Potomac Yard (Alexandria) HOA — Issues?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why don't they just have the 'common' area spots be common again and not numbered? With reasonable restrictions like contractor vehicles, abandoned vehicles, vehicles have to be in active rotation, and maybe a special pass system for moving. I realize as I type this how administrative that is and pretty ridiculous but I have strong feelings about what's "right" and the current state does not seem right based on the little I have read.

Why not just leave it alone? It’s been like this for years and years, and everything was fine until the HOA Joan of Arc started suing.

Just because something illegal has been done for years does not at some point make it legal. Wrong is wrong, no matter when the wrong comes to light or when someone finally speaks up about it. It's unfornate it will take yet another court battle about HOA assigned parking spots in common areas to fix this problem. The only ones really benefiting from this are the lawyers.

I

What is the point of having a board if they do not correct matters such as this?

It exists for people that lost the 7th grade student council race.

So the latest armchair political scientist over here thinks HOA boards are just a retirement home for people who lost the 7th grade student council race. Right. The reality? Those ‘losers’ are the ones actually dealing with budgets, contractors, insurance, covenants, and the bizarre legal universe of property law—while you sit on social media and write zingers that sound like they were workshopped at a middle school lunch table. It’s easy to mock governance when you’ve never had to seriously do it, never carefully read a budget, and never really been the one on the hook for fixing the mess when the roof caves in. But sure—keep telling yourself the HOA is just junior high drama club for adults. That way you never have to face the fact that some people are willing to do the hard, thankless work you can’t be bothered with.

I appreciate your perspective. It's best to ignore the poster slinging childish insults right and left. I've been active on my hoa board and it is fraught. So many decisions have no easy answer and vitriol is constantly flung at board memmbers. I respect the hard work this board is doing but it seems that they are make decisions without following proper protocol and do not correct their poor decisions.

This is the most blatant example of sock puppeting I have ever seen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why don't they just have the 'common' area spots be common again and not numbered? With reasonable restrictions like contractor vehicles, abandoned vehicles, vehicles have to be in active rotation, and maybe a special pass system for moving. I realize as I type this how administrative that is and pretty ridiculous but I have strong feelings about what's "right" and the current state does not seem right based on the little I have read.

Why not just leave it alone? It’s been like this for years and years, and everything was fine until the HOA Joan of Arc started suing.

Just because something illegal has been done for years does not at some point make it legal. Wrong is wrong, no matter when the wrong comes to light or when someone finally speaks up about it. It's unfornate it will take yet another court battle about HOA assigned parking spots in common areas to fix this problem. The only ones really benefiting from this are the lawyers.

I

What is the point of having a board if they do not correct matters such as this?

It exists for people that lost the 7th grade student council race.

So the latest armchair political scientist over here thinks HOA boards are just a retirement home for people who lost the 7th grade student council race. Right. The reality? Those ‘losers’ are the ones actually dealing with budgets, contractors, insurance, covenants, and the bizarre legal universe of property law—while you sit on social media and write zingers that sound like they were workshopped at a middle school lunch table. It’s easy to mock governance when you’ve never had to seriously do it, never carefully read a budget, and never really been the one on the hook for fixing the mess when the roof caves in. But sure—keep telling yourself the HOA is just junior high drama club for adults. That way you never have to face the fact that some people are willing to do the hard, thankless work you can’t be bothered with.

I appreciate your perspective. It's best to ignore the poster slinging childish insults right and left. I've been active on my hoa board and it is fraught. So many decisions have no easy answer and vitriol is constantly flung at board memmbers. I respect the hard work this board is doing but it seems that they are make decisions without following proper protocol and do not correct their poor decisions.

If you were on a board that was told by the city to reserve some common area parking spaces, and your association was governed by this declaration

https://www.pyhoafacts.org/files/Association%20Documents/PYHOA%20Declaration.pdf

which says in legal terms that you're allowed to reserve the spaces, what would you do?

Did the city require that reserved parking spaces be assigned to specific homeowners or did it just mandate a certain number of parking spaces be part of the development's building plan? Big difference. As a former municipal lawyer, developers are usually required to provide a certain amount of parking to go with the housing they build per local development ordinances. But it usually stops there. The municipality doesn't require assigned parking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why don't they just have the 'common' area spots be common again and not numbered? With reasonable restrictions like contractor vehicles, abandoned vehicles, vehicles have to be in active rotation, and maybe a special pass system for moving. I realize as I type this how administrative that is and pretty ridiculous but I have strong feelings about what's "right" and the current state does not seem right based on the little I have read.

Why not just leave it alone? It’s been like this for years and years, and everything was fine until the HOA Joan of Arc started suing.

