Fuchsia may be your favorite color, but don`t even think about asking your builder to use it on the outside of your new home. And if the homes surrounding you are dove gray, don`t set your heart on that particular shade. Thinking about parking your RV in your driveway or putting a dog run in the yard? Forget it.
These and other blunders often will incur the wrath of your builder, who has included a list of legally binding restrictions in your deed; your homeowners association, which has the authority to enforce these restrictions; and your municipality, which may have its own ordinances governing such things.
”Today most builders impose their own architectural and aesthetic standards on the homes they build. It`s just good business to create a varied and attractive streetscape that protects property values now and guarantees good resale prices later,” said Al Goodman, senior vice president of United Development, developers of the Odyssey Club, a gated golf course community in Tinley Park.
This protection takes the form of restrictive covenants that are part of the deed and spell out in detail all the ”Thou shalts” and ”Thou shalt nots” buyers must adhere to in a particular community.
Most restrictive covenants prohibit placement of two homes of identical style or color on adjacent lots. They also typically prohibit sheds, window air conditioners, laundry lines, dog runs, TV antennas, satellite dishes, visible garbage receptacles, barricade-type or cyclone fences, and RVs or trucks parked in driveways.
But who enforces these covenants once the community is complete and the builder moves on? In communities where homeowners share some common grounds, there is a homeowners association left in place that has the legal authority to challenge homeowners who do not comply.
But in a community with no common area, the task of watchdog is left to the individual homeowner, who can try a little friendly persuasion on his neighbor. If that fails, he can use his legally binding covenant as a cudgel for his neighbor to comply.
But Charles Sharp, owner of Phoenix Development in Joliet who has developed communities both with and without a homeowners association, believes an association is destined to fail unless there is a common focal point such as a pool, tennis courts, or a pond, such as at his subdivision.
Phoenix Development is in the final phase of Autumn Lake Estates, a 300-unit, single-family community in Joliet that does not have a homeowners association.
But, in retrospect, Sharp hopes owners will band together to form such a group to maintain the five-acre spring-fed lake on the property. ”When I began building, I didn`t think an association was necessary. But now it`s evident that a more formal management of the lake is needed,” he said.
”Most homeowners have limited time and they can`t get really excited about spending it on things like entry signs or detention ponds,” he said.
”But they will take a greater interest in maintaining common areas that border their property.”
Typical of a community with no common area is Kingsport Villas, a community of 236 duplexes being developed by Meister-Neiberg Builders in South Elgin. Units are priced from $99,850 to $113,900.
Although three elevations are available, the developers have planned the community so that no single elevation will be repeated in adjoining buildings. ”The only restriction we`ve included in the deed is that the original exterior colors can never be changed,” said president Joel Neiberg.
Bob Hill, sales and marketing manager for Barrington-based Countryside Homes, describes as ”fairly typical” the restrictive covenant his firm has created for the 99-unit Spring Point condominium and townhome community in Carpentersville.
For instance, two provisions are that owners cannot display ”For Sale”
signs or operate a commercial business from their homes. ”We tell people the rules are intended not to restrict their lifestyle but to protect their investment,” said Hill, who has never lost a sale because of these restrictions.
Units at Spring Point are priced from $109,900 to $127,900, and the covenants will be enforced by a condo association when the development is complete.
”When we`re gone, the homeowners association will enforce the standards we`ve set at the Odyssey Club,” said Goodman. ”All owners will pay a monthly association fee, and a portion of these funds will be available for enforcement. If our name is to be associated with the community, we want it to look as good 10 years from now as it does today.”
The 231 townhomes at the Odyssey Club are priced between $156,900 and $226,900, while single-family homes range from $299,900 to $450,000. But whatever the price, the restrictions are still the same.
”Two homes of the same style or color can`t be built side by side, across the street or catty-corner from each other,” said Goodman. ”The exceptions are when two different front elevations are used, making it appear that they are two different homes.”
For example, buyers on adjoining lots might choose the same model, but if one chooses a cedar facade with porch and gables while his neighbor eliminates the porch, replaces the cedar with brick, adds a hip roof and repositions the garage, they are considered two different homes even though the floor plans are identical.
However, some builders who have equally restrictive covenants don`t think it`s possible, or even legal, to tell a buyer he can`t have the same house or the same color house as his neighbor if that`s what he wants.
”We try to persuade him to switch to another color or model, but this is America, and if that is what he has his heart set on, that`s what we give him,” said Judy Gardner, vice president of sales for John Leach Builders, which is developing Picardy, a community of 80 single-family homes in Plainfield Township priced between $150,000 and $400,000.
”Besides, you have to make major alterations in the facade to prevent two homes looking alike. If the differences are minor, it`s still obvious from the curb that they`re basically the same model,” Gardner said.
