Developers agree to strict HOA covenants

Developers of a planned subdivision off Yandell Road submitted proposed covenants to county supervisors that would make renting property incredibly difficult to ease the concerns of nearby residents. 

On Monday, supervisors discussed covenants for Woodgate Subdivision, a neighborhood with about 379 homes planned nearby Deerfield. The homes will be built by D.R. Horton, a national homebuilding company that has received negative publicity over the last few years for allegations of sub-par construction that also spurred complaints from nearby homeowners. 

Board Attorney Mike Espy presented the proposed covenants to supervisors on Monday, explaining though that at the end of the day all the board can do is acknowledge them. 

“We’ve come up with a covenant that would hopefully please everybody within the bounds of the law,” Espy said. 

The covenants state that in order for the property to be rented out, it would require approval of 60 percent of the neighborhood HOA. 

“My understanding is that the developers of the Woodgate Subdivision agree there will be no rentals,” Espy said, adding that once an HOA board is in place they can go as far as to say no rentals at all. 

The 60 percent barrier is a tough hurdle to climb, officials have said, and in the initial phase, the developers will only be able to place 50 percent of the board. 

“This is about all the board can do,” Espy said. 

District 5 Supervisor Paul Griffin said this is something that he wanted to see from the beginning, as he was initially told there would be rentals allowed in the neighborhood. 

Developers said they did not want to create covenants outright disallowing rentals because it could violate federal housing regulations and disqualify certain loan types. The 60 percent hurdle alleviates those concerns. 

Ron Gaines, who lives at Deerfield, questioned whether the builder, D.R. Horton, would qualify as a homeowner and if they could stack the HOA board to move the hurdle. However, at an October meeting, representatives with D.R. Horton said they had zero plans of build-to-lease and were building these for homeowners. 

Supervisors are now waiting on the results of a traffic study, which County Engineer Tim Bryan said should be available by the next board meeting, to determine what kind of traffic load the development would have in the area and what, if any, improvements the county would need to make. 

Developers said they hope to have the entire development completed within the next 8 years.