Forest Hills Homeowners Association

Architectural Guidelines

Jun 20, 2001

Our Association has covenants and by-laws that are the guidelines for living in the community. They are similar to the covenants and by-laws of other townhouse and patio home sub-divisions and conform to the State of Georgia regulations on this subject.

The intent of the covenants is to establish and maintain general standards which will ensure and protect the high quality of our community life and property.

Several of the covenants expressly cover the structure of the individual homes and apply to external extensions, remodeling, and any change to the design or color scheme of the Forest Hills home.

In order to make any external change or improvement, homeowners are required by covenant regulation to to fill out an Architectural Change Request and submit it for approval. Should they want to repaint their house, add to existing structures or make substantial property modifications, under any circumstances, they must first complete and submit an Architectural Change Request.

A major consideration for the approval of any request is whether the change will have an impact on the neighboring homes---across, to the side or behind the home. So far, the few changes that have been disapproved occurred because the desired change did not fit the general Forest Hills standard.

Under existing Georgia regulations, a Board of Directors may require that a modification initiated without approval be removed at the homeowner's expense. Obviously, this is not something the Board wants to occur. Instead Forest Hills Homeowners are asked to abide by the covenants and, when necessary, submit the Architectural Change Request for approval.

Although most neighbors submit an application for change and receive approval, we have found that a small number of homeowners have neglected to request approval. To fulfill its obligations as enforcers of the covenants, the Board of Directors will walk through the neighborhood and view homes to determine where unapproved changes have been made and whether they conform to the standards of the community. The findings will be then examined and reported to the Association. Action on these and any future unapproved modifications will be then discussed and determined by the Board.