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Article
Courtesy of The Sun Sentinel
By
Georgia East
Published
July
11, 2006
MIRAMAR
-- At first glance, it looks like a picture-perfect community of 1,800 new
homes.
But a bitter battle is taking place behind the gates of Sunset Lakes, where new
homes cost $500,000 to $900,000. A band of residents is accusing the homeowner's
association board of favoring the southern end of the community.
Northern neighbors are
most upset about security guards -- or lack of them. While
everyone must pay a $167 monthly fee, some communities in the
south get a guard, but none in the north do. It doesn't help, they
say, that six of the seven board members live on the south side.
"I've lived here for five years and I waited and waited to
have a guard at my gate," said Rafael Pineiro, a marketing
executive. "Then I learn a whole section of Sunset Lakes has
a guard, and that I'm also paying for that guard."
Board members say they are
following through with the setup designed by the developer and it
is possible homeowners would |
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‘It
drives me crazy'
Rafael Pineiro, who has lived in Sunset Lakes for five years, now tapes
board meetings and puts the board’s actions -- and his gripes -- on his
Web site, sunsetlakesowner.com |
have
to pay extra for guards at their booths.
The battle occurring at Sunset Lakes is new for the community.
Two years ago when the Sunset Lakes homeowners' board took over from the
developer, the transition took place with little conflict. But similar to other
suburban settings, homeowners here are now taking their gripes to Web sites.
Pineiro, for example, tapes board meetings and then puts the board's actions and
his gripes on his site, sunsetlakesowner.com.
"They're bringing up things like everything is illegal," said board
president Robert Barea, who added the attacks got so bad that he had to shut
down the online forum he once maintained on the community's Web site. "They
have created a group of homeowners, about 30 of them, who are screaming holy
hell."
Some have turned to local officials for help.
Miramar Commissioner Winston Barnes recently asked what role the city could play
in some of the conflicts. He was told that for the most part, the conflicts are
outside the commission's jurisdiction.
"The reality is when you're buying into a new development, you're signing
an agreement with a developer who then turns it over to an association,"
Barnes said. "It's a private agreement."
Pineiro is monitoring various state laws being proposed that impact homeowners
associations and says he has considered seeking legal counsel.
Although the state has created a condo ombudsman to help mediate disputes
between owners and condo boards, legislators declined to create the same post
for homeowners.
But members of the Sunset Lakes board say they are undergoing growing pains,
like any other board, and that changes are being made. They are seeking legal
opinions more often and have changed meeting formats to include time limits on
public comments.
"There's been a lot of havoc," board member Alex Casas said.
"Things used to be a little too loose."
Some blame Sunset Lakes' problems on a group of homeowners they call dissidents,
and say that the group changed the tone of association meetings.
But Sean McCoy, the only board member who lives in a northern neighborhood, says
a lot of the complaints coming from his area are valid.
"There has to be balance," he said.
He said the group is having an impact. In March, the band of homeowners halted
the board's attempt to give a more than $300,000 contract to erect gates to an
in-house employee, after they cited conflicts of interest. The issue was
documented on Pineiro's site.
In response to the Web site, board members passed a resolution stating they have
a right to go over any recordings of the meetings before they are placed on a
Web site.
Pineiro said that violates his First Amendment rights.
"It drives me crazy because from a citizen's standpoint you think you live
in the United States and the normal rules of governing apply," he said.
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