I usually do not get the opportunity to drive through the Village Gate community.  However, after the ice storm a few weeks ago, my wife and I took a drive around to see what damage was caused.  I was a bit taken aback at what I saw.  Multiple properties were not maintained according to our by-laws.  Examples of what I saw include (but are not limited to) fences in disrepair, shutters broken, trash cans left out or stored on the side of homes, trailers parked on side yards, and plastic toys in front yards.

We live in a lovely community and I think everyone would agree that we all want to maintain/increase our property values.  With spring right around the corner, there will be many prospective homebuyers driving through our community.  In order to keep Village Gate a desirable location, we need to uphold and enforce the rules we have all agreed to live by.

It is my hope that the management company will conduct a walkthrough of Village Gate and contact the homeowners who are in violation.

Hi Ed. 

My name is Gena Cindric and I am on the Architectural Committee, who is made up of myself and Rebecca DuBro.  This is because no one else in the neighborhood has volunteered to help.  I have been on the committe for about 5 years now and have been approving/not approving architectural changes submitted by neighbors.  During the past 5 years we have done a few walkthroughs of the neighborhood and CAS has sent letters to homeowners who are in violation of codes.  However, unfortunately, these homeowners choose not to fix their problems.  It is very frustrating to spend hours going around the community and looking at many houses in disrepair, taking the time to mail out letters with no results at the end.  It seems we really have no resources to enforce our bylaws except to put a lien on someone's house which will cause a problem if and when the house is sold.  I believe the only way to change this is with a large portion of the homeowners agreeing to this change.  As you know, we can barely get a quorum at the meetings to do anything.  It is very frustrating to myself and I'm sure to you and your wife.  I am just at a loss as to what we can do about it...

It's nice to hear from the famous Gena Cindric.  Terry had told me there were two very good and dedicated people on the architectural committee, but I hadn't had the chance to meet you.  So, thanks for your response to what was actually an anonymous letter we received (when I posted it, I didn't realize it would look like I had written it myself).   And, thanks for looking at our new web site - you may be the first other than myself.

I agree with you that we need a better form of outreach to the neighbors who are less than fully conforming to our architectural standards.   I know you and Rebecca do a very conscientious and knowledgeable job, but you can't do it by yourselves, without community support.   I will say, however, that I took a walk-through myself after we got the letter, and I don't think things are quite as dire as the writer was suggesting.  So I think that, maybe, this is a manageable problem that the Board and I can help with.  My approach would be to write as gentle and neighborly a first notice as possible, and follow that up with a personal visit, neighbor-to-neighbor.  (I'd be willing to try a few of those visits myself.) These are good people, but we all have occasional money problems, and we all procrastinate.

Tonight's Village Gate Annual Meeting is cancelled because the Senior Center is closed, due to the snow.  However, if you'd like to come to a rescheduled meeting with the Board and me during the second week in April, we can talk about possible strategies then.  I'll let you know the exact date.  If you can't make that meeting, I'd be happy to discuss things with you at a time and place of your convenience. 

Thanks for your dedicated service - let's see if we can make life easier for you.  It benefits all of us.

                           Ed