From the inception of this neighborhood, Victor Gardens' developer and builders often described the importance of historically styled homes, attractive landscaping, and a "Traditional Neighborhood" design approach. These all took a prominent role in Victor Gardens sales pitches, brochures, and websites.
In addition to the marketing approach, the developer, builders, homeowners, and the City of Hugo literally signed-on, and formalized this approach in the form of governing documents. As a result, all were required to comply with the same set of "rules" designed to complete the idea.
More recently, with the downturn of the housing market, homeowners became concerned about the Master ARC and Board's willingness to maintain the commitment to those documents and ideals. Some expressed concerns at Board Meetings and with City officials.
I thought it might be helpful for everyone to understand what the governing documents require, and which documents need more subjective judgement. The covenants, bylaws, disclosure statements, etc. are relatively straight-forward. Other documents, such as the Design Guidelines are not "black and white". They are, however, essential to clarify what's appropriate for this neighborhood.
For the benefit of all, and to keep some of these "rules" straight, we've developed a document that summarizes a lot of the architectural information found in the governing documents. As a reference point, I think it may be very helpful:
It's clear that a comprehensive "Traditional Neighborhood" approach does not appeal to everyone. It isn't meant to. The vast majority of most other suburban neighborhoods don't look like Victor Gardens- and that's perfectly appropriate. Some might think Victor Gardens' "rules" are too restrictive or rigid. Others understand that they're in place to preserve the character that began here years ago.
- Mark
