Points to Consider about House Rule Changes

 

 

DOCUMENT REQUIRES LINE EDITING. The proposed ECA House Rules need thorough editing to eliminate redundancy and to establish clarity. Common sense informs us that no one will read a document that does not get straight to the point. This document needs to be part of the package presented to prospective buyers and renters BEFORE they decide to invest time and money here.

 

DOCUMENT REQUIRES A LEGAL REVIEW.

·      Has our legal counsel Jeremy Tucker read the proposed ECA House Rules? If he has, does he approve of this document?

·      I think we are opening ourselves up to lawsuits by allowing children and teens to “play” in our common areas. What is our potential liability for opening our common areas for “play”?

·      Who is going to serve as “lifeguard” to remind them not to run in these areas and to treat our furniture with care?

·      While people who are resident owners may treat lobby furniture and decorations with care, we cannot depend on renters to do the same. Many people, including some owners, may think of this property as a hotel where there is 24/7 cleanup staff.

 

EXPANDED USE OF COMMON AREAS

·      This will cause more wear and tear on our furniture and decorations as well as the physical plant (walls, floors, etc.).

·      This will accelerate renovation schedules and ultimately increase our condo fees.

·      Food in the West Lobby and on the terraces will invite rodents to our property. Rodents are naturally in our community already, but do we want to see them on a regular basis?

·      I’m in favor of Association sponsored events where supervision provides an element of preservation and careful use.

 

NOISE ISSUES. Expanded use of common areas will increase the level of noise and reduce the quality of life at the Elizabeth. It’s guaranteed that more residents will complain putting more stress on staff and Board members. Association sponsored events are more egalitarian and will cause less complaining.

 

BALCONIES. Inviting any kind of birds, including hummingbirds, to our balconies is an invitation to other pests, including bats, rats, and stinging insects.

 

PETS

·      Pets should not be allowed in our West Lobby.

·      Furthermore, it is time that Board enforce pet rules established in our Bylaws and be clear about the definition of one small dog. Keeping the building clean is a huge issue since we constantly have dog waste in all our common areas, especially elevators, that the pet owners do not clean up.

·      To avoid this problem, House Rules can be modified to require owners to carry their dogs in the elevators and throughout the common areas.  This was in our House Rules for many years from the time the Elizabeth opened its doors.  It had the added benefit of assuring that dogs met the requirement in the bylaws to be “small” and “orderly.”  If they can be carried, they are small.  And dogs that are carried are unlikely to urinate or defecate on their owners.

 

ENFORCEMENT OF OUR BYLAWS AND HOUSE RULES

·      Enforcement of Bylaws and House Rules is currently weak and indicates that if House Rules are more complicated that more infractions will occur and cause more contention among the residents.

·      In turn this will put more stress on the staff and on the Board who are tasked with upholding the Articles, Bylaws, and House Rules.

·      Furthermore, most of the infractions against our Bylaws and House Rules occur after the Management Office is closed at 5 pm as well as on weekends and holidays. Therefore, clean up and damage are not attended to promptly. Do we expect to hire more staff as if we were a hotel to manage these problems?