Board Buzz
BOARD BUZZ - March 2025 by Jack Espinal, President
Posted on Mar 1st, 2025
Landscaping Issues
The NTRA has made major changes to the way that landscaping services will be provided to our community this year in an attempt to improve service, address homeowner concerns, and reduce the number of landscaping complaints/tickets. To do this we will have three smaller landscaping companies, each providing landscaping services to two neighborhoods. These smaller companies have excellent reputations with their current customers and one of them was highly recommended by an NTRA homeowner.
The Board has also provided homeowners more flexibility in deciding the level of landscaping services that they desire for their property. Our governing documents require the NTRA to provide mowing, edging, and the pruning of shrubs and trees throughout our community. This basic level of service to lots will be available to all homeowners. It is funded by our Neighborhood Assessments. (Common area landscaping in all neighborhoods is funded through our General Assessment.)
Due to errors in our documents, 69 lots located in Charlotte Park were brought into the NTRA with no mention of landscaping services in their supplemental declarations. If desired, those homeowners may select the contracted basic landscaping package and have the same assessment as homes with the mandated landscaping. If any of these 69 Charlotte Park homeowners elect to opt out of the basic landscaping services, their 2025 assessments will be reduced accordingly. Neighborhood assessments for all other homes in New Town must include fees for landscaping services regardless of their landscaping opt out status because their supplemental declarations require us to charge each neighborhood owner. Use of the Association’s services is not a factor. (When opting out, homeowners either accept all three basic landscape services or opt out of all of them for the entire season. We do not offer “cafeteria style” landscaping services.)
An optional package of landscaping services not mentioned in our governing documents, including mulching, fertilizing, turf aeration, and weeding has been made available to all neighborhoods through our three landscape companies. The costs for these optional services will not be included in any NTRA assessments. As of this season, homeowners must contract for these additional landscaping services and pay their service provider directly. Owners of fenced yards must also pay a fee for services within their fenced area.
While the Board has taken steps to improve landscaping services and provide more flexibility to homeowners, it is still struggling with other landscaping issues and is looking for creative ways to resolve them.
Although the Board has committed to include fall leaf removal this season, our governing documents provide the Association with no specific authority for fall leaf removal from individual yards. The Board feels that the NTRA must have a coordinated effort to remove leaves - from both our common areas and individual homeowner’s properties. Mother nature makes it impossible to efficiently separate those tasks. No one likes dead leaves and few people enjoy raking them and dealing with their disposal.
Fairness of the required landscaping charges based on our governing documents is also a troublesome issue. The Board is struggling with the reality that some owners who opt out of the basic landscaping services will have their assessments reduced while others who might do their own landscaping will not. It doesn’t seem fair, but this approach is required by our existing governing documents. This situation has also made it more difficult to contract with landscaping service providers. It is probably one of the many reasons why our landscaping costs have increased. The solutions for these issues are not easy and require changes to our governing documents. Remember that any amendment would require the approval of two-thirds of our homeowners.
Should the Association pursue another specific landscape amendment to our governing documents to allow the NTRA to remove leaves in the fall and assess homeowners accordingly for those services? Should the Amendment be broader and correct the situation of the 69 lots in Charlotte Park? Should the Board simplify the landscape service situation entirely in New Town?
The Board has discussed several possible landscaping alternatives including the following:
- Perhaps the NTRA should provide landscaping services only for our common areas and let homeowners maintain their own landscaping as is done in many other Williamsburg communities.
- Perhaps landscaping requirements should be different in each of our neighborhoods.
- Perhaps the NTRA should provide landscaping services to everyone with no ability to opt out.
The NTRA Board really needs constructive guidance from our homeowners on how to best address the NTRA’s landscaping challenges. The Board is also open to new ideas on landscaping. We need data on homeowner’s desires and plan to collect it in a future landscaping survey.
First, the Board wants owners to see how our new landscaping companies perform compared to previous years before we conduct that survey. Perhaps homeowners will be swayed by the expected increase in landscaping services quality.
Look for the Board’s landscaping survey in late May or early June. In any event, changes to our governing documents will be needed if fall leaf removal is to be provided.
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