Just because something illegal has been done for years does not at some point make it legal. Wrong is wrong, no matter when the wrong comes to light or when someone finally speaks up about it. It's unfornate it will take yet another court battle about HOA assigned parking spots in common areas to fix this problem. The only ones really benefiting from this are the lawyers.

I

What is the point of having a board if they do not correct matters such as this?

It exists for people that lost the 7th grade student council race.

So the latest armchair political scientist over here thinks HOA boards are just a retirement home for people who lost the 7th grade student council race. Right. The reality? Those ‘losers’ are the ones actually dealing with budgets, contractors, insurance, covenants, and the bizarre legal universe of property law—while you sit on social media and write zingers that sound like they were workshopped at a middle school lunch table. It’s easy to mock governance when you’ve never had to seriously do it, never carefully read a budget, and never really been the one on the hook for fixing the mess when the roof caves in. But sure—keep telling yourself the HOA is just junior high drama club for adults. That way you never have to face the fact that some people are willing to do the hard, thankless work you can’t be bothered with.

I appreciate your perspective. It's best to ignore the poster slinging childish insults right and left. I've been active on my hoa board and it is fraught. So many decisions have no easy answer and vitriol is constantly flung at board memmbers. I respect the hard work this board is doing but it seems that they are make decisions without following proper protocol and do not correct their poor decisions.

If you were on a board that was told by the city to reserve some common area parking spaces, and your association was governed by this declaration

https://www.pyhoafacts.org/files/Association%20Documents/PYHOA%20Declaration.pdf

which says in legal terms that you're allowed to reserve the spaces, what would you do?

Did the city require that reserved parking spaces be assigned to specific homeowners or did it just mandate a certain number of parking spaces be part of the development's building plan? Big difference. As a former municipal lawyer, developers are usually required to provide a certain amount of parking to go with the housing they build per local development ordinances. But it usually stops there. The municipality doesn't require assigned parking.

Correct. And it is usually an equation like 1.07 parking spaces per unit. I've never seen it be "28 spaces for the exclusive use of X residents."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why don't they just have the 'common' area spots be common again and not numbered? With reasonable restrictions like contractor vehicles, abandoned vehicles, vehicles have to be in active rotation, and maybe a special pass system for moving. I realize as I type this how administrative that is and pretty ridiculous but I have strong feelings about what's "right" and the current state does not seem right based on the little I have read.

Why not just leave it alone? It’s been like this for years and years, and everything was fine until the HOA Joan of Arc started suing.

Just because something illegal has been done for years does not at some point make it legal. Wrong is wrong, no matter when the wrong comes to light or when someone finally speaks up about it. It's unfornate it will take yet another court battle about HOA assigned parking spots in common areas to fix this problem. The only ones really benefiting from this are the lawyers.

I

What is the point of having a board if they do not correct matters such as this?

It exists for people that lost the 7th grade student council race.

So the latest armchair political scientist over here thinks HOA boards are just a retirement home for people who lost the 7th grade student council race. Right. The reality? Those ‘losers’ are the ones actually dealing with budgets, contractors, insurance, covenants, and the bizarre legal universe of property law—while you sit on social media and write zingers that sound like they were workshopped at a middle school lunch table. It’s easy to mock governance when you’ve never had to seriously do it, never carefully read a budget, and never really been the one on the hook for fixing the mess when the roof caves in. But sure—keep telling yourself the HOA is just junior high drama club for adults. That way you never have to face the fact that some people are willing to do the hard, thankless work you can’t be bothered with.

I appreciate your perspective. It's best to ignore the poster slinging childish insults right and left. I've been active on my hoa board and it is fraught. So many decisions have no easy answer and vitriol is constantly flung at board memmbers. I respect the hard work this board is doing but it seems that they are make decisions without following proper protocol and do not correct their poor decisions.

If you were on a board that was told by the city to reserve some common area parking spaces, and your association was governed by this declaration

https://www.pyhoafacts.org/files/Association%20Documents/PYHOA%20Declaration.pdf

which says in legal terms that you're allowed to reserve the spaces, what would you do?

Did the city require that reserved parking spaces be assigned to specific homeowners or did it just mandate a certain number of parking spaces be part of the development's building plan? Big difference. As a former municipal lawyer, developers are usually required to provide a certain amount of parking to go with the housing they build per local development ordinances. But it usually stops there. The municipality doesn't require assigned parking.

Correct. And it is usually an equation like 1.07 parking spaces per unit. I've never seen it be "28 spaces for the exclusive use of X residents."

Per the lawsuit, the ungaraged townhomes have exclusive use of 46 of the 52 common area parking spaces.

