BV committee pushes personal preferences

I’m responding to Mary Okonski’s Sept. 28 letter with information for other residents in Bella Vista. Ms. Okonski has the distinction of being the only person I know of who has sided with Bella Vista’s Architectural Control Committee.

The ACC has banned all white fences as of Jan. 1, 2022. Approximately 12 years ago, the ACC banned new white fences and existing white fences were grandfathered. The ACC has admitted that they lost the records of which fences were in existence at that time. Therefore, they banned all white fences, including the properly permitted preexisting ones, which are the vast majority that currently exist. Some of us have decided to fight this tyrannical behavior of the ACC that violates its own Policy and Procedure Manual, the legal doctrine of laches and waiver, and the rules of common decency.

Paragraph 1.02-A of the ACC Policy and Procedure Manual states: “The purpose of the ACC is to assure compliance with the covenants and policy and procedures of the ACC, as herein stated …”

Paragraphs 1.06-A through 1.06F apply only and directly to the ACC itself. They state as follows:

1.06-A “The ACC shall not adopt or enforce standards in an unreasonable, arbitrary, or capricious manner.” — It is unreasonable to expect a white fence owner to spend possibly thousands of dollars to change a legally permitted fence. It is the very definition of arbitrary to ban white fences while allowing white garage doors, gutters, trim, deck railings, etc.

1.06-B “The ACC shall not fail to act in a common-sense approach.” If a white fence ban was common sense it should be easy to see the need for it. As yet the only reason given by the ACC is that they simply do not like white fences. Note that Realtors and appraisers agree that a fence adds value to a property regardless of color.

1.06-D “The ACC shall not allow personal aesthetic considerations to guide its decisions …” The ban is clearly a personal aesthetic consideration. The ACC has been provided a petition against the ban with well over 400 signatures. Local papers and social media articles indicate that the community is almost totally against the ban.

1.06- F “The ACC shall not substitute its personal preferences and taste for those of an individual property owner.” Clearly they are doing exactly that in spite of the fact that the above rules are designed to protect property owners from an out-of-control ACC. If they are not stopped, what will be the next thing they ban? They must be stopped and a group of Bella Vista residents are trying to do just that.

One of our residents who is a single mother and can’t afford to fight this by herself will be in court on Nov. 3. We have started a campaign to help her and ask our friends and neighbors to please help by going to https://www.givesendgo. com and searching for “Bella Vista White Fence Defense.”

MIKE TESCH Bella Vista