Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "comment":
I would love to see a vote on how many owners are actually interested in buying 12 foot wide trailers. My suspect that the number is extremely small. Yet because of this issue we now have to deal with getting permits from the town for trailers, decks, screenhouses, ect. instead of just LA that I suspect is because of the 12 wide issue(payback for being such a headache to the township.) We have paid enormous attorney fees for an issues I believe only very few community members are actually interested in. 12'0
anon -- there was a poll taken earlier this year
Q: what is the most impotant issue you have with la?
A:
annual fee -------------- 30 votes
12' wide issue ---------- 87 votes
quality of life --------- 129 votes
this would indicate that a good number of the members are interested in the 12' wide issue
around la there are many new trailers and many trailers under 10 yo and that also indicates that members are interested in having new trailers -- these people, which are in the hundreds, have made an investment in la because they feel it is a sound investment for them
many are waiting for the 12' wide issue to be resolved so they can order new trailers with more config options and nicer appointments that come with 12' wide trailers
la housing stock is getting older and outdated and many members no longer take care of the old trailers, they leave them here to rot-- and probably these members aren't paying their dues either-- they have no meaningful investment to protect so they ignore it and they discontinue paying dues
when a community gets to a point that people are willing to abandon their property then the community begins to slip and head downward -- that must be reversed by the bod and getting the 12' issue resolved will go a long way to help turn this community around-- also a more aggressive action to get non producing properties back into the paying column (like a collection process that goes after delinquent dues and goes after the credit rating of defaulting members)and a more aggressive approach to getting properties cleaned up and properly maintained (even if la sends out seasonal workers to clean up properties that have high weeds and uncollected leaves and then back bill the owner a hefty labor rate for the work that was performed)
la reflects the success or failure of it's current bod and past bods-- their actions or lack of actions show up throughout the community--- right now i say la is in trouble and if the bod doesn't start to make meaningful progress on quality of life issues (i wonder if they know what this term means) and get the 12' wide issue passed so new housing and new investments will occur then la will spiral downward.
as far as the community getting in the radar of dingman township it has nothing to do with the 12' wide issue--- it has to do with a state law that mandates that townships enforce new state building codes-- dingman was one of the last to begin enforcing these new laws --- they have no choice in the matter and therefore they have started the mandated enforcement
as far as taxes go -- well just like the la dues they will go up -- they never go down (except the ill timed and foolish $150.00 la dues reduction--- that made no sense at all)-- cost for all governments are climbing and the bills have to be paid so taxes will be increased --
another thing about the 12'wide issue -- until an attorney is hired that specializes in municipal law and community association law the bod and la will get no where with the township -- it can not be done in house nor can it be done with an attorney who works in domestic relations, wills, estates and etc. --just like a medical specialist is needed for cardiac problems-- you need a specialized legal firm to handle this issue and it will cost some money but the past 3 or 4 or 5 years that the bod has screwed around with this issue has cost la a lot more in the deteriorating state at la --
well i guess i covered everything -- you got some comments send them to me and i'll publish them
#52
Friday, November 28, 2008
comment + 12' wide issue
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Your assumption of the 12 wides being an issue that brought the township down on LA is way out of line! The manager made Dingmans aware and many property owners went to the township with gripes and violations in house that gave them a reason to come in and start inspecting. If property owners abided by the rules and regulations, and didn't try to get away with things that they knew were out of line, they would have nothing to fear from township inspections but, if you tried to bend the rules and would not listen to the code enforcement officers you will face the consequences. LA needs something to attract new owners and raising dues and not having anything to offer younger owners you will not find new owners. Visit our local campgrounds or Trails End and Eagle Lake and observe the type of owners you will attract if they can get better trailers. Trails End had a reputation of being a dump, well, drive through there now and observe the changes that new 12 wides make in appearance and and type of property owners if you went there for the swim meet you couldn't miss the changes.
ReplyDeletePeople have to be made aware of what purchasing a 12 wide involves. Don’t just think you can haul out the old and bring in the new.
ReplyDeleteI have heard from several sources (including the LA compliance officer) that the town has been coming in, marking down and photographing what is on each site. Why? Probably this: when they see something new going on at a site, they can go back to the file and see what has changed. They can then see if that new item (especially if it comes under their jurisdiction) is under code. And you will have some big problems if it isn’t!
For example, we bought a new trailer this year. Did it by the book – went down to the office, filed for our permit; the compliance officer came up to our site and checked it out and said there should be no problem with putting it in the same spot as the old one; had the trailer delivered while the compliance officer was there. Again, the new trailer was fine where it was placed.
Guess what? Not according to Dingman Township! We applied for a deck permit so we had to have a certified survey done. The town not only denied our permit at the time, but gave us ten days to let them know when we were moving the trailer because it was not in compliance with TOWN codes. It seems one corner of a pullout was hanging slightly into the easement area. WE had to pay to have the trailer moved and have a revised survey done.
Most property owners are going to find they are going to have to move their decks, sheds, etc. to make these 12 wides be in compliance because most existing 8.5s with pullouts ARE NOT. You’re not just going to paying $40,000 (or more) for a new trailer.
A poll of 246 respondents cannot be considered representational of the entire LA community. Even based on the 246, 87 is only a 35% positive feedback for the 12 wide issue. Something like this should have been done long ago on the LA website or through the mail. Property owners should be made aware of all the costs involved in getting a 12 wide and a new survey needs to be done by ALL members, especially in light of the town’s involvement in enforcing codes and regulations.