[Anonymous]

Usually when parking spaces are not on the property owned by the homeowner (or townhouse owner), don't people pay extra for the parking space? Isn't that how condo dues are charged? An extra fee per month per each parking space, right? So only those using the spaces pay for them. This is normal universal system.

Here's a link to the Rotunda in Tysons, parking is $35/month:
https://www.rotonda.org/_files/ugd/9f8e15_fddb7ab581e6460cbf2053513434ce34.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why don't they just have the 'common' area spots be common again and not numbered? With reasonable restrictions like contractor vehicles, abandoned vehicles, vehicles have to be in active rotation, and maybe a special pass system for moving. I realize as I type this how administrative that is and pretty ridiculous but I have strong feelings about what's "right" and the current state does not seem right based on the little I have read.

Why not just leave it alone? It’s been like this for years and years, and everything was fine until the HOA Joan of Arc started suing.

Just because something illegal has been done for years does not at some point make it legal. Wrong is wrong, no matter when the wrong comes to light or when someone finally speaks up about it. It's unfornate it will take yet another court battle about HOA assigned parking spots in common areas to fix this problem. The only ones really benefiting from this are the lawyers.

I

What is the point of having a board if they do not correct matters such as this?

It exists for people that lost the 7th grade student council race.

So the latest armchair political scientist over here thinks HOA boards are just a retirement home for people who lost the 7th grade student council race. Right. The reality? Those ‘losers’ are the ones actually dealing with budgets, contractors, insurance, covenants, and the bizarre legal universe of property law—while you sit on social media and write zingers that sound like they were workshopped at a middle school lunch table. It’s easy to mock governance when you’ve never had to seriously do it, never carefully read a budget, and never really been the one on the hook for fixing the mess when the roof caves in. But sure—keep telling yourself the HOA is just junior high drama club for adults. That way you never have to face the fact that some people are willing to do the hard, thankless work you can’t be bothered with.

I appreciate your perspective. It's best to ignore the poster slinging childish insults right and left. I've been active on my hoa board and it is fraught. So many decisions have no easy answer and vitriol is constantly flung at board memmbers. I respect the hard work this board is doing but it seems that they are make decisions without following proper protocol and do not correct their poor decisions.

If you were on a board that was told by the city to reserve some common area parking spaces, and your association was governed by this declaration

https://www.pyhoafacts.org/files/Association%20Documents/PYHOA%20Declaration.pdf

which says in legal terms that you're allowed to reserve the spaces, what would you do?

Did the city require that reserved parking spaces be assigned to specific homeowners or did it just mandate a certain number of parking spaces be part of the development's building plan? Big difference. As a former municipal lawyer, developers are usually required to provide a certain amount of parking to go with the housing they build per local development ordinances. But it usually stops there. The municipality doesn't require assigned parking.

Needless to say, unusual isn't the same as untrue. I can imagine the SFH owners in the adjacent neighborhood pressuring the city to require it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why don't they just have the 'common' area spots be common again and not numbered? With reasonable restrictions like contractor vehicles, abandoned vehicles, vehicles have to be in active rotation, and maybe a special pass system for moving. I realize as I type this how administrative that is and pretty ridiculous but I have strong feelings about what's "right" and the current state does not seem right based on the little I have read.

Why not just leave it alone? It’s been like this for years and years, and everything was fine until the HOA Joan of Arc started suing.

Just because something illegal has been done for years does not at some point make it legal. Wrong is wrong, no matter when the wrong comes to light or when someone finally speaks up about it. It's unfornate it will take yet another court battle about HOA assigned parking spots in common areas to fix this problem. The only ones really benefiting from this are the lawyers.

I

What is the point of having a board if they do not correct matters such as this?

It exists for people that lost the 7th grade student council race.

So the latest armchair political scientist over here thinks HOA boards are just a retirement home for people who lost the 7th grade student council race. Right. The reality? Those ‘losers’ are the ones actually dealing with budgets, contractors, insurance, covenants, and the bizarre legal universe of property law—while you sit on social media and write zingers that sound like they were workshopped at a middle school lunch table. It’s easy to mock governance when you’ve never had to seriously do it, never carefully read a budget, and never really been the one on the hook for fixing the mess when the roof caves in. But sure—keep telling yourself the HOA is just junior high drama club for adults. That way you never have to face the fact that some people are willing to do the hard, thankless work you can’t be bothered with.

I appreciate your perspective. It's best to ignore the poster slinging childish insults right and left. I've been active on my hoa board and it is fraught. So many decisions have no easy answer and vitriol is constantly flung at board memmbers. I respect the hard work this board is doing but it seems that they are make decisions without following proper protocol and do not correct their poor decisions.

