Sanctuary

For those few that actually read these postings, please note that we’ve had some problems processing and accessing comments from homeowners, so I’ve turned off the option to comment directly.  If you would like to pass on anything about these items or any other Sanctuary issue, please continue to use the email link on our contacts page or president@thesanctuaryhoa.org.  I’ll pass on everything submitted by posting them here (and, as always, will respond directly to all member emails). 

As in any community, particularly one as large as The Sanctuary, we will always have a few neighbors who act, shall we say, not very neighborly.  This can be anything from the occasional (relatively) innocuous loud party to activities that are decidedly more troublesome, like suspected drug activity.  Our Covenants Enforcement Committee and the Board take every report of such activity very seriously and will work with all parties concerned to resolve the issues.

 In most cases, we have been able to reach amiable solutions without the need to elevate the problems to more formal measures.  Nevertheless, there will inevitably be times when things are beyond the ability of an HOA to resolve in anything like a timely fashion.  In those cases where there are serious concerns, and often minor concerns like a one-time noise complaint, the Oviedo Police Department consistently recommends to us to urge all residents to call them–when in doubt, call the OPD and they WILL RESPOND!  You can request anonymity when calling and you also can file a completely anonymous report on their website at http://www.cfcrimeline.com/give_an_anonymous_tip.htm.

Whatever your concern, the Association stands ready to assist in finding a solution.  Let’s all work together to keep The Sanctuary true to its name!

Bob Howard, HOA President

Prior to the changes in Florida Statute (See FL Statute 373.185), The Sanctuary mandated St. Augustine grass for all community lawns.  While St. Augustine likely will remain our main turf grass for some time, homeowners are encouraged to consider less grass varieties with lower irrigation requirements and greater pest resistance.  The University of Florida has researched this question extensively and the most widely recommended grass for our area is Empire Zoysia.  Several varieties of Bahia also are acceptable (Argentine and Pensacola), but Zoysia seems to perform best and has a nicer, fuller appearance for lawn use.  Bahia is considered more wear resistance for areas of higher traffic, but is thinner in growth pattern and produces abundant seed heads, which means more frequent mowing.  Beyond the selection of the best grass variety, there are several steps homeowners can take to improve the health of their turf.  

–Mow at the proper height for your grass to promote a healthy root system, which makes grass less thirsty. 

–Use the weather to your advantage—don’t irrigate if it’s rained in the past twenty-four hours or if rain is forecast in the next twenty-four hours.  

–Particularly for St. Augustine, but also appropriate for other grasses, water only as the lawn begins to appear stressed.  By doing so, the turf will grow deeper, stronger roots that are better able to withstand the stress of drought and summer heat. 

–Don’t over-fertilize!  Too much fertilizer is not only bad for our environment, it’s counterproductive, as it promotes excessive growth that weakens your grass and makes it more susceptible to insects and disease.  For a quick green-up of yellowing grass, application of an iron-only spray will usually do the trick.

I met last week with Bob Dallari, our Seminole County Commissioner, along with the President of Riverside HOA, our neighbors across CR 419.  We discussed several options for improving the deplorable traffic safety problem at our main entrance on Sanctuary Drive and 419.  Unfortunately, it’s not looking very positive for a traffic light, but the county will be working with Oviedo to look at funding options–realistically, though, I don’t see either coming up with the cash soon, given the prevailing budget situation.  Other options include activating the existing signal at the fire station and timing it with the light at the school to allow better flow in and out of the two developments and changing the lanes on 419 to limit each side to right turn exits only.  Neither choice does the trick, but I’m sure we would all agree the lane change on 419 would cause more problems than it would solve, so I won’t be supporting that option.  We’ll be meeting with the county folks again at the end of March and I’ll keep you all posted on how things are going.

 Bob Howard, President (3/3/2010)

First off, thanks to many Sanctuary owners who attended the Annual Membership Meeting last month–we easily made our quorum and had some good discussions on issues of importance to all our members.  Also, thanks to outgoing Board member Barry Rowe for a great two years of service to our community!  Congratulations and welcome to new Board member Sandra AlFonso (and returning members Val and Christin)!  The new Board elected me President for 2010 and I hope to continue the excellent stewardship of my predecessors.

 This is going to be a challenging year, with a very tight budget that will necessitate some belt-tightening.  One of our main goals, though, will be to avoid an increase in HOA dues (The Sanctuary’s dues are still well below those of many other Associations).  We simply have too many members who are substantially behind in their payments and the Board is examining several means for improving the situation.  We’re also doing things like an energy study which we believe could lead several thousands of dollars in savings on our electrical bill, but we also will have to delay some improvements we hoped to accomplish this year, at least until we see how our financial situation develops over the coming months.

