Deed restrictions may stay amid rising values

Article Courtesy of the The St. Petersburg Times

By TIM GRANT
Published August 16, 2004

CARROLLWOOD - The view keeps improving in Plantation of Carrollwood.

Homeowners are fixing up their falling-down fences and dragging away the junk cars thanks to board members enforcing the deed restrictions.

Home values are rising in the once-troubled neighborhood, and most people who live there want prices to keep going up.

The problem is their deed documents, which are valid for 30 years, are set to expire in 2006. And if that happens, some fear the newly spruced-up properties could fall back into disrepair.

"You drive around here now and you'll see new fences, houses freshly painted, no inoperable cars, trash or debris," said property manager Tom Jones.

Plantation board members will vote at their meeting Wednesday to extend their covenants for another decade. The measure is still expected to pass, but not unanimously. But some don't want that to happen.

"I think we need to just let the deed restrictions go away," said Bob Panazze, who has served three years on the board. "We've got codes in the county which will take care of the major problems we would have." Plantation board member Bill Sanders represents the majority opinion. "The deed restrictions are a necessary requirement," Sanders said. "A homeowner association's main duty is to protect the value of properties, and the way you do that is through deed restrictions that set standards."

Plantation homeowners tried last year to extend their restrictions for another decade with a community vote at their annual meeting. They needed at least 10 percent, or 184 of the community's 1,832 households, to cast votes at the annual meeting for the results to be valid. They were 22 homeowners short of a quorum.

With 139 voting in favor and 23 voting against deed restrictions, the meeting did indicate that an overwhelming number of the residents favor keeping Plantation's deed restricted status.

A state law that passed shortly after Plantation's annual meeting gives board members the right to extend a community's deed restrictions with a majority vote.

Before the law changed, it would have been almost impossible for any community to reinstate expired deed documents because 100 percent of the residents would have to approve.