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FAQs

Steeplechase F.A.Q. Revision 1.0 August 28th, 2006

  1. I just bought my house and plan to move in. What’s the best way to interface with the HOA? Our community has several ways to be involved with the HOA. The easiest way is to be on the members mailing list (members@steeplechase-hoa.org) and the HOA postal mail list. You can sign up for the members mailing list by signing up on the steeplechase website, www.steeplechase-hoa.org . These will ensure you are getting information from the HOA. To contact the board, you can send email to board@steeplechase-hoa.org or contact the management company, Antares, to contact the board.
  2. How do I get started on my landscaping? a. The covenants of our community require that the homeowner submit their landscaping designs to the HOA for review within 60 days of receiving the certificate of occupancy. During your move-in process, one of your first orders of business should be to design your landscape and submit it to the HOA for approval within this 60 day window. Failure to submit the designs within these 60 days will result in going down the fining process. You can obtain the forms and instruction on how to submit your landscape designs on the steeplechase website, www.steeplechase-hoa.org .
  3. How do I submit my landscape designs? a. You will need to send your landscape designs to Antares, our property management company, along with $75.00. Design reviews are done mostly by a 3rd party company and this is their charge for doing landscape reviews. Their reviews are then signed off by a Design Review Committee within our HOA.
  4. What’s the Design Review Committee? a. The Design Review Committee is a group of homeowners who have been appointed by the board to do the final landscape review and landscape changes submitted by steeplechase homeowners. While a 3rd party company does the in-depth design review, this group does the final signoff of the submitted designs. A submitted design is considered approved when this committee has officially signed off on the design.
  5. Ok, now I have submitted my landscape designs, what next? a. The design review process can take up to 60 days to return your designs. While it may not take this long, it is possible due to the number of designs submitted during high-season (the growing season). Please allow for 60 days for your design review approval before starting your landscaping project.
  6. Ok, I got my designs back, can I start my landscaping? a. Yes, you can start immediately when your landscape design has returned approved by the HOA. You have until the end of the next growing season to complete the landscape work. A growing season is defined as the spring and summer period. Specifically, May 1st to August 30th. If you move in before May 1st of this year, then you have until August 30th of this year to complete your landscaping. If you move in after May 1st of this year, then you have until August 30th of the following year to complete your HOA required landscaping.
  7. Do I have to complete everything in my landscape plan by this timeframe? a. You are required to put in the basic landscaping by this time period. The basic landscaping is defined in Section 7.12(a) of the covenants and in the Architectural Guidelines as described below: All irrigated areas must be fully completed. See information below from Steeplechase Policy File 3_10_04 for details on irrigated areas. Minimum Amount of Irrigated Area and its Location for each Home: Front - 2500 square feet between the front of the living unit and the street right of way – This designated area must be 100% grass. Sides - 20 feet on each side of the Living Unit - This side designated area must be at least 70% grass. The balance may be a Designed Reviewed, qualified and approved Drip System Xeriscape plan which includes plants other than grass. Back - The rear of the Living Unit requires an irrigated area of, at the minimum, 40 feet by 90 feet – This rear designated area must be at least 70% grass. The balance can be a Design Reviewed, qualified and approved Drip System Xeriscape plan which includes plants other than grass. All irrigated areas completed in grass must be sustained by a qualified sprinkler system. Please note that "Xeriscape" by definition does not mean rock and mulch alone. Living, sustained plants are required in quantities to create visual appeal. All plans are subject to Design Review approval. 25 trees must be installed; types and sizes in accordance with Architectural Guidelines (see section on Landscaping). The rest of your landscape design must be started within 6 months of receiving approval(Section 7.9(a) of our Covenants).
  8. What happens if I can’t start my extended landscaping within those 6 months? a. If you do not start the additional pieces of your landscaping within 6 months of receiving approval, you must re-submit your designs to the HOA for another approval. This is outlined in section 7.9(a) of the covenants.
  9. What happens if I don’t finish my HOA required landscaping by the end of the first growing season(August 31st)? a. If you do not complete the HOA required landscaping by the end of the first growing season, you will be fined $2500.00/year until the HOA required landscaping is complete. This is documented in the Architectural Guidelines in the Completion of Landscaping section.
  10. If I am doing my landscaping myself, can I leave my equipment out? I know the covenants say no trailers outside. a. The covenants specify clearly that trailers and equipment are not to be kept visible on the property for more than 48 hours. If you are doing landscaping with this equipment, you need to work directly with our property management company on your equipment needs.
  11. I have a boat and I need to store it at my home, but it doesn’t fit in my garage. How can I keep it at my home? a. The covenants allow for an outbuilding on the property to store boats/campers/equipment. You will need to submit designs to the HOA before building an outbuilding. The covenants also allows for a 6-foot privacy fence for storing out-door equipment. A privacy fence must adhere to the covenants specifications and must match the astetics of the main living unit. Either of these must be built before you can store equipment outside. The privacy fence or the outbuilding must screen the equipment from view.
  12. My neighbor decided to build an oil-derreck in his backyard and I see that this is a violation of the covenants. What do I do? a. Ideally, it would be easiest to contact your neighbor in a friendly manor to let them know the violation status of their oil-derreck. If your neighbor does not resolve the issue, then you can contact the property management company to inform them of the issue, or you can contact the HOA Board, or an Advisory Committee member near you.
  13. What’s an Advisory Committee? a. This is a committee of homeowners from around the neighborhood appointed by the board to advise the HOA board on how the neighborhood feels about certain issues. They review the policies in place and general issues around the neighborhood and provide recommendations to the board on how they should be addressed. More information on the Advisory committee can be obtained here. If you are interested in participating in the Advisory Committee, please contact your board representative.
  14. I’m interested in becoming a board member, what do I do? a. That’s good to hear! We are always interested in having members of the community become involved with our community. The best way to become a board member is to get involved first. Join the Advisory Committee or the Design Review Committee so that you can get to know the issues that are happening within our neighborhood and get to know the others who are involved. This will bring you “up to speed” on the activities that happen within our community. Then, when a board position becomes available, you can run for the position by nominating yourself at the annual community meeting.
  15. When’s the Annual Community Meeting? Should I go? What happens at this meeting? a. Generally, the annual community member meeting happens in October of each year. This is where the board can communicate information to the homeowners directly about finances, issues in the community, future plans that may affect homeowners, etc. We highly encourage all homeowners to attend the annual members meeting to meet the board and the committee members and to understand what is happening in our community.
  16. What documents should I have received at the closing of my home? There are several documents that you should obtain before you receive the certificate of occupancy: • Declaration of Covenants • Architectural Guidelines • Steeplechase Bylaws • Articles of Incorporation • Policy File dated 12/13/2004 • Policy File dated 05/01/2004 • Policy File dated 3/10/2004 • Policy File dated 10/29/2003