I’ll do my best to keep you all up-to-date on things, with posts to this blog, notes in the newsletter and special mailings as necessary throughout the year.  Please don’t hesitate to let me know of your concerns or suggestions for how your Association can better serve the community.  You can always reach me at president@thesanctuaryhoa.org.

Bob Howard, President (2/9/2010)

Two bald eagle pairs and their young have been conducting fishing lessons over and around The Sanctuary’s ponds. The adults, carving circles and figure eights above the surface, demonstrate how it’s done, periodically swooping down, talons extended, to scoop up a fish.

The youngsters—one with each adult pair—follow the adults’ example. With brown feathers, mottled with an occasional white, they more resemble large hawks. They circle, occasionally chirping a “why aren’t you feeding me?” complaint at their parents. The adults ignore the cries, with a you-want-to-eat-you’ll-have-to-catch-it-yourself attitude. Tough love.

Some people travel miles to see a bald eagle’s nest, only to get a glimpse,  hundreds of yards distant. We’re fortunate to have them soaring right overhead, stopping for minutes at a time on a pond’s grassy bank.

Living in The Sanctuary can be an uplifting experience.

— Valerie Williams, President (10-20-09)

Comments

Cher (Oct 21, 4:52 PM)
Thank you for this wonderful description of the paradise we have living in The Sanctuary! This is the very reason we purchased our home in this community. We saw deer prints in the sand on the empty lot we purchased along with Sand Hill Cranes dancing with their baby. After we signed the contract, and were leaving the sales office, a deer was standing at the pond watching us. We knew we were home.

We need your help to keep The Sanctuary’s Amenity Center a great place for homeowners to meet, swim, exercise and play. Maintaining the facility in tiptop condition is no small expense, even at the best of times. Recent abuse has resulted in big bills for repairs. Some of the abuse has been the result of Sanctuary youth either not knowing or not caring about how their behavior affects the rest of the community.

A few examples… Problem: screens kicked in at the pool cabana. Result: costs to repair; Problem: fire extinguisher discharged in an outdoor restroom. Result: bill for cleaning restroom and replacement of fire extinguisher; Problem: sand from the volleyball court tracked into the pool. Result: pool pump replacement, removal of sand volleyball court.

Unauthorized use of the facility by non-residents and underage, unsupervised youth also has degraded the quality of service to homeowners.

Security staff on several occasions has had to ask unauthorized soccer and basketball players to leave. They are authorized to check for Sanctuary IDs and, if necessary, remove or even arrest for trespassing those who should not be using your facilities.

And do you know where your kids are? We have had problems with unsupervised youth obeying orders to get out of the pool pending and approaching thunder storm.

Security has encountered couples getting up close and personal in a cabana restroom (I can’t think a less romantic place) and evening skinny dipping, Blue Lagoon style, in the pool.

Our security staff enjoys making these discoveries as embarrassing as possible for the perpetrators, and has the option of confiscating Sanctuary IDs and access cards and notifying parents.

Another pool problem involves swimming with too much clothing. Pool rules require proper swim suits. Homeowners whose religion or other custom requires them to swim with clothes on will be asked to find another pool more suited to this practice.Please understand that this is not meant to be discriminatory. The rule applies equally to people who, for whatever reason, think swim suits are for nerds and gleefully jump in wearing their street shorts.

It really boils down to a water quality (read: health) issue. Our pool filtration system was not designed to cope with these demands and that’s why the swimsuit rules are in place.

The rules apply across the board—for everyone.

With just as much potential for facility damage are unsupervised youth who use the clubhouse for a pizza or movie party (without paying the required rental fee and security deposit), or who climb the fence from the basketball court of soccer field to get to the cabana restroom. This latter dangerous practice is almost sure to result in suspension of Amenity Center privileges.

Specific rules for using your center are posted on site, in your homeowner documents and on this Website. Taking the time to know and the effort to follow them—and to properly inform and supervise your children—will help keep costs to a minimum and your Amenity Center in good condition for your and your neighbors. Valerie Williams, President (9-10-09)

Thank you to all the current Board members for your dedication to the community.  Being on the Board is a time consuming responsibility and if it wasn’t for the dedication of our current and past boards we would not be in as good a shape as we are today.

The HOA has weathered the storms of property manager changes, alleged builder negligence, landscape challenges and a depressing recession.  I’m happy to report that the thoughtful operational decisions made by Board members have kept The Sanctuary HOA in sound condition when other HOAs are  imposing hefty assessments to make ends meet.

The annual meeting is only 6 months away (January 2010).  Since three positions will be available on the Board  I would like to invite  you to think about contributing two years of your time and energy to the success of your neighborhood association.  You can formally submit your intention to run for election by notifying  Pinnacle Property Management in writing.

