WOW-mail

World of Westchase

May 2008

While clearly under the jurisdiction of federal, state and county governments, residents of the community called Westchase are also governed by at least two entities: the Westchase Community Association (WCA) and a Community Development District (CDD). Several villages and neighborhoods lie within the boundary of their own sub-homeowners associations.

There are actually two distinct Community Development Districts within Westchase. These CDDs are special taxing districts governed by state and county law. They have the authority to levy assessments against homeowners in order to pay for costs associated with the maintenance of common areas and the payment of bonds that financed the original construction of the community’s infrastructure. CDD taxes, which are collected by the county, appear as the non ad valorem portion of residents’ county property tax statements. In general, the CDDs are responsible for the maintenance of common areas outside the swim and tennis facilities, which are the responsibility of the WCA. CDDs’ responsibilities include landscaping of these areas as well as the maintenance of parks, storm water lakes (retention ponds) and conservation areas. They also maintain signage, fencing, and curbside trees within some Villages. In practice, the Westchase CDDs pool resources and jointly contract for services. Currently, resident supervisors of both CDDs have contracted Severn Trent Associates to undertake all CDDs’ responsibilities. The current CDD District Manager is Andrew Mendenhall of Severn Trent Services. Questions and maintenance requests for the CDDs should be directed to Field Manager Doug Mays at 920-4268 or via e-mail at westchasecdd@verizon.net.

The Westchase CDD serves the villages of Bennington, Berkeley Square, The Enclave, Glencliff, Glenfield, Harbor Links/The Estates, Keswick Forest, Radcliffe, Saville Rowe, The Shires, Woodbay and Wycliff. The Westchase East CDD serves the villages of The Bridges, The Fords, The Greens, West Park Village, and The Vineyards. Terms of resident supervisors, who are directly elected by residents of their villages during the General Election on the first Tuesday in November, are four years. Contact information for CDD resident supervisors and Severn Trent Associates can be found in the Online Directory of the World of Westchase.

The Westchase Community Association (WCA) is responsible for the maintenance of the community’s swim and tennis facilities (on Countryway Boulevard and within West Park Village) and the enforcement of the community’s deed restrictions, contained in the community’s “constitution,” a document called Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions (CCRs). A copy of the CCRs is provided to each homeowner at closing. In addition to these responsibilities, homeowners are bound by subsequent groups of rules (deed restrictions) called Bylaws and Guidelines, which further spell out and clarify various aspects of the CCRs and resident responsibilities and restrictions. They can also be purchased from the Westchase Community Association Manager.

There are two government entities within the WCA. The first is a group of 29 representatives called the Voting Members, one of which is elected from each of the 29 villages or sub-associations in Westchase (villages also generally elect two to four Alternates for these seats). Voting Members (VMs) serve one-year terms and have several responsibilities. They elect the members of the WCA Board of Directors. They also play a significant role in changing guidelines and amending the CCRs. The VMs vote in two different ways. Each casts a single vote during their selection (or removal) of the board of directors. On other issues and motions, however, VMs cast as many votes as there are homes in their village or sub-association. If a homeowner expresses his or her opinion on an issue, his or her VM is bound by the CCRs to cast that homeowner’s vote in that fashion. VMs, however, may cast the balance of silent homeowners’ votes at their discretion. This illustrates the importance of contacting your VM via e-mail or phone to let him or her know your opinion.  Contact information for the VMs as well as the WCA Board of Directors can be found by clicking here.

The second government entity within the WCA is the WCA Board of Directors. There are currently seven directors, approximately half of whom are elected annually for two-year terms of office. Directors cast a single vote on all issues. They are responsible for hiring and overseeing the work of the community association management company, currently Greenacre Properties as represented by Senior Community Association Manager Patty Stewart. The Westchase Community Association Manager oversees the maintenance of the swim and tennis facilities and enforces community deed restrictions. WCA Directors also set the annual budget for the facilities (VMs, however, have a veto over the budget.) and oversee the collection of homeowners’ dues to the association. They also play a significant role in changing the guidelines within the community. Finally, they appoint and oversee a number of committees that oversee aspects of community life. Residents can contact directors by phone or e-mail. They can also express their opinions directly to the board at their monthly Resident Forums.

There are a number of committees that constitute an integral part of the WCA. These include the Covenants Committee, which levies fines for residents’ failure to abide by the community deed restrictions; the Government Affairs Committee (GAC), which addresses Westchase’s relationship with Hillsborough County’s government and tackles such issues as traffic and roads; the Modifications Committee, which examines residents’ requests for any external changes to their property; the Swim and Tennis Committee, which oversees, establishes rules for, and suggests improvements to the swim and tennis facilities and their programming; the Variance Committee, which hears hardship variance requests arising from Modification Committee denials; the Web Site Committee, which oversees the WCA Web site; and the Welcome Committee, which welcomes new homeowners. The association is constantly seeking resident volunteers to work on these committees. Contact information for each committee’s chairperson is located here.

Finally, a number of villages and sub-neighborhoods (as well as similar types of homes in West Park Village) are also governed by their own sub-homeowners or condominium associations. Arlington Park, Berkeley Square, the Classic Townhomes (in West Park Village), The Enclave, Saville Rowe, Stonebridge, the Townhomes of West Park Village, the Villas of West Park Village, The Vineyards, Woodbridge and Worthington are examples of these sub-homeowners or condominium associations, which have additional annual assessments levied on their homeowners and deed restrictions within their boundaries.

Further, Worthington and Arlington Park are technically condominium associations, which are covered by a separate set of state regulations than are homeowners associations.

Meeting information for all the government entities mentioned above is published monthly in the community Meeting Calendar.