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Article Courtesy of
WLRN Public Media
By Diego Perdomo
Published October 9, 2025
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A
long running dispute in one of Broward County’s largest community of property
owners finally reached a settlement on how to pay the nearly $5 million cost of
repaving its roads.
Homeowners in the Savanna community of Weston rallied online and in person in
opposition to their HOA Board of Directors’ plan to repave all community roads.
Board members tried to explain they were saving homeowners money in the long
run.
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The Board agreed on a
solution: Each property owner would pay $860 over the next
year to pay for the $4.7 million cost of repaving all the
community’s roads. Savanna has almost 3,000 homes in
southwest Broward.
In a statement issued last week, the group — the Savanna
Coalition or Savanna United — says many homeowners
questioned "the necessity, timing, and process of the
[paving] project." They cited a community poll that found
"84% of respondents favored postponing the project until
reserves were sufficient." Through grassroot efforts, they
raised $13,000 and reported over 900 homes registered under
the group.
“We started digging, not just things about this $5 million
project seemed off, but a lot of other things, like terms of
the contractors, how decisions are made and who ends up
being in the board,” said Savanna homeowner Julian Duque.
The HOA’s attorney Matthew Zifrony said the decision to
repave the streets was made shortly after a mid 2024 survey
projected 2029 repair costs over $7 million. Zifrony, who
was the board president at the time, said the board was
fully transparent, and mentioned this issue monthly in
meetings. He said homeowners only started to oppose issues
when a $856 special assessment initially came into
discussion. |
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A homeowners group in the Savanna community of Weston
is voicing opposition to the HOA Board of Directors’ plan to repave
all community roads, a project estimated to cost $4.7 million and
cost each property owner more than $800.
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“I personally, representing quite a few communities, have not seen a
reaction like this,” Zifrony said. “[A leader behind the Savanna Coalition
is] using the road repavement project as a way of firing up the community in
order to get on the board.”
The Coalition argued reserve studies had projected the roads' useful life until
2029, yet they argued that he Board advanced the project citing inflation and
potential cost savings.
Zifrony disputed this claim saying the roads, which he said were 26 years old,
are past their useful life of 20 years. He said repeated requests for
engineering studies and legal fees to respond to a 960-page Florida Department
of Business and Professional Regulation complaint have cost the homeowners “tens
of thousands.” In the Sept. 30 board meeting, Savanna Board President Gary Grove
doubled down and said the board spent in excess of $50,000 to comply with
homeowner’s requests.
The Coalition said it remains committed to "transparency and accountability” and
has taken several actions, including collecting "over 600 digital signatures"
seeking clarification from the Board. They also filed a petition with signatures
from "more than 10% of homeowners," the threshold required to request a special
meeting to halt the project and commission an independent engineering study.
The Coalition said “the Board rejected [the] petition and reaffirmed its
decision to proceed."
Savanna Board President Gary Grove and Zifrony argued 40% is Savanna’s threshold
and the 10% figure is the default requirement in state law. Savanna’s online
bylaws feature the 10% figure.
The project in Savanna had become a major point of contention within the
community at a time when HOA’s have become the subject of much debate in
Tallahassee. Some state lawmakers have called for abolishing them entirely.
Homeowners in the Savanna Coalition said they empathize with HOA governance
reforms, but they value the benefits of having amenities — a clubhouse, a pool,
and landscaping services — maintained. Zifrony also believes a HOA ban is an
overstep.
“Are there bad apples out there? Are there situations where boards are not doing
the right thing out-of-control boards. Yeah, I'm sure there are,” Zifrony said.
“I'm certainly not going to defend when a board is doing things wrong they
shouldn't be, but to abolish all HOAs because of that, I don't think is the
appropriate remedy, and I certainly don't think in this instance that Savanna's
board has done anything wrong.”
Savanna Coalition homeowner Bharat Krishna said: “This road paving project is
kind of the tip of the iceberg because a lot more people are now paying
attention to the issues underlying in the governance of the HOA over the last 25
years.”
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