Committees
We’re always looking for good people to help on various committees. You don’t have to be a Board member to serve on a committee. Covenants, fining and social committees are especially “needy” at the moment.

Painting the Sanctuary
House painting has been a topic of much discussion lately.  The builder originally offered buyers a limited palette from which to choose their exterior colors.  In limiting the color choices, development designers’ intention was to create a harmonious environment that projected just enough “togetherness” to give you the feeling you were joining a community, not just buying a house. Our governing documents strive to protect that environment by assigning control of it to the Architectural Review Committee. The ARC isn’t bound to the original developer colors, but, as representative of entire community, is expected to exercise care in expanding the palette as tastes evolve.

With these evolving tastes in mind, your ARC is putting together a new palette of acceptable colors that promises to be more diverse than the builders’ original while maintaining that neighborhood harmony.

Here’s where you come in. First, and most important: get ARC permission BEFORE you paint.  A number of homeowners have ignored this rule and have had to repaint at considerable expense. Others are facing the even more daunting prospect of legal expenses on top of the cost to repaint.

Second: tell me how you feel about that oddly colored house next door or down the street. Would an official color palette or reasonably diverse range of harmonious color values help you select a new color for your house?  E-mail your thoughts to president@thesanctuaryhoa.org.

Valerie Williams, President (6-18-09)

Summer Sanctuary
Extended evening daylight and the end of the school term provide more outside play time opportunities for neighborhood youth.  Please be ever on the alert for children on or near The Sanctuary’s streets. Keep your speed down, especially on corners and other places where you may not see kids chasing balls or on bicycles until it’s too late.

Bicycle Helmets
And while I’m on the subject, many of your children under age 16 are riding their bikes without wearing a helmet. State law requires every child under 16 to wear a properly sized and fitted helmet while bicycling. It doesn’t matter whether they are in the street or on the sidewalk. Oviedo police patrols will “pull over” violators. The result could be a great deal of inconvenience for you and your children.

Wooded Areas
The wooded areas in and around The Sanctuary are set aside as conservation land to be preserved as natural habitat. That means they are off limits to humans. No hunting, no off-road riding, no trail blazing, no dumping, no fort building, no paint ball battles, no anything. Tresspassers are subject to arrest. There are plenty of miles of trail along the Little Big Econ State Forest right next door that should more than satisfy your hunger for the outback.  Enjoy this available natural resource instead.
Valerie Williams (5/28/2009)

Records Inspection
Recent high demand for records inspection has made it necessary for us to emphasize the procedure for obtaining The Sanctuary’s official records. The procedure was set by Florida law to prevent confusion, misinformation and duplication of effort, while ensuring that homeowners have reasonable access to records. It also saves both your management company and HOA Board of Directors from having to drop everything to respond to a request.

Pinnacle Property Management, your management company, is the custodian of our official records. You should contact PPM in writing to request an appointment to view a document. “In writing” can be a written letter or an e-mail and you should expect to be able to view the documents at their office within 10 business days of their receipt of your letter/e-mail.

Records not available for inspection by homeowners include lawyer communications, information about an individual homeowner’s account and other personal information. Florida Statutes 720.303(5) and 90.502 provide the Florida law about this, if you’re interested.

Our Governing Documents (Covenants, Community Design Standards, By-Laws, Florida Statutes) are also freely available on The Sanctuary Website. By law you should have received these documents from the seller (with the exception of the Statutes) when you bought your home, but often this was not the case. You can save time and money by making copies of these directly from the Website. Better yet, save a tree and read them on line.

Conservation Easements
The Sanctuary’s common areas include large tracts of land regulated by law as conservation easements. A conservation easement is a legal agreement designed to preserve open space, groundwater recharge areas, environmentally sensitive lands, wildlife habitat and historical features.

If your property backs up to a wooded area, except in a few small areas you can be pretty certain the area is one of these easements. The St Johns River Water Management District governs these easements and the HOA is responsible to them for maintaining the land in its natural state.

Any activity that alters the easement area is typically prohibited. Such prohibited activity includes dumping of yard trash and lawn clippings, destruction of vegetation and any other activities that change the land. Exhibit B(6) of our Covenants has specific language prohibiting this. St Johns monitors these easements and can levy fines on homeowners discovered dumping yard or other trash on protected areas.

Essentially, except for official inspection by authorized personnel, these conservation easements are no trespassing areas. They are not play areas for your children and their friends (think wild fires) and you should warn them that trespassers are subject to arrest. We have asked the Oviedo Police Department to look out for trespassers and to deal with them accordingly.

Valerie Williams (4/15/2009)