Posted on 12/20/2022 6:30:14 AM PST by Red Badger
WESTON, Fla. – A Weston Hills Country Club homeowner has been put on notice and told to park his new $100,000 pickup truck in a garage, out of sight, or face fines.
That homeowner is gearing up for a fight, claiming the rules are outdated and ridiculous.
“How long did you wait to get this vehicle?” Local 10 investigative reporter Jeff Weinsier asked.
“It was ordered over a year ago,” said Weston Hills resident Glenn Gordon.
Gordon’s truck was delivered just a few weeks ago.
“I felt like a little kid waiting for it,” he said. “The first one I saw was mine.”
Gordon’s truck is the first of its kind – an all-electric pickup called the Rivian R1T.
It looks like nothing else on the road and can go 315 miles on a charge.
Some can turn like a tank and go from 0-60 mph in three seconds with 800 horse power.
The truck drives itself on the highway and there are 11 cameras on board.
It’s become an attraction in the neighborhood.
“Some are taking pictures of it,” Gordon said. “They say, ‘beautiful vehicle, can I see it?’ That’s the only comments I have got.”
Less than two weeks after taking delivery, Gordon received a notice from property management that the truck can’t be parked in his driveway overnight.
The country club has strict rules for trucks, trailers, RV’s and commercial vehicles, set by Arvida, which developed Weston back in the 1980s.
They want it out of sight.
Gordon has lived there for 27 years, and called property management to discuss the issue.
“He said we will wind up getting fines and penalties, and until we remove it, they can even lien our house,” Gordon said. “We could even lose our house over this.”
“Did the rule ever cross your mind when you ordered the truck?” Weinsier asked.
“I never thought there would be a rule like that,” Gordon said. “There are trucks all over the place … We don’t have room in our garage to put it in there.”
Gordon says rules need to change with the times.
“These were written in the 1980s by Arvida and it said no trucks and no vans. Since then, trucks have become a popular vehicle for personal use,” Gordon said.
Minivans were being invented when they were writing the rules and there are now minivans all over the place.
“It may hurt our home values as these new vehicles come out, as they evolve and come out, we will discourage people from buying in our community,” Gordon said.
Jerry Engelhard is the president of Gordon’s association in Weston Hills, and left Weinsier the following voicemail after he called him:
“You can have a truck but he has to put it in the garage and it cannot be sitting outside the house all day long. If the gentleman would have read the documents when he bought the house, he would have seen that and there is a possibility that he would not have bought the truck.”
Engelhard didn’t return a call when Weinsier tried to follow-up.
“There are judges that have ruled that these vehicles are regular vehicles, they are not inherently a commercial vehicle just because it is a pickup truck, if it doesn’t have commercial markings or anything else like this does not -- it’s a regular vehicle,” Gordon’s attorney, Andrew Ben, said.
In the Villas of Bonaventure, another pickup truck owner wound up suing his association.
Not only did he win, but the association had to pay $40,000 for his attorney’s fee.
In that 2001 judgment, Broward County Judge Steven Shutter wrote, “personal use pickup trucks do not carry the negative implication they might have 25 years ago. In no way could parking these vehicles interfere with the quiet enjoyment or the property value of the condominium residents.”
“Is there anything that is going to make you get rid of that vehicle?” Weinsier asked Gordon.
“No,” he said. “We are ready to take it … It is just wrong.”
Letter sent to the Gordons from Central Hills Maintenance Association:
VIEW BELOW: Broward judge’s ruling on Villas of Bonaventure case:
VIDEO AT LINK..................
This is why you don’t buy property covered by an HOA... At least you don’t if you value your personal liberties more than your property values.... Or more accurately, you value your personal liberties more than your most nebby and pain in the arse neighbor values their “property values”..... or even more accurately, your most nebby and pain in the arse neighbor perceives of anything that may affect their property values, and their desire for conformity.
An HOA is the enforcement of the most insecure individuals viewpoint on your property... and you willingly signed up for the trip.
I would never want to live in a HOA—but if someone goes there they should at least read the rules they signed up for....
If you love trucks, park it in a garage.
He lived there for 25 years and knew the rules. Case closed.
That's nigh unto impossible in upscale neighborhoods in Florida.
As crazy as these rules may seem, the owner of the Truck needs to put it in the garage are start facing fines and/or prolonged legal battle costing a lot of money.
We live in a Gated Community and one of our neighbors has a Rivian Electric Pickup Truck, it’s a sharp looking vehicle but it’s not worth $100,000 to me.
Dumbass didn’t read the rules.
LOL
Gotta be a lib (”rules don’t apply to me!”)
HamiltonJay wrote: “An HOA is the enforcement of the most insecure individuals viewpoint on your property... and you willingly signed up for the trip.”
You mean like my neighbor who hasn’t mowed his backyard in over 12 years? Or, who cleaned out the street gutters by shoveling the leaves into the center of the street? He is proud of the fact that he spent the night in jail for failing to mow his front and side yards. This is in a suburban neighborhood of homes worth close to $400k.
He’s correct that the rules must change.
How many sedans are even available now?
My wife has a Chevy equinox, a small SUV. It’s classified as a truck. I’m willing to bet there are plenty of Equinox, Eacape, Cherokee etc vehicles in the neighborhood.
Simple. Move to Villas of Bonaventure. Problem solved.
Doesn’t he have to put it in the garage anyway to charge the damn thing?
Simple. Move to Port ST. Lucie. Problem solved.......................
My guess is the HOA ignores minivans even thought they are restricted.
My HOA did not allow political signs but it only applied to Republican signs.
Not really, we have a few more owners with Teslas and other EVs and the charging cable is long enough to allow the vehicle charge in the driveway.
Here’s the untold story, which I’m speculating about. If you into just about any deed restricted community with an HOA, you will numerous violations of the covenants which go unpunished.
This guy probably pissed off a few people over the years who are now getting back at him by reporting him to property management, I’ve seen this all the time.
His better legal strategy might be to claim the following, point out all the probable current violations all over the neighborhood that are not being enforced and claim unequal application of the rules, when you don’t enforce all the rules all the time, then you basically don’t have rules.
Liberal needing to virtue grandstand.
The end of the news story should be the end of the story: a judge in the same county already struck down the ordinance in a similar situation. He should not only sue the HOA, he should encourage the members of the HOA to sue the board members in person for damages done to the HOA account.
In principle I agree, but its impractical for most.
This is Broward County, Democrat stronghold..............
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