|
Article
Courtesy of The Sun Sentinel
By
Joe Kollin
Published May 14, 2006
PEMBROKE PINES ·
What started out as a simple proposal by Commissioner Angelo Castillo has turned into a simmering controversy that city commissioners are scheduled to decide on Wednesday.
Castillo proposed requiring residents in homes governed by mandatory homeowners associations to get approval from their architectural review boards before applying for a city building permit.
Currently, the city issues building permits whether or not owners seek or receive such approval. Some owners try to evade their associations while others don't know they ultimately need approval regardless of the city's building permit, he said.
Associations have the power to fine owners who disobey their rules and file costly lawsuits against them.
By requiring residents to get approval first, the city is protecting owners, Castillo said. It also keeps the city from getting involved in disputes between owners and associations.
Other cities, including neighboring Cooper City, require such association approval before issuing a permit, he added.
About two-thirds of communities in Pembroke Pines would be affected. Their association leaders were split on the proposal.
Al Giunta, president of the 5,350-home Silver Lakes Community Association, favored it.
"It will save a lot of grief for the city and homeowners," he told commissioners. "People spend thousands of dollars because they get the city's OK" and then find they don't have the association's permission.
But Robert Young, a director of the Chapel Trail Owners Association, opposed the measure.
"We do not want the city to step in," he said, adding, "Until we get some teeth in [state] law, homeowners still continue to be without recourse to abusive boards."
To prevent hurting residents whose associations are slow to respond to their requests, Castillo's proposal lets the city issue a permit if the association doesn't act within 45 days.
Although commissioners voted unanimously for the measure when it came up for review on April 5, they did not do so when it came time to consider adopting it on May 3. Castillo and Mayor Frank Ortis voted yes, but Vice Mayor Iris Siple and Commissioners William B. Armstrong and Carl Shechter voted against it.
Armstrong, however, asked the commission to reconsider.
"It is a necessary ordinance, it protects the city, it protects homeowners, it protects homeowner associations," he said, but only if the 45-day time limit is eliminated.
Instead, he said, the ordinance should say the city would issue a permit only if the association doesn't act within the time frame specified in its documents.
Castillo disagreed.
"The point is that we stay out of homeowner association business," Castillo said, "but if we base it on an association rule, we're getting involved."
Commissioners postponed a decision until Wednesday.
|