Frequently Asked Questions & Answers

Why have a Community Association (CA)?

Creating a Community Association for our neighborhood can assist in enforcing the City of Arlington codes that are intended to benefit everyone while making our neighborhoods a better place to live, work, and play. Also, your home may be the biggest investment you make. Think for a moment why you bought your home. Few of us bought our home without first seeing it and possibly touring the neighborhood. You bought into the neighborhood at the same time you bought your house. You bought a lifestyle and surroundings which were much larger than your own property, encompassing everything from the neighborhood to all the other homes in the neighborhood. By supporting the HOA, you and your neighbors help maintain the amenities that caused you to originally seek a home in this area.

Multiply the average Lake Port Village home price of $144,000.00 times the 288 homes in our neighborhood. That yields a total property value over 43 million dollars. This is the value of the assets that our association wants to protect. Sponsoring the Lake Port Village Community Association gives you the power to protect your family’s investment and protect the innocence of our neighborhood.

What is the motivation for the CA?

The Lake Port Village Community Association is the vision of the neighbors in this community to unite. These are just everyday people looking for a way to preserve the innocence of our young neighborhood and secure a promising future for us all. Our mission is to create a safe neighborly environment for our families, ensure code compliance and the upkeep of common areas, enhance property values and generate a voice to be used as leverage to ensure we receive city authorized amenities.

Who are the “we” that started these ideas?

The Initiation Team is a group of neighbors that volunteered to start the process of uniting the neighborhood into a Community Association and continue to work until all committees and/or Board of Directors is elected and functioning.

Who will be making all the decisions?

Decisions for our neighborhood and activities will be made by the Committees. All participating homeowners are eligible to volunteer (see Committee Guide).

What if someone does not want a CA?

The legality of how to proceed with the establishment of the LPVCA (for the neighbors who are supporting) will be determined by legal professionals, local government resources and property codes. Every homeowner has the right to support or reject the formation of an LPVCA; however, this does not mean there will not be a LPVCA.

What is the Declaration of Covenants and do I have to abide by them?

The Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions for Lake Port Village (located on this site) are restrictions you should have received from the title company when you closed on your home. All homes are obligated to abide by them. Quote: “…all of the Property shall be held, sold and conveyed subject to the following easements, restrictions, covenants and conditions, all of which are for the purpose of enhancing and protecting the value, desirability and attractiveness of the Property. These…conditions shall run with the Property and be binding on all parties having or acquiring any right, title or interest in the Property or any part thereof, their heirs, successors and assigns, and shall inure to the benefit of Declarant, IFS, and each owner thereof.”

How will I be restricted?

City of Arlington codes and the Declaration of Covenants that currently apply to all Lake Port Village homeowners are the goals for enforcement. The Landscape and Safety committee will give us the representation we need to ensure the esthetics of our investments.

How much does it cost?

The cost of an CA to restore and maintain common areas, reduce vandalism, deter crime, maintain property values, and prevent deterioration of our neighborhood is anticipated to be $120 per home per year.

Why do we need to collect any money?

Unfortunately, nothing is free. Even a crime watch will cost money to inform and educate homeowners, help provide communication for volunteers and it will require resources from the neighborhood to volunteer their time. The input gathered from homeowners by personal visits and email, research from existing CA's and city research was used to create a mock budget that should help us execute plans to beautify our neighborhood, help strengthen the efforts of the crime watch, provide communications to everyone and provide social activities to build relationships.

What can I do to help?

Meet your neighbors and spread the enthusiasm. You can join now and submit your $120 assessment fees that will be utilized to help organize our neighborhood into action. Neighborhood Watch and Committee volunteers are still needed throughout the neighborhood. You can volunteer by emailing the committee you are interested in helping.

Why don’t we call it a Neighborhood Beautification Group or a Neighborhood Association?

The naming options for our neighborhood unity are abundant and it would be hard to satisfy everyone’s preference. However, the common labeling of a Community Association is easily recognizable by city officials, the general public and merchants. This becomes useful for us when working on city/state issues that benefit our families, recruiting assistance for community projects and/or gathering any other types of support we may need going forward. The identification of a CA is non-profit and can be more easily supported by merchants too. Since it will not change any of the goals or projects proposed for our neighborhood, it serves no benefit to change the naming/labeling of our neighborhood at this time.

What happens if there is a tie vote in a committee decision?

All committees and the future Board will be comprised of an uneven number of members to avoid a tie.

Will we vote on the Committee members?

In the future, we will vote on committee members if there are more volunteers than positions available.