If you were on a board that was told by the city to reserve some common area parking spaces, and your association was governed by this declaration

https://www.pyhoafacts.org/files/Association%20Documents/PYHOA%20Declaration.pdf

which says in legal terms that you're allowed to reserve the spaces, what would you do?

Did the city require that reserved parking spaces be assigned to specific homeowners or did it just mandate a certain number of parking spaces be part of the development's building plan? Big difference. As a former municipal lawyer, developers are usually required to provide a certain amount of parking to go with the housing they build per local development ordinances. But it usually stops there. The municipality doesn't require assigned parking.

Needless to say, unusual isn't the same as untrue. I can imagine the SFH owners in the adjacent neighborhood pressuring the city to require it.

This is 100% untrue:

---------- Original Message ----------
From: Alex311 <[e-mail]>
To:
Date:
Subject: PZ-Planning and Zoning General Comments, Complaints, and Inquiries - (24-00024505) [ thread::NC-5g-enGwmBO-04gDS7iSA:: ]




The Zoning Ordinance only specifies the number of spaces to be provided, the size, and pavement materials.  The Zoning Ordiannce does not regulate the assignement of spaces.  This is not a zoning issue but may be a civil matter between the HOA and residents who may object.  

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why don't they just have the 'common' area spots be common again and not numbered? With reasonable restrictions like contractor vehicles, abandoned vehicles, vehicles have to be in active rotation, and maybe a special pass system for moving. I realize as I type this how administrative that is and pretty ridiculous but I have strong feelings about what's "right" and the current state does not seem right based on the little I have read.

Why not just leave it alone? It’s been like this for years and years, and everything was fine until the HOA Joan of Arc started suing.

Just because something illegal has been done for years does not at some point make it legal. Wrong is wrong, no matter when the wrong comes to light or when someone finally speaks up about it. It's unfornate it will take yet another court battle about HOA assigned parking spots in common areas to fix this problem. The only ones really benefiting from this are the lawyers.

I

What is the point of having a board if they do not correct matters such as this?

It exists for people that lost the 7th grade student council race.

So the latest armchair political scientist over here thinks HOA boards are just a retirement home for people who lost the 7th grade student council race. Right. The reality? Those ‘losers’ are the ones actually dealing with budgets, contractors, insurance, covenants, and the bizarre legal universe of property law—while you sit on social media and write zingers that sound like they were workshopped at a middle school lunch table. It’s easy to mock governance when you’ve never had to seriously do it, never carefully read a budget, and never really been the one on the hook for fixing the mess when the roof caves in. But sure—keep telling yourself the HOA is just junior high drama club for adults. That way you never have to face the fact that some people are willing to do the hard, thankless work you can’t be bothered with.

I appreciate your perspective. It's best to ignore the poster slinging childish insults right and left. I've been active on my hoa board and it is fraught. So many decisions have no easy answer and vitriol is constantly flung at board memmbers. I respect the hard work this board is doing but it seems that they are make decisions without following proper protocol and do not correct their poor decisions.

If you were on a board that was told by the city to reserve some common area parking spaces, and your association was governed by this declaration

https://www.pyhoafacts.org/files/Association%20Documents/PYHOA%20Declaration.pdf

which says in legal terms that you're allowed to reserve the spaces, what would you do?

Did the city require that reserved parking spaces be assigned to specific homeowners or did it just mandate a certain number of parking spaces be part of the development's building plan? Big difference. As a former municipal lawyer, developers are usually required to provide a certain amount of parking to go with the housing they build per local development ordinances. But it usually stops there. The municipality doesn't require assigned parking.

Needless to say, unusual isn't the same as untrue. I can imagine the SFH owners in the adjacent neighborhood pressuring the city to require it.

This is 100% untrue:


Good morning, -

I am in the Office of Real Estate Assessments. We have the responsibility to value all real property in the City every year at its fair market value for taxation. Real property is the interests, benefits, and rights inherent in the ownership of physical property (the land and all things attached to the land by people).

The Office of Real Estate Assessments does not approve documents recorded in the Land Records, but we will value property based upon any changes to the rights of property owners made by the legal recordings. We will change a property's value if the legal recordings are determined to impact value and if we can demonstrate the adjustments necessary to the property value using market sales.

I reviewed the properties along Van Valkenburgh to see if we were assessing any parking spaces or making market adjustments for parking spaces outside of garages. We are not valuing any parking spaces in the common areas for Potomac Yard Homeowners Association.

Garages are being assessed as part of the building value for each property. Properties without garages along Van Valkenburg have basement space and other features that distinguish them, contributing to their value. I have included a worksheet showing the different features that we are assessing for the townhouses on the west side of Route 1. We are not adding any value for the parking spaces this time to any property’s assessed value in this group.

