The Arizona Supreme Court has upheld utility regulators’ decision to allow consolidation of several communities into a single wastewater service district with rate increases or decreases in different parts of the new district to make them uniform. Read the entire article……………………………….
Frustration emerges as Club West lawsuit wears on (AZ)
As frustration mounts over the protracted legal battle between the Club West Conservancy and the Foothills Club West Association board, a new filing in the case suggests no end to the 18-month-old case is in sight. Read the entire article……………………………….
Picture Rocks residents look to the county for help with dangerous road conditions (AZ)
It’s road so badly damaged from monsoon that it’s forcing people to move. West Ina Road, near North Sandario Road in Picture Rocks, is literally driving people away. Some residents say the roads are so bad, even emergency vehicles can’t make it through. Read the entire article……………………………….
It’s official: FOL Committee hands over holiday lights show to Foothills HOA (AZ)
It’s official: The Festival of the Lights Committee is no longer responsible for setting up the Christmas lights along medians of Chandler Boulevard between Desert Foothills Parkway and 24th Street. That job now falls to the Foothills Community Association. Read the entire article……………………………….
Course owners want to enter Club West lawsuit (AZ)
As a judge neared a final ruling in the Club West Conservancy’s lawsuit against the Foothills Club West Association Board of Directors last Thursday, the owners of the beleaguered golf course asked to intervene in the case and charged the two parties of “colluding” to interfere with its property rights. Read the entire article……………………………….
HOAs flex muscles on short-term rentals (AZ)
Short-term rentals have been a hot topic in the Village of Oak Creek and Sedona since Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey signed Senate Bill 1350 in 2016. The legislation prohibited cities, towns and counties from banning short-term rentals of residential property in 2016. Read the entire article……………………………….
Club West legal stalemate heating up (AZ)
When Superior Court Commissioner Andrew Russell made his initial decision March 24 in the Club West Conservancy’s lawsuit against the former Foothills Club West Association board, it seemed like only a matter of time before the two parties would iron out the final ruling’s wording that would put the case to bed. Read the entire […]
Foothills HOA board is moving in the right direction (AZ)
Two years ago, I wrote an open letter to my fellow members of the Foothills Community Association advising them that our HOA was in trouble. One year ago, homeowners spoke up loudly demanding change. They voted 11:1 for bylaws reforms intended to increase transparency, accountability, and responsiveness to the interests of the Association’s members. Read […]
Several homes in Green Valley and Sahuarita area damaged in weekend floods (AZ)
Some residents say they cannot drive out of the area because of the thick mud covering their street. The HOA president says he is reaching out to the county and other municipalities for help with cleanup. “We’d like to get some help with some backhoe work and cleaning this mess up,” said HOA President Jon […]
Bouncing Back from the Bighorn Fire: As Mount Lemmon recovers, residents discuss strategies to reduce future risks (AZ)
The summer of 2020 was hot, even for Tucson. But even hotter were the flames hungrily advancing through the landscape of the Santa Catalina Mountains overlooking the city. The Bighorn Fire, named for the mountain on which it was ignited by a lightning strike, burned for several weeks. By the time it was fully contained, […]
Festival of Lights future in the hands of Foothills HOA members (AZ)
While the Festival of Lights Kick-Off Party may largely be relegated to the past, its reason for being will continue – at least for now. Only instead of being the responsibility of the FOL Committee, the set-up and tear-down of the million-lights display in the medians of Chandler Boulevard between 24th Street and Desert Foothills […]
How fighting with your HOA comes with its challenges (AZ)
Many of you let us know you don’t agree with how an HOA is treating one of its oldest residents. The Bethany Villa Association HOA wants to remove a bench used by a 92-year-old man for more than a decade. Read the entire article……………………………….
