Bristol Park Home Owner's Association

Homeowners may submit their ballot for the bylaw revisions on Saturday, Oct 12 from 9:30 to 11:30 at the swimming pool. A notary will be available. Please bring a photo ID if your ballot signatures need to be notarized. I urge all homeowners to vote on this important issue for the benefit of the neighborhood.

Ballots for the change in the HOA bylaws were mailed out in early September. Please take a minute and read through it and support the measure to update the laws. Bylaws were written when Bristol Park was first developed, and have not been updated in 20 years.

Please consider supporting this effort to maintain the value and appeal of Bristol Park.

Ballots need to be signed by property owners on the deed. Signatures will need to be notarized.

There are several opportunities to turn in your ballot in the next few weeks:

• HOA Board of Managers Meeting, 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 19 at the Communication Federal Credit Union, 100 NE 150th Street
• HOA Board of Managers Meeting, 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 17 at the Communication Federal Credit Union, 100 NE 150th Street.

The final opportunity to turn in a ballot is the voting meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 30 at Communication Federal Credit Union, 100 NE 150th Street. Signed and notarized ballots must also be postmarked by Oct. 30 to be considered.

The HOA seeks to change the bylaws to:
• Update and remove references to private developers in bylaws.
• Change roof shingle requirement to currently available manufacturer and type.
• Remove restrictions on hot tubs. Allow homeowners to have hot tubs up to 400 gallons.
• Add requirement that new homeowners must occupy property for one year before home can be offered for rental.
• Limit number of rental properties to 10% of total homes. Some homes will be allowed to be grandfathered and hardship requests will be considered.

o The goal is reduce or prevent investment property overrun in Bristol Park. Research shows that owner-occupied properties are maintained. Studies also show that neighborhoods with high levels of absentee ownership have a higher rate of decline, increased crime, and declined resale value. Currently nearly 20 percent of homes in Bristol Park are rentals.

Changes will require property owners who rent their home to have a professional lawn service, and have up to 90 days to secure new tenants.
• Require rental lease agreements to be at least 12 months to limit short term rentals and AirBNB rentals.

Ballot

Amendment

Letter

The Bristol Park HOA Board of Managers will continue to work on updates to the neighborhood’s covenant and bylaws.

In July, a voting meeting was held to amend the neighborhood convents in an effort to retain property values, quality of neighborhood and resale value for homeowners. To change the bylaws, which were originally written by the developer in 1997, more than half of all property owners have to vote in favor of a change.

After the July 25 deadline to vote for changes to bylaws, only 40 property owners out of 311 voted in favor of requiring property owners to live in their homes for one year before leasing a home, and putting restrictions in place that would cap or reduce the number of rental properties in Bristol Park.

Without the necessary votes, the effort to update the neighborhood bylaws did not pass. The HOA Board of Managers remains committed to helping Bristol Park maintain its value and appeal and will continue efforts to educate residents and property owners on the need to update the bylaws that were originally written nearly 20 years ago.

Possible efforts could include going door-to-door canvassing and meetings for property owners to get additional information and cast a vote to secure updates neighborhood bylaws.
The HOA seeks to change the bylaws to:
• Update and remove references to private developers in bylaws.
• Change roof shingle requirement to currently available manufacturer and type.
• Remove restrictions on hot tubs. Allow homeowners to have hot tubs up to 400 gallons.
• Add requirement that new homeowners must occupy property for one year before home can be offered for rental.
• Limit number of rental properties to 10% of total homes. Some homes will be allowed to be grandfathered and hardship requests will be considered.

o The goal is reduce or prevent investment property overrun in Bristol Park. Research shows that owner-occupied properties are maintained. Studies also show that neighborhoods with high levels of absentee ownership have a higher rate of decline, increased crime, and declined resale value. Currently nearly 20 percent of homes in Bristol Park are rentals.

Changes will require property owners who rent their home to have a professional lawn service, and have up to 90 days to secure new tenants.
• Require rental lease agreements to be at least 12 months to limit short term rentals and AirBNB rentals.

Please continue watch this website as more updates to this important effort. If you are interested in helping with this important neighborhood project, please contact the HOA Board of Managers at info@bristolpark.org.

Message from the president and board of managers:

Bristol Park was built and developed beginning in 1997. At that time, the Homeowners Association was controlled by the developer and builder. The HOA bylaws and CCRs (Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions) were adopted with the developer’s and builder’s needs addressed.

Bristol Park development was completed and filled out in the early 2000’s. Since that time, the CCRs and bylaws have not been changed to reflect the completion of the housing development and transfer majority control to the existing homeowners.

The board of managers has hired an attorney to rewrite/amend the bylaws and CCRs to be more in line with current conditions in the neighborhood. The changes proposed are listed in the attached document. Within the next week, each homeowner should receive a copy of the proposed changes along with a ballot to submit a vote for approval.

To approve the amendments, the ballot needs to be signed by each homeowner on deed and both signatures must be notarized. We will be holding a voting meeting on July 25 at the pool, where your signatures can be notarized and ballot submitted.

I encourage all homeowners to review attached changes and vote to adopt the amendments as proposed. Any questions you may have can be answered at the July 25 meeting at the pool.

Thank you.

Dave Patrick
President, Bristol Park HOA Board of Managers