Based upon my review of this data, I believe the properties to be in equity with one another and would not make any adjustments to the assessed values. Since we are not adding to the properties' assessed values for the parking spaces, we would also not reduce the properties' values should the assignments be found to be invalid.

Please feel free to contact me should you have any questions about the assessed values.

Sincerely,

Appraiser Supervisor

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why don't they just have the 'common' area spots be common again and not numbered? With reasonable restrictions like contractor vehicles, abandoned vehicles, vehicles have to be in active rotation, and maybe a special pass system for moving. I realize as I type this how administrative that is and pretty ridiculous but I have strong feelings about what's "right" and the current state does not seem right based on the little I have read.

Why not just leave it alone? It’s been like this for years and years, and everything was fine until the HOA Joan of Arc started suing.

Just because something illegal has been done for years does not at some point make it legal. Wrong is wrong, no matter when the wrong comes to light or when someone finally speaks up about it. It's unfornate it will take yet another court battle about HOA assigned parking spots in common areas to fix this problem. The only ones really benefiting from this are the lawyers.

I

What is the point of having a board if they do not correct matters such as this?

It exists for people that lost the 7th grade student council race.

So the latest armchair political scientist over here thinks HOA boards are just a retirement home for people who lost the 7th grade student council race. Right. The reality? Those ‘losers’ are the ones actually dealing with budgets, contractors, insurance, covenants, and the bizarre legal universe of property law—while you sit on social media and write zingers that sound like they were workshopped at a middle school lunch table. It’s easy to mock governance when you’ve never had to seriously do it, never carefully read a budget, and never really been the one on the hook for fixing the mess when the roof caves in. But sure—keep telling yourself the HOA is just junior high drama club for adults. That way you never have to face the fact that some people are willing to do the hard, thankless work you can’t be bothered with.

I appreciate your perspective. It's best to ignore the poster slinging childish insults right and left. I've been active on my hoa board and it is fraught. So many decisions have no easy answer and vitriol is constantly flung at board memmbers. I respect the hard work this board is doing but it seems that they are make decisions without following proper protocol and do not correct their poor decisions.

If you were on a board that was told by the city to reserve some common area parking spaces, and your association was governed by this declaration

https://www.pyhoafacts.org/files/Association%20Documents/PYHOA%20Declaration.pdf

which says in legal terms that you're allowed to reserve the spaces, what would you do?

Did the city require that reserved parking spaces be assigned to specific homeowners or did it just mandate a certain number of parking spaces be part of the development's building plan? Big difference. As a former municipal lawyer, developers are usually required to provide a certain amount of parking to go with the housing they build per local development ordinances. But it usually stops there. The municipality doesn't require assigned parking.

Needless to say, unusual isn't the same as untrue. I can imagine the SFH owners in the adjacent neighborhood pressuring the city to require it.

This is 100% untrue:


Good morning, -

I am in the Office of Real Estate Assessments. We have the responsibility to value all real property in the City every year at its fair market value for taxation. Real property is the interests, benefits, and rights inherent in the ownership of physical property (the land and all things attached to the land by people).

The Office of Real Estate Assessments does not approve documents recorded in the Land Records, but we will value property based upon any changes to the rights of property owners made by the legal recordings. We will change a property's value if the legal recordings are determined to impact value and if we can demonstrate the adjustments necessary to the property value using market sales.

I reviewed the properties along Van Valkenburgh to see if we were assessing any parking spaces or making market adjustments for parking spaces outside of garages. We are not valuing any parking spaces in the common areas for Potomac Yard Homeowners Association.

Garages are being assessed as part of the building value for each property. Properties without garages along Van Valkenburg have basement space and other features that distinguish them, contributing to their value. I have included a worksheet showing the different features that we are assessing for the townhouses on the west side of Route 1. We are not adding any value for the parking spaces this time to any property’s assessed value in this group.

Based upon my review of this data, I believe the properties to be in equity with one another and would not make any adjustments to the assessed values. Since we are not adding to the properties' assessed values for the parking spaces, we would also not reduce the properties' values should the assignments be found to be invalid.

Please feel free to contact me should you have any questions about the assessed values.

Sincerely,

Appraiser Supervisor

This is an absurd response from the city. In what world is an open street space in which you can't securely store vehicles and other items equal to a locked, enclosed, condtioned garage?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why don't they just have the 'common' area spots be common again and not numbered? With reasonable restrictions like contractor vehicles, abandoned vehicles, vehicles have to be in active rotation, and maybe a special pass system for moving. I realize as I type this how administrative that is and pretty ridiculous but I have strong feelings about what's "right" and the current state does not seem right based on the little I have read.

