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South Florida is growing. Just look at the skyline in any reasonable-sized municipality, and you’re bound to see cranes, new condos, strip malls, and housing developments. While development can be beneficial and add tax revenue, the concerns of the existing community must be taken into consideration so that “smart growth” is the overriding principle …
Do you live in a community that is planning repairs or improvements? You may not be aware, but it is often the case that in order to legally proceed you must obtain local government approval through the Planning & Zoning Board or City Commission. Whether you live in a single family home or in …
At post-Irma Week 6, most communities are back to business as normal, save perhaps figuring out what to do with mountains of landscape debris.
However, some associations are entering a critical period in post-disaster procedures. With the exception of those buildings which sustained catastrophic damage (and fortunately, there were a few), damaged …
We are now over a month past Hurricane Irma. While it certainly could have been significantly worse for Southwest Florida, many community associations are still working through a variety of difficult issues, including processing insurance claims, continuing clean-up, and property restoration. While immediate attention must be paid to those issues, now is also a …
Four weeks after Hurricane Irma, most associations have likely made progress in making temporary repairs to damaged communities. This week’s column will focus on the various issues that arise during the rebuilding process that occur after the storm. Part of such process includes selecting the appropriate contractor to perform the work and ensuring that …
Three weeks after Hurricane Irma, power and communications have been restored to most areas. Associations have had time to address their property damage, although under very difficult circumstances, including extended periods of being without electricity. By now, the following list of items should have been accomplished, except perhaps for communities experiencing the most significant …
Thankfully Floridians heeded the call and evacuated where necessary and prepared one and all for the monstrous Hurricane Irma. While Irma was a lengthy and dangerous storm, the effects on Florida were not as devastating as had been feared. However, for thousands of shared ownership communities, volunteer boards, professional managers and residents will be …
Governor Scott has declared a Florida-wide state of emergency which now deploys the emergency powers for volunteer boards found in Sections 718.1265, 719.128 and 720.316 of the Florida Statutes. Hurricane Irma may prove to be the testing ground for these emergency powers to determine, post-storm, if boards abused these powers and therefore the powers …
It’s hard right now to turn away from the 24/7 news cycle and its discord, rancor and heated rhetoric. When we spend the majority of our time discussing just 20% of the topics which concern us, we cannot commit time or energy to the other 80% which also demands our attention. It’s not surprising …
There is a growing body of case law around the country which would make it more difficult for an allegedly defamed community association board member to successfully pursue his or her day in court. Is a community association board member an average, private citizen or is a community association board member really a special …
Hopefully, most of us enter into relationships with the expectation that they will last. However, for those of us past adolescence, we realize that even long-term relationships can end and, even when they were good for a long time, the manner in which they do can overshadow everything that preceded that ending.
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