Final report from the outgoing HoA President

I want to thank the North Bay Hills HoA members for electing me as President. it has been both an honor and a challenge serving in this role. During my term, I had the privilege of meeting several members of the community, many of whom contributed financially or volunteered their time and effort to improve the neighborhood.

I take pride that the Executive Committee accomplished several important things during our term. We were able to rebuild the financial history of the HoA as well as to reduce the overall annual costs incurred by the HoA. We worked with the City of Safety Harbor to add bike racks at the Allen Avenue and Philippe Parkway entrances. We also encouraged greater volunteer participation in the HoA.

We did not accomplish everything that we wanted. We have not yet secured enough funding to replace the sign at the SR 580 entrance. We cleared the land on the HoA lot south of Evergreen Manor on North Bay Hills but had to stop work due to the Water Main replacement project. We could not secure enough commitment to revise the HoA bylaws nor revitalize the deed restrictions.

Several members of the HoA Executive Committee will be stepping down, which will require new volunteers to step up and fill those roles. We will provide support to ease their transition into their roles.

As outgoing President, I encourage the new HoA Executive Board to focus on the following priorities:

Update and revitalize the deed restrictions. Florida law sunsets all deed restrictions after 30 years, which means the North Bay Hills HoA deed restrictions expired in 2007. Without those deed restrictions, there are no restrictions for homeowners or developers in the neighborhood other than Safety Harbor, Pinellas County, and the State of Florida laws and ordinances. Without updated deed restrictions, the neighborhood could go two ways. It could decline due to a lack of consistent standards or be overrun by new development that pervades urban areas in the state. Several neighborhoods in Safety Harbor are already being bought up and redeveloped, drastically changing our city’s feel from a quaint harbor town to an overdeveloped tourist trap.

Organize more community gatherings and projects. Several homeowners asked about restarting the neighborhood yard sale, but we could not get enough commitment for it. We also heard several suggestions to organize community events so that homeowners would have more opportunities to meet and mingle with their neighbors.

Transferring the three HoA-controlled lots to the adjacent homeowners or the City of Safety Harbor. When the neighborhood was developed in the 1970s and 1980s, three lots were left over, and control reverted to the HoA. One is the lot south of Evergreen Manor on North Bay Hills Blvd. One is Swan Lake, behind the houses on Swan Lane. The third is between North Bay Hills and Bay Woods. We contacted the nearby homeowners and Safety Harbor officials about transferring the land, but we could not complete any transfers. The HoA should not have any control over any of the lots, as they present an unnecessary liability to the HoA.

I wish the incoming Executive Committee members all the success in the world. I plan on volunteering for neighborhood and community activities, but I will be stepping back from my board responsibilities. We have a great neighborhood with great homeowners. Let’s keep improving it for us and future generations.