Why not just leave it alone? It’s been like this for years and years, and everything was fine until the HOA Joan of Arc started suing.

Just because something illegal has been done for years does not at some point make it legal. Wrong is wrong, no matter when the wrong comes to light or when someone finally speaks up about it. It's unfornate it will take yet another court battle about HOA assigned parking spots in common areas to fix this problem. The only ones really benefiting from this are the lawyers.

I

What is the point of having a board if they do not correct matters such as this?

It exists for people that lost the 7th grade student council race.

So the latest armchair political scientist over here thinks HOA boards are just a retirement home for people who lost the 7th grade student council race. Right. The reality? Those ‘losers’ are the ones actually dealing with budgets, contractors, insurance, covenants, and the bizarre legal universe of property law—while you sit on social media and write zingers that sound like they were workshopped at a middle school lunch table. It’s easy to mock governance when you’ve never had to seriously do it, never carefully read a budget, and never really been the one on the hook for fixing the mess when the roof caves in. But sure—keep telling yourself the HOA is just junior high drama club for adults. That way you never have to face the fact that some people are willing to do the hard, thankless work you can’t be bothered with.

I appreciate your perspective. It's best to ignore the poster slinging childish insults right and left. I've been active on my hoa board and it is fraught. So many decisions have no easy answer and vitriol is constantly flung at board memmbers. I respect the hard work this board is doing but it seems that they are make decisions without following proper protocol and do not correct their poor decisions.

If you were on a board that was told by the city to reserve some common area parking spaces, and your association was governed by this declaration

https://www.pyhoafacts.org/files/Association%20Documents/PYHOA%20Declaration.pdf

which says in legal terms that you're allowed to reserve the spaces, what would you do?

Did the city require that reserved parking spaces be assigned to specific homeowners or did it just mandate a certain number of parking spaces be part of the development's building plan? Big difference. As a former municipal lawyer, developers are usually required to provide a certain amount of parking to go with the housing they build per local development ordinances. But it usually stops there. The municipality doesn't require assigned parking.

Needless to say, unusual isn't the same as untrue. I can imagine the SFH owners in the adjacent neighborhood pressuring the city to require it.

This is 100% untrue:


Good morning, -

I am in the Office of Real Estate Assessments. We have the responsibility to value all real property in the City every year at its fair market value for taxation. Real property is the interests, benefits, and rights inherent in the ownership of physical property (the land and all things attached to the land by people).

The Office of Real Estate Assessments does not approve documents recorded in the Land Records, but we will value property based upon any changes to the rights of property owners made by the legal recordings. We will change a property's value if the legal recordings are determined to impact value and if we can demonstrate the adjustments necessary to the property value using market sales.

I reviewed the properties along Van Valkenburgh to see if we were assessing any parking spaces or making market adjustments for parking spaces outside of garages. We are not valuing any parking spaces in the common areas for Potomac Yard Homeowners Association.

Garages are being assessed as part of the building value for each property. Properties without garages along Van Valkenburg have basement space and other features that distinguish them, contributing to their value. I have included a worksheet showing the different features that we are assessing for the townhouses on the west side of Route 1. We are not adding any value for the parking spaces this time to any property’s assessed value in this group.

Based upon my review of this data, I believe the properties to be in equity with one another and would not make any adjustments to the assessed values. Since we are not adding to the properties' assessed values for the parking spaces, we would also not reduce the properties' values should the assignments be found to be invalid.

Please feel free to contact me should you have any questions about the assessed values.

Sincerely,

Appraiser Supervisor

This is an absurd response from the city. In what world is an open street space in which you can't securely store vehicles and other items equal to a locked, enclosed, condtioned garage?

Could you please clarify where the city stated that things are equal in reference to parking? My main concern is that ungaraged owners are not being taxed on these parking spots, while garage owners are responsible for their maintenance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why don't they just have the 'common' area spots be common again and not numbered? With reasonable restrictions like contractor vehicles, abandoned vehicles, vehicles have to be in active rotation, and maybe a special pass system for moving. I realize as I type this how administrative that is and pretty ridiculous but I have strong feelings about what's "right" and the current state does not seem right based on the little I have read.

Why not just leave it alone? It’s been like this for years and years, and everything was fine until the HOA Joan of Arc started suing.

Just because something illegal has been done for years does not at some point make it legal. Wrong is wrong, no matter when the wrong comes to light or when someone finally speaks up about it. It's unfornate it will take yet another court battle about HOA assigned parking spots in common areas to fix this problem. The only ones really benefiting from this are the lawyers.

I

What is the point of having a board if they do not correct matters such as this?

It exists for people that lost the 7th grade student council race.