But the Joliet-based company does enforce a long list of other restrictions and will organize a homeowners association when the project is completed.
And communities also are getting into the act. Last May the Aurora City Council passed an anti-monotony ordinance that prohibits two homes of identical color or design from being built across the street, adjacent to or catty-corner from each other.
According to Rusty Erickson, director of community development, enforcement of this new law will be ”fairly liberal. If there`s enough diversity created by different front entries, colors, roofs and orientation of the house on the lot, we`ll have no trouble approving two homes with the same floor plan,” he said.
During the 1970s and early `80s, several builders put up new subdivisions in Aurora consisting of look-alike boxes.
”We wanted to make sure this wouldn`t happen again,” said Erickson, stressing that the majority of builders in Aurora are doing an excellent job of monitoring themselves.
One of those is Aurora Venture, developer of Oakhurst, a 687-acre planned unit development of 1,800 single-family homes and apartments. Its covenants restricting homes of similar color and design, which they impose on builders working in their community, are almost identical to Aurora`s ordinance.
And that`s fine with Debbie and Dave Fortunato, who recently moved into the Bradford, a two-story colonial built by Overstreet Builders in Oakhurst.
The young couple love the idea that there is no other house like theirs in the immediate vicinity. ”We`ve lived in four new homes in eight years, and this is really our favorite because of the diversity in the neighborhood,”
said Debbie.
”There`s a nice architectural mix of homes in Oakhurst that is very visually appealing. And that`s the first thing friends mention when they visit.”
Some older communities such as Downers Grove have had anti-monotony ordinances since the `70s, when officials felt the inner core of older homes was threatened by the rapid development of look-alike subdivisions.
”It`s really a very simple ordinance that prevents similar structures from being built within 250 feet of each other,” said Ken Rathje, senior director of community development for Downers Grove.
”If you want a particular model, the ordinance doesn`t prevent you from building it on your lot even if your neighbor has the same model. But it does say there has to be enough exterior changes so they don`t look like two peas in a pod.”
One person`s masterpiece can be another`s nightmare, and Downers Grove, like most suburbs, offers no recourse for residents living next to the homeowner from hell.
”We have developed a color palate for our business district, but if a homeowner decides to paint his house lime green, there`s nothing to prevent him,” said Rathje.
To prevent such a problem, prudent home buyers should make sure their builders have protected them by including a detailed restrictive covenant in the deeds of their homes.
”Ordinances that set aesthetic standards aren`t that common, and where they do exist they`re usually in suburbs where growth is so rapid an architectural style hasn`t had a chance to evolve,” said Maria Morris, a senior research associate for the American Planning Association, a Chicago-based association of city planners.
According to Morris, in this economy municipalities welcome almost any type of building that will put vacant or undeveloped land on the tax rolls.
”Don`t look to your local government to set standards,” she cautioned.
”Today they`re happy to take what they can get.”
Covenants can range from the simple to the complex, with production homes having the fewest restrictions and upscale custom communities spelling out the greatest number of ”do`s” and ”don`t`s.”
For example, there are numerous restrictions at Boulder Ridge, a 436-acre gated golf course community of 180 luxury homes in northwest suburban Lake in the Hills. ”We build homes of character and tradition that are compatible with the more conservative Midwest,” said Dave Plote, vice president of Elgin-based Par Development, developers of Boulder Ridge.
Adjoining homes at Boulder Ridge cannot be alike in either color or design and are required to have full basements, only in-ground pools and a minimum 2 1/2-car garage. Homes must also be either brick or cedar with each ranch home having a minimum of 2,400 square feet and two-story models a minimum of 2,800 square feet.
Par Development, like many developers who sell lots to other builders, has established a design review committee to protect their communities. ”We have an agreement with Lake in the Hills to deny a building permit to any builder who has not received written approval from our review board for his plans,” said Plote.
At the equally posh White Eagle Club, a luxury golf course community of 820 single-family homes and 250 townhomes in Aurora, the restrictions are just as detailed. But according to Paul Lehman, president of the Macom Corp., which is developing White Eagle, the thing that seems to cause the most trouble is the color of the siding and brick.
”The same brick or color can`t be used in adjacent homes, and this can cause no end of headaches,” he said. ”Colors are cyclical and right now shades of white are popular. Add to this the fact that 20 different builders are working here, each using bricks and paints from different sources, and you can see how difficult it can be.
”Most people like the idea of restrictions as long as the rules apply to someone else,” Lehman added. ”But when you tell them they can`t have what they want, it`s another story.”
Do these restrictions help or hinder new home sales? Hugh Smeed, director of marketing for Aurora Venture, believes they`re a plus.
”I`ve had people ask me for assurance no one else can build their exact model on the same block. They like the idea that their home is one of a kind,” he said.
