Solutions
In the many years we have lived/owned at Laurel Bay, we have never witnessed such a divided community. We want to stop further damage and return the focus of this decision back to where it belongs, with the owners. How do we get back to being a community in which we all want to live?
Interrupting homeowners speaking against a rental cap, out-of-order interference with Board discussions, texting two Directors with instructions from a non-board member, rejection of applicable data without even looking at it. After a multitude of conflicts for 10 months, the only thing the committee has to show for, is the tearing apart of our community.
Stop!
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The ~44% current rentals does not threaten financing, insurance rates, or any other quality of life issue at Laurel Bay.
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Furthermore our data collected from MLS for the last five years shows that the rental percentage is dropping at Laurel Bay. In the last 5 years 40 units have sold. Only 30% of them are rented.
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A rental cap would threaten VA financing available to purchasers. Several owners have used these loans. Put on a cap, they disappear.
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Two Directors are dismissing their fiduciary responsibilities. Occupying a Board seat dictates consideration of ALL homeowners, not the blatant advocacy that Directors Taylor and Wesley have engaged in.
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Replace lobbying and unsupported opinions with transparency and data. Conduct a fair and impartial community-wide survey so that every homeowner has an equal opportunity to express their opinion on this issue before any spending of our funds. The cap committee has blocked a community-wide anonymous survey for the past 10 months, yet this is what their mandate was: "investigating owner’s preferences whether or not owners are in favor or against instituting a rental cap."
Facts and
Data
The divisive labeling and criticism of renters is destructive. Renters will be a fact of life at Laurel Bay. It's the law. The wide majority of our renting neighbors are exceptional people, very respectful of our property and kind.
Neighbors should not be confronted at their doors, questioned about where they live, or interrupted while working in the business center to justify their presence.
If there is a concern about a possible HOA violation, it should be handled through the proper management process, not through personal confrontations instigated by Directors Louise Wesley and Lorie Taylor.
Let's treat one another with the respect, courtesy, and privacy that every member of our community deserves.
Inclusive Community
No matter the outcome of the rental cap issue, we will all continue to share the same community. Can we choose to move forward together, despite our differences?
Many homeowners have shared that Laurel Bay no longer feels like the warm, welcoming community it once was. Let's work together to restore that sense of neighborliness, respect, and trust.
In the end, the strength of our community will not be defined by a rental cap. It will be defined by how we choose to treat one another every day.
That choice belongs to each of us.