By Rusty Bradshaw
Independent Newsmedia

Sun City property owners and residents will have more opportunities to learn about the community conditions, covenants and restrictions.



The Sun City Home Owners Association Board of Directors heard a recommendation during its April 25 meeting to conduct its CC&R workshops on a quarterly basis beginning in the fall. They had been offered quarterly. But with each session drawing more people, SCHOA officials believed there was enough demand to have them available more often as the attendance outgrew the agency’s meeting room. A recent session at Sundial did not draw the numbers that were expected.

“With more people coming into the community all the time, and others realizing they need more information about the CC&Rs, this is an aopportunity for them to have more opportunities to gather information,” said Carole Studdard, SCHOA executive director.

Last week’s workshop, conducted this time at Sundial Recreation Center, 14801 N. 103rd Ave., included about 35 residents, nearly half of whom had questions following a 75-minute presentation by a panel of that included representatives from SCHOA, the Sun City Condo Owners Association, Maricopa County Planning and Development, the Registrar of Contractors and a real estate broker.

“Del Webb needed a way to ensure the core values of the community endured,” said Pam Schwartz, SCHOA board president, providing history on how the CC&Rs came about. “That mechanism is the CC&Rs we have today.”

The CC&Rs apply to all homes — single-family and condominiums. Sam Estok, Sun City COA board present defined condos as duplexes, triplexes, quads, two-story, three-story — any group of homes that share common walls and common areas.

“That means anything that is not a single-family home,” he said.

While all property owners — single-family or condo — must follow the main CC&Rs, each of 386 condo associations in Sun City have their own set of CC&Rs, bylaws and rules that may or may not be the same as the main community CC&Rs. Tom Wilson, SCHOA compliance manager, and Mr. Estok acknowledged it would be simpler if there was just one set of CC&Rs for the community, but stressed that was easier said than done.

“In the 20 years I have been here, I tried to get one set of CC&Rs for condos,” Mr. Estok said. “I gave up after about 10 years. You can’t get them all to agree.”

Because of the requirement to notify all affected property owners and the percentage that must agree to it, changing CC&Rs is a time-consuming and expensive process that few associations are willing to attempt.

“It would have been nice if Del Webb had done that (had one set of CC&Rs) in the beginning,” Mr. Wilson said.

SCHOA CC&Rs

While membership in SCHOA is voluntary, compliance with the main CC&Rs is mandatory by all Sun City property owners. Condo association membership and CC&R compliance is mandatory.



“Our CC&Rs are simple, but we try to maintain the values and lifestyles,” Mr. Wilson explained.

Ms. Schwartz said CC&R enforcement is dependent on residents to point out potential violations.

“We depend on the residents, because we do not have the staff to patrol the community looking for violations,” she said.

Mr. Wilson said the names of those filing CC&R complaints is strictly confidential. They can only be obtained through a court order and that has never happened.

“Only two that I know of have gone to a judge (requesting complaintant names) and both times it was rejected,” Mr. Wilson said.

The same is true of county ordinance complaints, according to Charles Hart, code compliance manager. He knows of only one judicial request for a complaintant name and that was also rejected.

Property owners found in violation have an avenue of appeal, first through the SCHOA Compliance Committee then through the SCHOA board. Condo associations have similar appeals processes.

Condo associations

Sun City’s 386 condo associations house about 17,000 people, according to Mr. Estok.

The associations vary in size, the largest consisting of 160 units. The average is 35 units, he added.



“I don’t know how it happened, but we have one association with two properties,” Mr. Estok said. “We hear from that one a lot. With only two property owners, if they don’t agree on something they can’t get a majority.”

He explained all CC&Rs, bylaws and rules for the different condo associations vary with their verbiage.

“But regardless, when you purchase you sign a contract that says you must abide by the association documents,” Mr. Estok said.

Many problems between residents and associations stem from the fact that some owners purchase their properties, but fail to read the documents, according to Mr. Estok.

“You need to know what you are getting into before you buy,” he said.

County ordinances

Mr. Hart explained that Sun City CC&Rs and county ordinances were very similar in the community’s initial stages. But over time they have become divergent in some aspects.

“In a case of conflict between CC&Rs and county ordinances, the most restrictive takes precendence,” he said.
Mr. Hart explained the reasons for county ordinances are to protect residents’ health, safety and welfare; to maintain good property values; and to reduce crime. Violations of county ordinances are misdemeanors, carrying fines of up to $750 per day for individuals and $10,000 per day for corporations.

Residents must file ordinance violation complaints in written form by letter, fax, email, on the county website or in person at the county offices, 501 N. 44th St., Phoenix.

After a complaint is received and the property owner notified, an initial inspection is conducted. A re-inspection is conducted about two weeks later. If the violation is not remedied, it will go to an administrative hearing with a followup 30 days after that.

“On the 35th day, if the violation is not cleared up, the fine is imposed,” Mr. Hart said.

Typical violations include someone under age living in an age-restricted community, no work permit, an illegal business, weeds, debris, unregistered or inoperable vehicles and delapidated buildings.

Mr. Wilson said Sun City must maintain at least 80 percent of its residents 55 or older or risk losing the age overlay.

“Right now we are at 94 percent,” he said.