My View: Measure to stop Arizona forced condo conversion to be included in final budget
The stalled passage of the 2021-2022 state budget has left uncertainty about numerous areas of Arizona’s public finances and related policy. The final budget comes together by means of members developing and amending a bill that is then sent to the governor just like any other bill. One policy change in this year’s budget procedures […]
Homebuilder eyes buying Club West Course (AZ)
A new player has entered the discussion over the Club West Golf Course, adding new uncertainty to the site’s future. Shea Homes is in escrow to buy the beleaguered course from The Edge, a partnership of four Club West homeowners that bought the course from Wilson Gee early last year. Read the entire article……………………………….
Neighbors rally for senior who just wants somewhere to sit (AZ)
There are more than 9,000 HOAs managing Arizona neighborhoods, and with every HOA comes a governing board and a set of rules. Among other things, they’re supposed o help maintain a certain quality standard. But one group says their HOA, the Bethany Villa Association, isn’t standing by one of its longest and oldest residents. […]
Club West course’s future remains unresolved (AZ)
Ahwatukee’s other beleaguered golf course remains in a holding pattern. At the Club West Association’s monthly meeting May 21, board President Julie Tyler said that one committee is studying the course’s future while another is studying solutions to the expensive problem of irrigating the course with less expensive water. Read the entire article……………………………….
Eagle Mountain Community Facilities District to dissolve (AZ)
Craig Rudolphy, representing the Eagle Mountain homeowner’s association, told the council there are expected to be excess funds in the account and asked that those funds be turned over to the HOA. Council will consider that request with final approval to take place on June 1. Read the entire article……………………………….
Short-term rentals rile Islands owners (AZ)
Public urination in the front yard, people swimming in the lakes, loud parties and fighting are some of the problems that come with short-term rentals, say homeowners at The Islands community of over 2,000 houses. Residents voiced their frustrations at an overflowing meeting last Monday as the HOA Board announced an election to amend its […]
91-year-old woman amongst dozens slated to lose condos in forced sale to investors due to Arizona law
The Arizona Condominium Termination law ARS 33-1228 allows an investor to buy 80% of the units in a complex, take over the condo association, and force the remaining 20% of owners to sell at a market value determined by an appraiser who was chosen by the investor-run association. Read the entire article……………………………….
Village HOA honored by Keep Sedona Beautiful (AZ)
KSB bestowed its award for Dark Sky Lighting to the Canyon Mesa Townhouse Association. Canyon Mesa is located in the Village of Oak Creek. Over the course of two years, 92% of homeowners took advantage of a voluntary project to replace light polluting outdoor fixtures with Dark Sky compliant sconces. Read the entire article……………………………….
April 1, 2021 Arizona Legislative Update
The Fifty-fifth First Regular Session started on Monday, January 11, 2021 and is scheduled to adjourn on April 24, 2021. It’s been an interesting year at the Arizona Legislature so far! This session has been dominated by adoption of the budget and COVID-19/politically-charged issues. Read the entire article……………………………….
Ruling protects Club West homeowners and course (AZ)
The Superior Court of Arizona – Maricopa County granted a summary judgement “as a matter of law” in favor of Club West Conservancy in its suit against the former Foothills Club West Board for actions it took to assume rights related to the golf course land and to issue related amendments. Read the entire article……………………………….
Local board makes decision in millionaires’ squabble over iconic Arizona golf courses
A nearly two-year legal fight over non-golf activities at two of Arizona’s most iconic courses — a dispute that pitted millionaire Phoenix homeowners against high-profile business leaders — has been decided in favor of the residents and their desire to maintain the status quo at the courses. Read the article…………………………………..
Homeowners, not government, should decide on short-term rentals (AZ)
The article “Time to crack down on short-term rentals abuses” suggests that the way to remedy the previous bad legislation by the Arizona legislature, preventing HOA’s from banning Short Term Rentals (STR’s), is to empower local governments to make their own rules and laws preventing the abuse of STR’s. Nothing could be further from the […]
Another water issue in Pine (AZ)
Pine suffered for years with water issues. It became so critical that they put a building moratorium in place. The moratorium is gone, but now some residents are dealing with too much water. Darwin Huber recently talked about the problem with the Roundup. “We have an issue here in Portal III in Pine. Starting back […]
Stoneybrook West residents head to second vote on golf-course purchase (AZ)
Although Stoneybrook West residents recently shot down a proposal necessary to allow the homeowners association to purchase Stoneybrook West Golf & Country Club, another vote is on the horizon. Read the article…………………………………..
