Get-tough attitude urged on deed rules

Article Courtesy of St. Petersburg Times

By JEFFREY S. SOLOCHEK
Published October 31, 2004

WESTCHASE - The committee charged with enforcing Westchase's stringent deed restrictions wants to get even tougher.

Covenants Committee chairman David Love and member Mike Niemis suggested Thursday that residents who violate certain rules, such as changing the exterior of their house without permission, should receive automatic fines.

They also recommended cutting back the number of warning letters to violators from three to two before the committee can begin implementing fines on other transgressions.

Niemis pushed for a take-no-prisoners approach, contending that those who break the rules must get the message that Westchase's deed restrictions are serious. Ignorance, he added, is no excuse.

"These people live in a deed-restricted community," Niemis said. "Violations need to be fined."

The seven-member Westchase Community Association, which ultimately must approve any new operating procedures, had some doubts about the need for change. Board member Ruben Collazo, for one, asked for some numbers to illustrate the depth of the problem that would require such action.

Love did not offer specifics, but said a drive through Westchase would show many clear violations of the deed restrictions. Yet because matters do not come to his committee until after the third warning letter, he said, many violations last for months without resolution while others disappear without ever being fined.

He mentioned holiday decorations and political signs as examples of the latter.

Association board member Don Costello, a former Covenants Committee member, wondered whether the community should be so concerned with violations that get fixed. After all, he noted, the board has made a commitment to improving relations with residents rather than being seen as an organization that only sends out nasty letters and fines.

Association vice president Brian Ross also questioned the wisdom of automatic fines for "obvious" yet temporary violations, such as holiday lights displayed before Thanksgiving. If his daughter excitedly puts up new decorations as a surprise while he's out, Ross said, the family should not have to pay a penalty simply because the property manager happened to drive by.

That is not the type of message the community association needs to send, Ross said.

At the same time, board members acknowledged the need to hold firm on deed restrictions and to give the Covenants Committee latitude to operate in the most efficient manner. No one understands those procedures better than the Covenants Committee members, president Jim Mills said.

He recommended that Love go back to his committee to hash out a specific recommendation for the full board to consider at a future date.

The committee also proposed limiting tree heights, in light of all the fallen trees after the recent hurricanes, and controlling the decorations that townhome residents in West Park Village can place on their patios.