Why Are Our Amenities What They Are?
There is a lot of confusion and frustration over the current level of amenities available in our community. Plans are in the works to make improvements, but it is important that we all realize what the situation really is.
When a developer creates a planned community in a market like ours, they typically attempt to maximize marketability by creating beautiful entryways, extensive landscaping and open areas, extravagant pool and amenity facilities, and sometimes even a golf course. Such is the case with the original plans for Behrens Ranch. The original master plan included an 18 hole golf course complete with club house/amenity center and extensive water features, as well as a supplemental pool and playground area which is the amenity area we know today. However, as is also often the case, the amenities which we are ‘missing’ were to be funded by a golf course development investor. Well the financial climate following 9/11 evidently caused the golf course development investor to back out of the deal, and to make a long story short, a replacement investor was not secured. This led to a lawsuit by roughly 20 of the first homeowners in Behrens Ranch against the neighborhood developer. This case was settled and part of the settlement agreement included $250,000 which the litigants could spend as they saw fit. The litigants agreed to allow a Master Plan Committee consisting of litigant and non-litigant members of our community to facilitate the planning and expenditure of the settlement money.
The first step taken by the Master Plan Committee was to hire a professional architect to develop a land plan drawing showing what could be done on the remaining open space surrounding the amenity center. He was asked to come up with a layout which maximized usage of the roughly 4 buildable acres while maintaining the existing facilities and with no specific budgetary constraints. The resulting map was first presented at the HOA meeting on 8/28/06 and is available here. There is no plan to realize the full extent of amenity features included in the near future, but these plans will serve as the basis for near term development which minimizes long term limitations.
The remainder of the settlement dollars was used to build the new kiddie water feature and the parking lot extension (which was required to meet city code).
Additional amenity enhancements are being planned and managed by the Amenity Committee with funding from the HOA Master Plan Reserve. The Master Plan Reserve is a reserve account established by the Budget Committee to set aside a portion of our HOA dues in the annual budget for the sole purpose of enhancing amenities.
So the net is that the amenities you see in many surrounding communities were paid for by the neighborhood developer or property investors, and the developer of Behrens Ranch has no known plans to enhance our amenities beyond what we have today. The kiddie pool and parking lot expansion were paid for with the $250,000 from the lawsuit settlement and any additional enhancements will be funded by HOA dues.
Understanding the reality of our situation doesn’t make us feel any less frustrated, but it is important that we all understand. Behrens Ranch is a community of intelligent and hard working people, and we have very high standards. Please be patient and we will work together to make amenity improvements over time.