=================================================================
Sent via HOA-List ******* For Help: HOA-List-Request@netcom.com
Date: Sat, 26 Aug 1995 09:35:52 +0059 (EDT)
Subject: FORWARD: HOAs and wetlands
To: HOA list <hoa-list@netcom.com>
From: kradov@world.std.com (Karl B Radov)
Reply-To: HOA-List@netcom.com
I'm passing along the following article, which arrived yesterday,
as a bit of a different twist on the problems of autocratic HOA boards
and "recalcitrant" members. (The article is extracted from "A List...",
an environmental listserv and newsletter, which I received through the
Red Rock Eater listserv.)
I'll try to follow up. BTW, Massachusetts condo law specifically
does not permit HOA members to withhold assessments they deem illegal,
etc., but rather requires payment followed by formal protest. This is
the same as the statutory procedure for protesting real-estate property
tax assessments by municipalities.
Karl
----------------------------------
> Date: Fri, 25 Aug 1995 14:28:30 -0700
> Subject: A List...August 25, Part I
> Resent-From: rre@weber.ucsd.edu
>
> > Date: Fri, 25 Aug 1995 17:08:54 +0059 (EDT)
> > From: George P Mokray <gmoke@world.std.com>
> > To: a-list@world.std.com
> > Subject: A List...August 25, Part I
>
> A List of Environmental and Telecommunications Events and Issues
> August 25 to September 1, 1995
>
> Published, Edited and Written by George Mokray for
> Information Ecologies
> 218 Franklin St #3
> Cambridge, MA 02139
> (617)661-2676
> gmoke@world.std.com
>
> "A List..." now has a homepage: http://world.std.com/~gmoke/AList.html
>
> Listings
> MassEnviro Listings
> "A List..." Is Now a Listserv
> ->> Barry Kort and the Wetlands
> Strategizing the Environmental Information Infrastructure
> Sustainability Resources
> Ontological Breakdown, or, Pretending to be a Help System
> 150 Years of _Scientific American_
>
> Barry Kort and the Wetlands
>
> Editorial Comment: Barry Kort is a pioneer in using the Internet for
> educational purposes. He helps run Cyberion City,
> (telnet://guest@musenet.org),
> an informal learning environment for kids, a text-based virtual reality
> that is a space station and virtual community, and works at Bolt Beranek
> and Newman on other educational projects (http://www.musenet.org). Lately,
> he's been having some problems with his condo association and their seeming
> violation of the abutting wetlands. He deserves any help that we can give
> him. Let him tell you about it.
>
>
> I live in a condo in Bedford MA which encorporates and abuts a Wetlands.
> One parcel is owned by the Condo Ass'n and is designated Open Space,
> to be left in its natural, scenic and open condition. The adjoining
> parcel is owned by the [Town's] Conservation Commission and is deeded
> as a Conservation Area which may only be used for 'passive recreation'.
>
> The Trustees of the Condo Ass'n have permitted some unit owners
> to build a golf course upon the two parcels, without so much as a
> by-your-leave from affected parties. Then they rolled into the
> monthly condo fees the cost of operating and maintaining the golf
> course. After disputing the matter for several years, with no
> progress, I began withholding the portion of the condo fees that
> pay for the golf course (about $40/mo out of $250/mo).
>
> This week the Trustess filed suit against me, seeking a lien on my
> unit and an order to sell it. You can read the legal papers at:
>
> http://web.musenet.org/~bkort/bedfordshire.html
>
> There are 13.5 acres of Conservation Land alongside the flowage of
> the Shawsheen River. A portion of the 23 Acre Open Space is also
> designated Wetlands. (There are 5 natural ponds on the two parcels.
> Two are directly connected to the Shawsheen, two are spring fed, and
> one is fed from runoff along the embankment.) The Trustees installed
> a diesel powered water pumping station on the Conservation Land and
> are pumping about 10,000 gallons a day out of the Shawsheen to water
> the greens. We have no permits for any of this.
>
> There are 4 points of law at issue.
>
> Point 1. The Trustees failed to obtain the 75% vote of the unit
> owners required by state law and by the condo ass'n bylaws to
> alter the common areas. Indeed the Trustees didn't even notify
> the unit owners or call for a vote at all.
>
> Point 2. The Trustees failed to apply to the Planning Board
> for an amendment to the Special Permit to build the Planned
> Residential Development. The original Special Permit provides
> that the previously existing golf course on the open space
> would be "permanently discontinued" as of Fall of 1986.
>
> Point 3. The Trustees failed to apply to the Conservation
> Commission for a permit to alter lands protected by the Wetlands
> Protection Act and Conservation Bylaws.
>
> Point 4. The Trustees built a portion of the golf course upon
> the adjoining parcel which is owned by the town.
>
> Only Point 3 is relevant to Conservation Law. But together, we
> see a systematic pattern of failures to inform or obtain the
> legaly required approvals from interested parties.
>
> Anyone who wishes to assist or intervene in this case is invited
> to contact me, Barry Kort, bkort@musenet.org.
