in our beautiful
further discussion of landscaping respon- Sun City Texas.
sibilities would be helpful.
YOU WANT WHAT FOR CHRISTMAS DINNER?
Every new resident receives a letter from
the Community Standards Department ONLINE: SCTEXAS.ORG
welcoming them to the community and
reminding them they have 60 days to sub-
mit an initial landscaping plan (Article
4.3 Design Guidelines). Once that plan is
approved, the home’s landscaping must
be completed within 120 days (Design
Guidelines Article 1.5). Residents are then
responsible for seeing that the lawn is
mowed regularly, bushes and trees are
pruned as needed and weeds are con-
trolled (Article 13 Design Guidelines).
Community Standards staff routinely
monitor our community for compliance
with these responsibilities and try to work
with residents when action is needed.
Those cases not able to be resolved by the
Standards Department are then referred
to the Covenants Committee.

In the process of investigating alleged
landscaping violations, the Commit-
tee gathers facts and often invites the
resident(s) involved to an informal hear-
ing. Every effort is made to hear “both
sides of the story” and to encourage an
alteration in the resident’s behavior that
will bring them into compliance. Some-

16 | SUNRAYS DECEMBER 2015