Golf course polarizes Club West homeowners (AZ)
With a critical court ruling expected any day and an even more critical election two weeks away, Club West’s defunct golf course has polarized the community of 2,600 homeowners. Radically divergent views of the course’s future – and, more significantly, how to achieve it – have made the Foothills Club West Association board of directors […]
Continental Country Club’s HOA files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy (AZ)
In an email, the board president of the Continental Country Club HOA said the organization is facing several financial challenges, including the issue over Lake Elaine. Jon Held, the president of the association’s board of directors, said the filing will not impact day-to-day operations of the country club, including the public golf course and the […]
Last Week at the Legislature (AZ)
The Arizona Legislature has been busy, with a total of 1,350 bills having been introduced as of last week, several of which may potentially impact community associations. Despite a spike in COVID cases among staff, and potentially members, the Legislature expects to continue moving forward virtually. Read the article…………………………….
Irked S. Tempe equestrian-property owners tell city: Tear down this wall (AZ)
Tempe officials have said it is not a city matter but a private-property issue, and therefore the city has no jurisdiction. “City staff has looked into the issue and we have found no indication that the particular bridle path in the Shady Lanes Estates neighborhood is recorded as a public easement,” Baumann said. “We have […]
Maricopa HOAs: What every resident should know about board meetings (AZ)
Anyone who has served on a decision-making or governance group knows that meetings are how decisions are made, policies created, and business conducted. HOAs are no exception, but meetings can become contentious or a forum for expressing complaints or dissatisfaction. Read the article……………………………………..
CLUB West HOA board hires Lakes homeowners’ lawyer (AZ)
Tim Barnes, the attorney who led the legal fight to restore the Ahwatukee Lakes Golf Course, has been hired by the Foothills Club West Association board as a counsel in its fight with a group of homeowners over their golf course. Read the article……………………………….
Club West HOA board defends its actions over golf course (AZ)
A new year and a preliminary injunction haven’t changed the fight over the future of the Club West Golf Course between the HOA board and a nonprofit comprising local homeowners. The latest salvo in the nearly year-old case was filed last month by the HOA board, which disputes several key findings Superior Court Judge Daniel […]
HOA 1st certified as Firewise (AZ)
Catherine Knox is excited that she and her neighbors are the only one of their kind in Sedona. But, she’s hoping that distinction won’t last long. Knox and the 33 other homeowners that make up the Cottages at Coffeepot HOA are being recognized as the only homeowners association or community within the Sedona Fire District […]
HOA tells the “Tucson Clark Griswold” to take down his light display (AZ)
If you look out your window, you’re bound to see holiday lights. One home on the Northside is no exception, taking his light display to the extreme. While it beings a lot of joy to Tucsonans, the HOA in his neighborhood is asking for it to come down by Sunday Dec. 6. Read the article………………………………..
Hundreds sign petition to keep Christmas display after HOA requests its early removal (AZ)
For the past five years Frank Morales has gone all out to decorate his southern Arizona home. Located near River Road and Devotion Drive, he decks out his home in thousands of lights and displays. This year, he put out 200,000 LED lights. However, the display’s days are numbered.
The Edge should take heed of Lakes Course case (AZ)
According to Ahwatukee Foothills News, Judge Campagnolo decreed that Gee’s company must pay $3.5 million in sanctions if he does not have an 18-hole Ahwatukee Lakes Golf Course and all amenities restored and ready for golfers by Aug. 31, 2022. Further, in a lawsuit filed by the Club West Conservancy, Superior Court Judge Daniel Kiley […]
Judge slaps Club West board, stops any vote (AZ)
Citing “serious questions” surrounding the Club West HOA board’s secret assumption of the golf course’s land-use rights, a Superior Court judge on Monday stopped it from asking homeowners to vote this year on an investor group’s plan to turn the site into a park with houses. Read the article………………………………….
