That’s a two part question:
1.) YES – our covenants can be amended, and
2.) HOW: in Cloverdale the amendment requirement is 67% of the homeowners – who must vote yes to record an amendment with the Jefferson County Clerk as an addendum to the original 1987-1988 DCCR. However one critical element must be part of the amendment dialog at the onset:
In order for homeowners to vote yes or no for an amendment of the covenants, the amendment must “do no harm” to existing residents. A discussion must include a constructive element that grandfathers those homeowners who have been provided waivers, permissions and/or a variety of special exceptions; consideration of policies, resolutions and even verbal agreements by the original developer and/or the Executive Boards over the years. In every instance homeowners need to be reasonable.
Amendments should be reviewed by legal council due to the possibility of conflict with other covenants and amendments within our DCCR as well as being in compliance with local, state and federal laws. The charge for an amendment is relative to printing, legal counsel retainer & billing hours, standard recording fees and finally surface mailing the amendment to each of the Cloverdale homeowners. (initial labor is free because it is provided by your peers to develop the text for consideration)
Additonally: If amending the documents is too expensive, too time consuming, or not possible, the board could adopt a rule using the same language. While rules don’t have the same presumption of validity as covenants, the courts have demonstrated the choice to uphold a reasonable and unambiguous rule.
>>> VIEW Article X (21) Cloverdale Amendment August 9, 1999
