Covenant Enforcement

The Ash Meadows neighborhood is a covenant controlled community subject to the Community Declaration for Ash Meadows (the Declaration). The Declaration document was executed by Century Communities (the home builder) and filed in the Adams County Clerk and Recorder's Office on July 24, 2014. All 56 townhome lots are subject to the Declaration document. Each lot is subject to the covenants, conditions and restrictions provided in the Declaration. Article 2 (Architectural Review) and Article 3 (Restrictions) contain the specific restrictions applicable to each townhome unit. RESTRICTIONS AND PROHIBITIONS APPLICABLE TO UNITS Article 2 of the Declaration Document contains the restrictive covenants. The rules and guidelines contained in the District's Design Guidelines are based on these covenants. UNIT MODIFICATIONS REQUIRING ARC APPROVAL Section 3 of the Declaration Document and the Architectural Guidelines lists the modifications and improvements to Townhome Units that require the approval of the Design Review Committee. Design REVIEW COMMITTEE (DRC) The DRC is currently comprised of the District's Board of Directors. The DRC Chairperson is the District Board President. The DRC's primary responsibilities include the following:

1. Review and approve (or deny) written design requests submitted by homeowners;
2. Maintain and update the Design Guidelines and Standards for the neighborhood;
3. Monitor homeowner lots to ensure compliance with the Design Guidelines and Standards.

Common UNIT Maintenance Violations

The most commonly noted violations among the 56 townhome units are as follows:

1. Prohibited parking of vehicles in front of garages
2. Wood trim around porch structures worn or damaged
3. Damaged window shutters
4. Excessive weeds in alleyway rockbeds
5. Damaged/missing address labels
6. Excessive rocks from rockbeds in the alleyway
   

Homeowners who are mindful of regularly monitoring and correcting these types of violations on or around their Units are much less likely to receive violation notices from the District.

Rental Properties

Owners are responsible for maintaining their Units in a manner that reasonably complies with the covenants and restrictions contained within the Declaration Document. The Board holds Owners who rent or lease their homes responsible for the reasonable maintenance of their Units—regardless of any contractual maintenance arrangements that may exist between such Owners and their renters or their property management companies.

Owner Responsibilities

The Board expects Owners, who use the Units as their primary residence, to be responsible for the reasonable maintenance of their Units—regardless of the Owners’ business, vacation or other schedules that may cause the Owners to be away from their Units for extended periods of time. Also, Owners are responsible for being familiar with the covenants and restrictions contained within the Declaration Document and the Design Guidelines.

Enforcement Process

The District Board, through its management company, performs neighborhood inspections approximately two times per month. For all lot violations noted during neighborhood inspections, the District will send out letters notifying the owners of the nature of the violation and the date on which it was observed. In addition, homeowners are subject to fines when recurring violations of the same type are identified on their lots.

The notice and fine schedule for covenant enforcement is as follows:

Please note that State laws passed in 2022 require (1) at least one notice be sent via certified mail before the District can begin levying fines on Units for a particular outstanding violation and (2) homeowners be allowed 30 days to comply with any notice before a fine can be levied on the Unit by the District. 

Fines are not assessed on a homeowner’s account until after the homeowner has an opportunity for a hearing (see below). If the homeowner does not request a hearing within ten (10) days of date of the written notice, the related fine may be assessed on the homeowner’s account.

LEGAL FEES

After a third notice regarding the same open property maintenance violation, the District may turn over a Unit any time to the District’s legal counsel to initiate legal action against the homeowner (including filing a covenant lien against the Unit and obtaining a judgment in court). In addition to addressing any judgement that may be obtained by the District against a Unit and/or homeowner, the homeowner must reimburse the District for any legal fees the District incurs related to the enforcement of a violation (in addition to paying any violation fines assessed on the Unit by the District).

Hearing

Homeowners who receive violation notices may request a hearing before the District's board to present evidence, testimony and present witnesses to support their case. Homeowners must submit their request for a hearing within 10 days of the date of the second notice.

A request for a hearing can be submitted via email or via regular mail to the District Manager.

Changes to or Termination of the Declaration Document

Homeowners may conduct a vote in accordance with the Declaration Document to change or terminate the covenant-controlled community. In accordance with Section 5.6 of the Declaration Document, approval from 67% (or 38) of the 56 Unit owners within the Ash Meadows neighborhood must be obtained to pass any proposed changes to or termination of the Declaration Document.

DISCLAIMER - ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

The information contained on this page is incomplete and only intended to be a summary of certain key provisions of the District's Covenant Enforcement Policies and Procedures and the District's Collection Policies and Procedures. Homeowners are responsible for carefully reviewing the District's policies and procedures (posted in the public document library on this website) to understand the District's and homeowners' respective responsibilities and rights regarding the enforcement of covenants, conditions, restrictions, rules applicable to the use and enjoyment of their properties.