Maintenance & Common Area Issues

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Many may recall the recent story about the airline traveler seeking to bring an emotional support peacock (Dexter) on board an airplane.  While the story received much national publicity, the reality appears to be that assistance animals and emotional support animals are becoming more commonplace in everyday life.  Stories such as Dexter’s present some interesting legal questions for non-profits, governments, and businesses alike.

Assistance animals and emotional support animals are sometimes (incorrectly) used interchangeably.  They involve different sources of law and require different analyses.  This next series of posts will seek to provide some clarity on the legal issues relating to both categories.  In part one of this series, we will focus on the legal issues surrounding the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) and assistance animals for purposes of community associations.  Our next post will address emotional support animals and the federal and state fair housing acts.
Continue Reading Assistance Animals and the ADA: What Community Associations Ought to Know

LeClairRyan attorneys Lori Schweller and Will Sleeth will be speaking once again at this year’s Community Association Day trade event sponsored by the Central Virginia Chapter of CAI, which will take place this Tuesday the 18th. The two will be giving a presentation titled "Common Area, Common Problems — Parking, Drinking, and Other Liability Issues".…

  Amazon.com’s recent announcement – that in the future it may utilize unmanned drones to deliver packages to individual residences – has created a host of novel legal issues that all homeowners associations should consider and plan for. Although commentators believe that the commercial use of delivery drones may be a few years off, associations should begin planning now for whether they should regulate the use of drones within the association; how they should regulate the use of drones; and how they can minimize potential liability arising from the use of drones.

While the public has so far only been provided with bits and pieces of information about the make-up and capabilities of unmanned delivery drones, some general information is available: a drone will carry a package and will fly from a warehouse to an owner’s house, with the goal of attempting to deliver the package in a very short amount of time right after it has been ordered. The drone is designed to land, helicopter style, on an owner’s lawn and drop off the package. The drone will then use its helicopter-style propellers to vertically ascend from the owner’s lawn and return to the warehouse.Continue Reading Drones and HOAs: How Homeowners Associations and Condominium Associations Can Be Prepared to Deal with the New Technology

Editor’s Note: LeClairRyan’s Community Association Team handles sophisticated legal matters for a wide array of large-scale master-planned communities throughout Virginia and the nation. The following press release highlights the Team’s recent work in assisting a large master-planned homeowner’s association in Newport News and York County, Virginia purchase the golf course and country club that is located within the community.

KILN CREEK HOMEOWNERS’ ASSOCIATION TO PURCHASE GOLF COURSE, COUNTRY CLUB & 290 ACRES OF PROTECTED GREEN SPACE

 

Newport News, Virginia—December 23, 2013

The Villages of Kiln Creek Owners Association (KCOA) board of directors today completed its purchase of the Kiln Creek Golf Course & Resort from Dick Ashe. The $3.5 million purchase price includes 290 acres of protected green space with an 18-hole golf course, a former nine-hole golf course, a clubhouse, a 15-room hotel, two restaurants, a swimming pool, tennis courts, a fitness center and office space.

 

Continue Reading LeClairRyan’s Community Association Team Handles Acquisition of Golf Course for Large-Scale HOA

You serve on your condominium or property owners’ association’s board of directors and have been receiving complaints about unauthorized cars and space shortages in the community’s parking lot. The Board would like to designate specific parking spaces for use by designated units so that each unit has a certain number of parking spaces available to it at all times. May it do so? The answer depends on (a) how parking spaces are classified in your declaration of covenants, conditions, and restrictions, and (b) the association’s authority to control common area / common element pursuant to the Virginia Condominium Act or Property Owners’ Association Act and the specific terms of the association’s governing documents.Continue Reading Parking Rights and Common Area / Common Element: Can the Association (or Declarant) Do That?!

LeClairRyan Community Association Team member Brian Muse recently blogged about the time extension under the ADA (Americans With Disabilities Act) for compliance with pool lift requirements, something that every HOA with a pool should be aware of. Check out Brian’s post over at his new blog ADA Musings. While you’re there, you’ll find that his blog…

Editor’s Note: Guest blogger Steve Blaine, a LeClairRyan attorney practicing out of the firm’s Charlottesville office, and focusing his practice on land use, zoning, and community association law, has contributed the following post.

 BMPs: How to avoid an amenity from becoming a headache.

We frequently counsel clients, community associations, developers and builders, on various issues involving that ubiquitous ‘amenity’ known as the stormwater detention pond, or “BMP” (short for “Best Management Practices”). This article will briefly discuss how to avoid some of the more common pitfalls facing homeowners whose community’s common areas/elements include these useful, even if at times burdensome, features. At the end of the article is a “glossary of key terms” related to BMPs.

Why do we have BMPs anyway?

BMPs are used to improve the quality of water runoff from roads, parking lots, developed land, including residential neighborhoods, and to reduce peak stormwater runoff flow by providing temporary storage during larger storm events. If the BMP in your subdivision was constructed early in the development process, it was probably used to trap sediment from construction activities in the tributary drainage area, which also can be a very effective way to collect and remove pollutants. Hopefully, the BMP in your neighborhood happens to provide other benefits such as passive recreation and open space in addition to reducing peak runoff rates and improving water quality.

It is essential for those responsible for maintaining these BMPs to understand their important role and what to do to assure their continued proper function.
 Continue Reading Community Associations and Stormwater Detention Pond Maintenance (“BMP”) Responsibilities

LeClairRyan’s Community Association Team doesn’t just represent developers in the legal creation of associations; rather, it also physically creates them too! The Team is a strong supporter of Habitat for Humanity, and pictured below are several LeClairRyan attorneys with friends from Capital One, outside a current Habitat for Humanity build in Richmond.