>
> Barry Kort
> bkort@musenet.org
=========================================================================
Karl Radov Ekos Consultants: Applied Economics
Brookline, MA 02146 Market Research - Real Estate Analysis
kradov@world.std.com Community and Regional Development
** Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent **
=========================================================================
=================================================================
Sent via HOA-List ******* For Help: HOA-List-Request@netcom.com
Date: Sat, 26 Aug 1995 08:33:25 -0700
Subject: Re: FORWARD: HOAs and wetlands
To: HOA-List@netcom.com
From: cai3@ix.netcom.com (Stephen Marcus )
Sender: HOA-List@netcom.com
Reply-To: HOA-List@netcom.com
Karl, I've read the complaint and counterclaim and have sent an e-mail
to B. Kort telling him that in Massachusetts even an illegal assessment
has to be paid but that he may pay under protest and file a separate
complaint about the actions of the Board. This way he will eliminate
paying for the association's continuing legal costs which they are
entitled to in the lien enforcement action.
Massachusetts is unique, as you point out, in terms of requiring even
illegal assessments to be paid under protest and then filing a separate
action. However, it is treated in Mass. like a real estate tax
abatement where the tax must be paid before you can complain about the
tax. I believe if he changes his approach to meet what the courts
require, he will be happier, richer(or at least not poorer) and on the
face of his facts, he seems to have a reasonable likelihood of success.
Stephen Marcus
Braintree, Massachusetts
President, New England Chapter
of the Community Associations Institute
and chair of the CAI National Public Policy Committee
=================================================================
=================================================================
Sent via HOA-List ******* For Help: HOA-List-Request@netcom.com
Date: Sat, 26 Aug 1995 15:22:09 -0400
To: HOA-List@netcom.com
Subject: Re: FORWARD: HOAs and wetlands
From: rhansen@tiac.net (rhansen)
Sender: HOA-List@netcom.com
Reply-To: HOA-List@netcom.com
Steve,
Right on!! It is amazing to me that so many condo owners are still unaware
of their responsibilities re the payment of the fees. We're back from Costa
Rica as Ken has probably told you. Drove 23,800 miles with Mary and the two
dogs over a period of eight months. Spent ten weeks at the tip of Baja
California and anouther ten weeks in San Jose, Costa Rica.
Robin
>Karl, I've read the complaint and counterclaim and have sent an e-mail
>to B. Kort telling him that in Massachusetts even an illegal assessment
>has to be paid but that he may pay under protest and file a separate
>complaint about the actions of the Board. This way he will eliminate
>paying for the association's continuing legal costs which they are
>entitled to in the lien enforcement action.
>Massachusetts is unique, as you point out, in terms of requiring even
>illegal assessments to be paid under protest and then filing a separate
>action. However, it is treated in Mass. like a real estate tax
>abatement where the tax must be paid before you can complain about the
>tax. I believe if he changes his approach to meet what the courts
>require, he will be happier, richer(or at least not poorer) and on the
>face of his facts, he seems to have a reasonable likelihood of success.
>
>Stephen Marcus
>Braintree, Massachusetts
>President, New England Chapter
>of the Community Associations Institute
>and chair of the CAI National Public Policy Committee
>=================================================================
>Sent via HOA-List ******* For Help: HOA-List-Request@netcom.com
>
>
>
=================================================================
Sent via HOA-List ******* For Help: HOA-List-Request@netcom.com
>From jraphael Sat Aug 26 12:32:10 1995
Date: Sat, 26 Aug 1995 15:34:16 +0059 (EDT)
Subject: Re: FORWARD: HOAs and wetlands
To: Stephen Marcus <cai3@ix.netcom.com>
Cc: HOA-List@netcom.com
Message-Id: <Pine.3.89.9508261533.C3911-0100000@world.std.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
X-Loop: HOA-List@netcom.com
From: kradov@world.std.com (Karl B Radov)
Sender: HOA-List@netcom.com
Reply-To: HOA-List@netcom.com
On Sat, 26 Aug 1995, Stephen Marcus wrote:
> Karl, I've read the complaint and counterclaim and have sent an e-mail
> to B. Kort telling him that in Massachusetts even an illegal assessment
> has to be paid but that he may pay under protest and file a separate
> complaint about the actions of the Board. This way he will eliminate
> paying for the association's continuing legal costs which they are
> entitled to in the lien enforcement action.
[Deleted]
>
> Stephen Marcus
> Braintree, Massachusetts
> President, New England Chapter
> of the Community Associations Institute
> and chair of the CAI National Public Policy Committee
> =================================================================
> Sent via HOA-List ******* For Help: HOA-List-Request@netcom.com
>
Steve,
Great! I was hoping someone more knowledgable could pick up on
some of these pieces. I'm hoping to hear some responses from elsewhere
regarding the (to my way of thinking) interesting substance of the matter.
Karl
========================================================================
Karl Radov Ekos Consultants: Applied Economics
Brookline, MA 02146 Market Research - Real Estate Analysis
kradov@world.std.com Community and Regional Development
** Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent **
========================================================================
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