SEMINOLE LAKES
HURRICANE SHUTTER
RULES AND REGULATIONS
OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS SHOULD DISCUSS A "RULE AND REGULATION" FOR THE USE OF AND TIME RESTRICTIONS OF HURRICANE SHUTTERS. THIS NEEDS TO BE DONE IN ORDER TO INSURE THE ATTRACTIVENESS OF OUR COMMUNITY.
PROPOSED RULE
RESIDENTS WHO HAVE HURRICANE SHUTTERS ARE ALLOWED TO INSTALL THEIR SHUTTERS ANY TIME AFTER JUNE 1 WHICH IS THE BEGINNING OF HURRICANE SEASON.
RESIDENTS WHO ARE CONSIDERED SNOWBIRDS AND WHO HAVE HURRICANE SHUTTERS MAY PUT THEM UP UPON LEAVING FOR THEIR SUMMER HOMES.
ALL HURRICANE SHUTTERS MUST BE REMOVED AT THE END OF THE DECLARED HURRICANE SEASON
IT IS REQUESTED THAT RESIDENTS WHO INSTALL PLYWOOD SHUTTERS PAINT THEM TO MATCH EITHER THEIR HOUSE TRIM OR HOUSE PAINT COLOR.
CONSIDERING WHAT OTHER COMMUNITIES ARE DOING IS IMPORTANT IN OUR CONSIDERATION SO I HAVE HIGHLIGHTED SEVERAL ITEMS.
1. Statewide, homeowners associations are restricting how long shutters can cover a home's windows.
2. Seasonal residents -- who make up 6 percent of the state's housing market -- are being forced to rely on private handyman services, homeowners associations or their neighbors to put up the shutters when a hurricane threatens
3. Bobcat Trail, residents can install their shutters seven days before the storm and must remove them seven days after. If residents don't comply with the policy, they will face fines of $100 for each violation and, after a grace period, $20 a day until the shutters are taken down. Nearly half of Bobcat Trail's residents are seasonal
4. Wishard (A property management firm) said half of the communities her company services are similar to Bobcat Trail's policy. Covered windows can change a neighborhood's look drastically, Wishard said. But critics of restrictions on shutters say that protecting property should supersede appearances.
5. It's understandable that everyone wants to have a nice-looking community," said Jan Bergemann, president of Cyber Citizens for Justice, a statewide homeowner’s association lobbying group. "People have to realize that by making all these decisions, they are really invading private property rights. And that is bad."
6. Despite the controversy, fire officials are praising homeowners associations for enacting stricter rules. Rescue workers are concerned that keeping shutters up all season prevents emergency crews from getting in and out of a house, said North Port Fire Chief William Taaffe. "It's there to protect your windows during a hurricane from flying objects. But it's there temporarily," Taaffe said. "We have to have a secondary means of escape, too."