So the latest armchair political scientist over here thinks HOA boards are just a retirement home for people who lost the 7th grade student council race. Right. The reality? Those ‘losers’ are the ones actually dealing with budgets, contractors, insurance, covenants, and the bizarre legal universe of property law—while you sit on social media and write zingers that sound like they were workshopped at a middle school lunch table. It’s easy to mock governance when you’ve never had to seriously do it, never carefully read a budget, and never really been the one on the hook for fixing the mess when the roof caves in. But sure—keep telling yourself the HOA is just junior high drama club for adults. That way you never have to face the fact that some people are willing to do the hard, thankless work you can’t be bothered with.

I appreciate your perspective. It's best to ignore the poster slinging childish insults right and left. I've been active on my hoa board and it is fraught. So many decisions have no easy answer and vitriol is constantly flung at board memmbers. I respect the hard work this board is doing but it seems that they are make decisions without following proper protocol and do not correct their poor decisions.

If you were on a board that was told by the city to reserve some common area parking spaces, and your association was governed by this declaration

https://www.pyhoafacts.org/files/Association%20Documents/PYHOA%20Declaration.pdf

which says in legal terms that you're allowed to reserve the spaces, what would you do?

Did the city require that reserved parking spaces be assigned to specific homeowners or did it just mandate a certain number of parking spaces be part of the development's building plan? Big difference. As a former municipal lawyer, developers are usually required to provide a certain amount of parking to go with the housing they build per local development ordinances. But it usually stops there. The municipality doesn't require assigned parking.

Needless to say, unusual isn't the same as untrue. I can imagine the SFH owners in the adjacent neighborhood pressuring the city to require it.

This is 100% untrue:

---------- Original Message ----------
From: Alex311 <[e-mail]>
To:
Date:
Subject: PZ-Planning and Zoning General Comments, Complaints, and Inquiries - (24-00024505) [ thread::NC-5g-enGwmBO-04gDS7iSA:: ]




The Zoning Ordinance only specifies the number of spaces to be provided, the size, and pavement materials.  The Zoning Ordiannce does not regulate the assignement of spaces.  This is not a zoning issue but may be a civil matter between the HOA and residents who may object.  

AFAIK, if the development wasn’t built as-of-right then the city could have gotten a concession about parking anyway.

[Anonymous]

The city' had a previous requirement for a shuttle service. While this requirement was recently unset, I believe it would never have been proposed or enacted given that if every unit in the Potomac Yard HOA had two dedicated parking spots.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why don't they just have the 'common' area spots be common again and not numbered? With reasonable restrictions like contractor vehicles, abandoned vehicles, vehicles have to be in active rotation, and maybe a special pass system for moving. I realize as I type this how administrative that is and pretty ridiculous but I have strong feelings about what's "right" and the current state does not seem right based on the little I have read.

Why not just leave it alone? It’s been like this for years and years, and everything was fine until the HOA Joan of Arc started suing.

Just because something illegal has been done for years does not at some point make it legal. Wrong is wrong, no matter when the wrong comes to light or when someone finally speaks up about it. It's unfornate it will take yet another court battle about HOA assigned parking spots in common areas to fix this problem. The only ones really benefiting from this are the lawyers.

I

What is the point of having a board if they do not correct matters such as this?

It exists for people that lost the 7th grade student council race.

So the latest armchair political scientist over here thinks HOA boards are just a retirement home for people who lost the 7th grade student council race. Right. The reality? Those ‘losers’ are the ones actually dealing with budgets, contractors, insurance, covenants, and the bizarre legal universe of property law—while you sit on social media and write zingers that sound like they were workshopped at a middle school lunch table. It’s easy to mock governance when you’ve never had to seriously do it, never carefully read a budget, and never really been the one on the hook for fixing the mess when the roof caves in. But sure—keep telling yourself the HOA is just junior high drama club for adults. That way you never have to face the fact that some people are willing to do the hard, thankless work you can’t be bothered with.

I appreciate your perspective. It's best to ignore the poster slinging childish insults right and left. I've been active on my hoa board and it is fraught. So many decisions have no easy answer and vitriol is constantly flung at board memmbers. I respect the hard work this board is doing but it seems that they are make decisions without following proper protocol and do not correct their poor decisions.

If you were on a board that was told by the city to reserve some common area parking spaces, and your association was governed by this declaration

https://www.pyhoafacts.org/files/Association%20Documents/PYHOA%20Declaration.pdf

which says in legal terms that you're allowed to reserve the spaces, what would you do?

