How to get Board approval for your project

All Northview units are subject to architectural control, which means that the Association has the right to refuse or approve all plans relating to landscaping, exterior modifications, or construction of any building or other improvement. The Board aims to act fairly and efficiently in protecting the interests of all co-owners and maintaining Northview as a beautiful and harmonious residential community. If you would like to make any such changes to your unit, please keep these guidelines in mind. Note that the guidelines below are not intended to be exhaustive, and that you should rely as a primary source on the language in the relevant Bylaws or other regulation/rule.

1. Before committing to any changes, review the Bylaws carefully, including particularly Article VI (Restrictions). Email the Board with any questions.

2. Develop written plans and specifications for your proposed changes. This should generally include a bird’s-eye, scale view of the plan area; sufficient detail about the materials to be used and their placement; photographs of the property as it currently exists; and information concerning any existing features (e.g. trees, grading, etc.) to be removed or modified. If you are hiring a contractor to do the work for you, please send the Board a copy of the contractor’s proposal\plan.

3. Talk to your adjacent (i.e. sharing a boundary, including corners) unit owners and other owners who may be directly affected. Show them the plans and ask them to print and sign their names, along with the date and their address, on the plans. (Failure to obtain all such signatures does not necessarily mean the request will be denied.)

4. Make a copy of that entire packet of info and email it to the Board, preferably in PDF format, or mail it to the Board, with a request to approve the project. The Board may ask questions and suggest modifying or adding conditions to the plan. It will then approve or deny the request. If it approves the request, the Board will stamp and sign each copy of the approved plan, keeping one copy for its records, and giving you the other copy.

5. Keep your copy of the approved plan with your other important homeowner records.

6. Note that approval from the Association does not eliminate the need for municipal or other governmental approval, where required, of your project. You are responsible for obtaining any necessary permits and/or calling MISS-DIG, as may be appropriate, before beginning work. If you have a project that requires a permit, a copy of the issued permit(s) must be provided to the Board as a condition of approving the project.

7. As the work on your property proceeds, immediately contact the Board if changes are made to the approved plan.

Common Landscaping/Exterior Project Issues

The Bylaws provide that “Section 12. Landscaping. No co-owner shall perform any landscaping or remove, trim or plant any trees, shrubs or flowers or place any ornamental materials within eight (8) feet of the exterior boundary line of the limited common element appurtenant to his unit or upon the general common elements without the prior written approval of the Association. Each co-owner shall have the responsibility to maintain the grounds of his unit and the limited common element appurtenant thereto, including the mowing of grass, removal of weeds, and proper trimming of bushes and trees. If the Association shall receive complaints from other co-owners regarding lack of maintenance of the grounds of a unit, then, and in that event, it shall have the right and duty to have such maintenance of the grounds of the unit performed as the Board of Directors shall determine as being reasonable, and the charges therefor shall become a lien upon the unit and collected in the fashion as set forth in Article II of these By-Laws.” See Article VI, Section 12.

If you want to plant anything or install any landscaping work within 8 feet of your property line, please be sure to request approval from the Board. If you aren’t sure whether your proposed project or improvement needs approval, send us an email and we will promptly reply. The problem is that if you go ahead with the project without approval, and then someone in the Association complains about it, we may not have any choice but to require you to restore the property back to its previous condition.

Similarly, the Bylaws also provide that, “No dwelling, structure or other improvement shall be constructed within a condominium unit or elsewhere within the condominium project, nor shall any exterior modification be made to any existing dwelling, structure or improvement, unless plans and specifications therefor containing such detail as the [Association] may reasonably request have first been approved by the [Association].” See Article VI, Section 3.

Fences. You should review all of the requirements in the Bylaws, but here are the core requirements:

1. The fence must not exceed five feet in height;
2. The total length of the fence must not exceed 40% of the unit’s perimeter (the perimeter of the entire property, not the perimeter of the house);
3. The fence must be set off each property line by at least two feet; and
4. The fence must be architecturally compatible with the house.