Hello Neighbors,
The Washingtonian Woods HOA Board of Directors recently convened an Architectural Review Committee, with the stated purpose of drafting Architectural Guidelines for the single-family homes in the neighborhood, modifying the Architectural Change Application and clarifying and updating the process by which homeowners can go about maintaining, improving and updating the exterior appearance of their homes.
Clear, consistent and respectful Guidelines will greatly assist in maintaining a beautiful and cohesive look for Washingtonian Woods; increasing curb appeal for the neighborhood as a whole, and thereby preserving home values.
With these Guidelines, it is the Board’s intent to clarify expectations as to what is considered an acceptable architectural change and to reacquaint homeowners with the specific architectural qualities that make each of the three different home styles in the neighborhood unique (Centex, Christopher and Alfandre.) Additionally, these Guidelines will also make it easier for the Board to render clear and consistent decisions, while at the same time increasing your understanding and appreciation of the architectural change process.
These Guidelines complement the architectural expectations of the Association as set forth in the following sections of the Association’s Declaration of Covenants:
“Article VI: Architectural Control”
“Article VII: Use Restrictions”
The Architectural Review Committee was convened in the Spring of 2014 after a call to residents went out via our official Board email distribution list. Numerous neighbors responded and chose to participate in this endeavor, volunteering hours of their time over a period of 7 months, meeting every two weeks and in some cases, more frequently. This dedicated group of your peers diligently discussed and reviewed countless perspectives on all things architectural, all with the goal of putting forth clear, comprehensive and respectful Guidelines for the Board and residents to review.
The Committee took great care in drafting a document that is easy to read and understand. To that end, pictures were used throughout, as doing so will help make the review process much easier for both the homeowner and Board to conduct.
It is also worth noting that proposed changes that fall outside of these Guidelines will still be considered. As always, homeowners are welcome to bring forth new ideas and technologies in their applications. The Board will review and consider all proposed architectural changes — as long as the thematic look and feel is consistent with the style originally envisioned for Washingtonian Woods.
Once these Guidelines are formally adopted, homeowners can more easily upgrade and improve their homes, the Board can more easily render decisions, and a more harmonious look of the neighborhood can be maintained, and even re-established.
While these documents have the representative support of the community — through the 7 elected Board members, as well as the numerous resident volunteers who chose to serve on the Architectural Review Committee — we welcome and encourage comment from the entire community.
As such, the 2015 Washingtonian Woods draft Architectural Guidelines and Architectural Change Application are hereby respectfully submitted to the Washingtonian Woods homeowners for review and comment. The review period will extend for a minimum of 30 days from the date of this mailing, ending on or about April 15th, 2015. The draft Guidelines and Application will also be posted on the Washingtonian Woods website (www. washwoods.org).
Comments may be submitted via email or postal mail to:
Property Management People, Inc.
955A Russell Ave
Gaithersburg, MD 20879
℅ Timothy Mulford
[email protected]
All comments will be reviewed and considered in finalizing the Guidelines and Application. Lack of comments does not imply acceptance but the Board will certainly take that into consideration when we vote on the documents at the April 28th meeting. To that end, we would invite homeowners to attend our March 24th meeting if they have comments they’d rather air in person.
It is the intent to make comments publicly available.
Thank you,
The Washingtonian Woods HOA Board of Directors
The Washingtonian Woods Architectural Review Committee
DOWNLOADS:
Draft Architectural Guidelines (.pdf)
Draft Architectural Change Application (.pdf)