Executive Summary
Status of Amendments to Oakton Mill Estates (OME) Homeowners Association (HOA), Inc.
Governing Documents, As of December 6, 2023
Shed and Garage-Related Amendments:
On August 3, 2023, Ed Hanlon, President of the OME HOA Board of Directors, sent an email/mailing to all of our 83 OME HOA Lot Owners providing relevant documents for Lot Owner voting at an upcoming HOA Special Meeting on September 17, 2023. The documents included four proposed amendments to our HOA’s Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions (“Declaration”) in our ‘Governing Documents’. Two of the proposed amendments would allow sheds and a third car garage to be built upon HOA lots, and two proposed amendments would provide the Board with the authority to adopt construction design standards for an addition to a residence, other structures, and improvements on a Lot, and require lot owners to apply to our HOA’s Architectural and Environmental Control Committee (AECC; previously known as the ARC - Architectural Review Committee) for such exterior modifications. On August 22, 2023, Ed Hanlon sent a follow-up email/mailing to OME lot owners providing an updated consent form and noting the special meeting date and date to receive votes by was rescheduled to October 4, 2023.
The special meeting occurred on October 4th, and Ed sent an email/mailing to OME HOA Lot Owners on October 11, 2023 noting all four Amendments received at least 50 yes votes (which constituted approval by at least sixty percent of our HOA’s Lot Owners), and therefore all four proposed amendments passed. Our HOA attorney Sara Ross prepared a form for Ed’s notarized signature, and next steps are that Sara will record the approved amendments to the Declaration along with the signed Consent Forms in the Land Records of Fairfax County.
Requirements for Construction:
At the 10/4/23 special meeting, it was noted that if either or both of the two proposed amendments to allow sheds and a third car garage to be built passed, then Requirements for Construction for those Proposed Amendments would be adopted by the HOA Board. Since both Amendments 1 and 2 passed, the Board will adopt the standards. The Board agreed at the 10/4/23 special meeting to provide HOA Lot Owners an opportunity to review and comment on these construction requirements through a one-month review. These draft construction requirements were posted on our HOA website for Lot Owner review in mid October 2023, and in an email/mailing from Ed to OME HOA Lot Owners on October 17, 2023, HOA Lot Owners were asked to send any comments they may have on these proposed construction requirements by November 17, 2023
At the November 29, 2023 annual/special meeting, Ed noted that we received seven sets of comments on the proposed Requirements for Construction for sheds and third car garages. A comment response report is being developed for these comments, and the Requirements for Construction document is being updated related to those comments. The Board will review and ultimately vote to approve and adopt these updated requirements. Once the Board adopts the updated set of requirements, Ed will send another email to HOA lot owners noting the construction requirements have been adopted and that they are posted on our HOA website.
At an October 11, 2023 Board meeting, the Board and the AECC agreed that the Board should also develop proposed construction requirements for storage attachments and additions to the rear of an HOA home, and storage attachments/enclosures beneath a deck or sunroom in the rear of the home. The Board will consider these proposed construction requirements at a future date.
Ten Additional Proposed Amendments:
During several Board meetings in 2022, the Board discussed ten additional proposed amendments to our HOA’s Declaration that our HOA attorney strongly advised are critical to provide additional necessary protections for our HOA and elected officers, in light of recent changes in Virginia law, and to ensure that the Association continues to function in accordance with the current provisions of the Virginia Property Owners’ Association Act. Several of these proposed amendments would also grant certain authorities to the AECC. The ten proposed amendments were developed through assistance by our HOA attorney and were reviewed and approved by the Board of Directors.
As discussed at the July 25, 2023 Board of Directors meeting, the Board unanimously agreed to set aside those proposed amendments not directly related and essential to the four proposed shed and garage amendments that were provided to our HOA’s Lot Owners for voting between August and October 2023. The rationale was that the Board felt that it was important to avoid overwhelming the homeowners by providing all of the amendments at once, and to present them in more digestible portions. The Board agreed hold a second special meeting for the purpose of voting and receiving HOA lot owner consent forms on these remaining ten proposed amendments.
On October 17, 2023, Ed sent an email to OME HOA Lot Owners who provided an email address in the OME Homeowners directory, as well as a regular U.S. mailing to all OME HOA Lot Owners, providing relevant documents for Lot Owner voting at an HOA Special Meeting that occurred on November 29, 2023. On December 6, 2023, Ed sent an email to HOA lot owners informing them of the results of the voting on our second group of ten HOA Amendments. Four of the ten Amendments received at least 50 yes votes (i.e., Amendments 3, 5, 6, and 10), and those four proposed amendments passed. The four amendments that passed are as follows:
Amendment 3: Outlots A3 and B: Reduce assessment obligation for these two currently unbuildable lots to fifty percent (50%) of the current assessment rate.
Amendment 5: Establish timeframe for exterior modifications to be reviewed.
Amendment 6: Provide AECC with exterior modification application approval procedures and provide Board appeal procedures for such applications.
Amendment 10: Indemnification: Provide’s Association indemnification to its Directors, Officers, committee members, volunteers, etc.
Next steps are that our HOA attorney Sara will prepare a form for my notarized signature, and record the form and approved amendments to the Declaration in the Land Records of Fairfax County.