Former HOA board members in Gilbert’s Val Vista Lakes sue fellow residents, claiming defamation (AZ)
Three former board members of a Gilbert homeowners association are suing residents for defamation, escalating ongoing tensions over the HOA board, free speech and harassment in the upscale neighborhood. The lawsuit names 20 Val Vista Lakes residents for “defamatory, harassing, and otherwise violative conduct” against three former board leaders, according to the complaint filed in […]
Climate, city bills push tiny HOA to the brink (AZ)
When he thinks about climate change, Craig Sullivan isn’t necessarily thinking about melting glaciers and rising sea levels. For Sullivan and the other residents of the 68 units that comprise the tiny Ahwatukee homeowners’ sub-association called RD-1, “climate change is banging on our doors.” Read the article………………………………
Election-themed Halloween display causing neighborhood rift in the northwest Valley (AZ)
Just two weeks before Election Day, politics are on everyone’s mind and can be a divisive topic among neighbors. But an election-themed Halloween display in the northwest Valley is causing a downright rift. Some think it’s funny and harmless, while others say it’s offensive. Read the article…………………………………..
‘Shocked, scared’: A $7,500 HOA assessment is forcing some Tempe condo owners to move (AZ)
Ryan Malham, a 31-year-old high school government and economics teacher, bought a modest condo in south Tempe in January. The condo was supposed to be a long-term investment: a place for him to live now with a locked-in mortgage he could afford and a place to rent out down the road when he buys a […]
Glendale homeowners association orders removal of Black Lives Matter sign (AZ)
Melanie Boyle hung a hand-painted Black Lives Matter sign on her home in July to show her support for the movement and its demands for justice. “I wanted to do this little act of putting up a sign and open more conversation about it in my area,” she said. Conversations with her neighbors went well, […]
Club West fining new owner over golf course (AZ)
The Foothills Club West Association board is leveling fines on the new owners of the golf course for not conforming to its land use regulations. Association board President Mike Hinz made the disclosure to the HOA’s approximate 2,700 homeowners as he repudiated a report in the Ahwatukee Foothills News last Wednesday that said the owners […]
New lawsuit roils Val Vista HOA (AZ)
Brewing beneath the idyllic surface of a sought-after community in Gilbert with waterfront homes, an ongoing tug-of-war between free speech and defamation could end up in court. Nearly three dozen residents who have criticized the HOA board overseeing the 900-acre Val Vista Lakes Community are now facing a lawsuit from three former directors. Read the […]
A Gilbert battle over a flagpole resolves just in time for an important date (AZ)
A Gilbert couple went back and forth with the Seville Homeowner’s Association to erect a flagpole and memorial in honor of their son who died in combat. Read the article……………………
Proposed VOC Hilton now faces HOA (AZ)
…..But the county’s rezoning of the parcel did not clear all obstructions for the Hilton. Among other hurdles, the parcel is part of the Village of Oakcreek Association and is subject to the HOA’s covenants, conditions and restrictions for the Pine Creek II subdivision. Read the article……………………………..
Signs, signs everywhere a sign – Every election cycle brings more placards in Sun Cities (AZ)
The Aug. 4 Arizona primary election wrapped, but the Nov. 3 election is around the corner and some residents in both Sun City and Sun City West have political signage displayed in yards and on public streets. Read the article……………………………….
Foothills HOA reformers score major bylaws win (AZ)
Early last year, two Foothills Association homeowners got curious about their HOA board in the wake of a springtime vote to oust longtime board President Bill Fautsch. Though the recall bid failed when two corporate members with significant blocs of votes threw their weight in Fautsch’s favor, Ron Doherty and David Randolph began for the […]