I believe it is time to archive this website based on the empirical evidence that has impeached its credibility.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why don't they just have the 'common' area spots be common again and not numbered? With reasonable restrictions like contractor vehicles, abandoned vehicles, vehicles have to be in active rotation, and maybe a special pass system for moving. I realize as I type this how administrative that is and pretty ridiculous but I have strong feelings about what's "right" and the current state does not seem right based on the little I have read.

Why not just leave it alone? It’s been like this for years and years, and everything was fine until the HOA Joan of Arc started suing.

Just because something illegal has been done for years does not at some point make it legal. Wrong is wrong, no matter when the wrong comes to light or when someone finally speaks up about it. It's unfornate it will take yet another court battle about HOA assigned parking spots in common areas to fix this problem. The only ones really benefiting from this are the lawyers.

I

What is the point of having a board if they do not correct matters such as this?

It exists for people that lost the 7th grade student council race.

So the latest armchair political scientist over here thinks HOA boards are just a retirement home for people who lost the 7th grade student council race. Right. The reality? Those ‘losers’ are the ones actually dealing with budgets, contractors, insurance, covenants, and the bizarre legal universe of property law—while you sit on social media and write zingers that sound like they were workshopped at a middle school lunch table. It’s easy to mock governance when you’ve never had to seriously do it, never carefully read a budget, and never really been the one on the hook for fixing the mess when the roof caves in. But sure—keep telling yourself the HOA is just junior high drama club for adults. That way you never have to face the fact that some people are willing to do the hard, thankless work you can’t be bothered with.

I appreciate your perspective. It's best to ignore the poster slinging childish insults right and left. I've been active on my hoa board and it is fraught. So many decisions have no easy answer and vitriol is constantly flung at board memmbers. I respect the hard work this board is doing but it seems that they are make decisions without following proper protocol and do not correct their poor decisions.

If you were on a board that was told by the city to reserve some common area parking spaces, and your association was governed by this declaration

https://www.pyhoafacts.org/files/Association%20Documents/PYHOA%20Declaration.pdf

which says in legal terms that you're allowed to reserve the spaces, what would you do?

Did the city require that reserved parking spaces be assigned to specific homeowners or did it just mandate a certain number of parking spaces be part of the development's building plan? Big difference. As a former municipal lawyer, developers are usually required to provide a certain amount of parking to go with the housing they build per local development ordinances. But it usually stops there. The municipality doesn't require assigned parking.

Needless to say, unusual isn't the same as untrue. I can imagine the SFH owners in the adjacent neighborhood pressuring the city to require it.

This is 100% untrue:


Good morning, -

I am in the Office of Real Estate Assessments. We have the responsibility to value all real property in the City every year at its fair market value for taxation. Real property is the interests, benefits, and rights inherent in the ownership of physical property (the land and all things attached to the land by people).

The Office of Real Estate Assessments does not approve documents recorded in the Land Records, but we will value property based upon any changes to the rights of property owners made by the legal recordings. We will change a property's value if the legal recordings are determined to impact value and if we can demonstrate the adjustments necessary to the property value using market sales.

I reviewed the properties along Van Valkenburgh to see if we were assessing any parking spaces or making market adjustments for parking spaces outside of garages. We are not valuing any parking spaces in the common areas for Potomac Yard Homeowners Association.

Garages are being assessed as part of the building value for each property. Properties without garages along Van Valkenburg have basement space and other features that distinguish them, contributing to their value. I have included a worksheet showing the different features that we are assessing for the townhouses on the west side of Route 1. We are not adding any value for the parking spaces this time to any property’s assessed value in this group.

Based upon my review of this data, I believe the properties to be in equity with one another and would not make any adjustments to the assessed values. Since we are not adding to the properties' assessed values for the parking spaces, we would also not reduce the properties' values should the assignments be found to be invalid.

Please feel free to contact me should you have any questions about the assessed values.

Sincerely,

Appraiser Supervisor

This is an absurd response from the city. In what world is an open street space in which you can't securely store vehicles and other items equal to a locked, enclosed, condtioned garage?

Could you please clarify where the city stated that things are equal in reference to parking? My main concern is that ungaraged owners are not being taxed on these parking spots, while garage owners are responsible for their maintenance.

Street parking is usually metered to raise money to pay for the street/parking maintenance. What's the slogan on the meters? "All may park, all must pay"? Something like that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.vahoalaw.com/board-member-responsibilities/can-board-of-directors-assign-parking-spaces-in-common-areas

Towing could be the next lawsuit filed against the Potomac Yard HOA. Towing must be authorized in the Declaration. Penalties for violating a rule on a common area are 100% monetary.

This is FALSE. And it reveals Frank’s total ignorance of HOA law and property law generally. The HOA is a distinct legal entity that has every right to remove vehicles from its property. Not every single means needs to be explicitly stated in the declaration. Stop being ignorant.