Opposition Builds To Proposed Timeshare or Fractional Ownership

A groundswell of opposition to a new home with multiple owners -- some are calling it a timeshare -- continued to build this week at a meeting of the Hot Springs Village Property Owners' Association board of directors.

The subject came up at the board's work session Feb. 1 when POA general manager Dave Johnston said he'd received a letter from builder Brent Gray's lawyer outlining the legal justification for multiple-family ownership of the home at 62 El Cano Drive.

Johnston said he passed the letter on to the POA's long-time lawyer, Don M. Schnipper, who said Gray's lawyer's arguments concerning a limited partnership had validity. Nevertheless, Johnston said the question remained on how POA privileges would be apportioned among the home's owners.

Ron Tetu, chairman of the new Property Owners United (POU) group, stepped forward to express "our strong opposition to timeshare or multiple ownership" of homes in areas designated for single-family residences.

"If you let this thing go through," Tetu told the board, it would seriously undermine the integrity and character of the community.

"I will fill this room with people who feel the same way," Tetu promised. "We do not want that type of construction in the Village."

Shoemaker turned to Johnston and said: "It's really important you catch up with Cooper" and resolve the issue.

Next came Fred Tadlock, who said he'd once presided over a timeshare association and based on his experience he, too, was declaring his opposition to Gray's plan for a four-bedroom, four-bath, 3,200-square-foot home with multiple living areas overlooking the third green of the Granada Golf Course.

When Tadlock was finished, someone asked Johnston if the POA's property declarations wouldn't prevent development of a timeshare facility in a residential neighborhood.

"The plat map is the controlling document," Johnston said, not the declarations.

The area is platted for single-family homes, and Gray's original application for a building permit said it would be a single-family home.

"We're still exploring this," Johnston said. "I will do my best to get with Cooper."

"If this is allowed to happen," Simon said, "any home in the Village could be converted to a timeshare or anything else."

He said one of the first signs of a deteriorating neighborhood is the conversion of single-family homes into apartments, rooming houses, condominiums and other uses of the buildings.

"I hope you don't let this slip through the cracks," Simon said.

Director Ginna Watson said she was "in total agreement" with Ebner and told Johnston she wanted to see copies of Gray's original application for a building permit, the plat map and all correspondence related to the issue at the next board meeting.

If she didn't, she said she would be one of those sitting with Tetu and the POU in the audience protesting the plan.

Tetu later said the broader issue of POA enforcement of building codes in general is one the POU should investigate.

At a recent ACC meeting, Gray said ownership of the home would become a timeshare under the auspices of a limited-liability company (LLC).

"There will be 10 members to the LLC," he told the panel, and he would be one of the members. "The LLC will be allowed two POA memberships."

Gray has a full-page ad in the Dec.-Jan. issue of Parade of Homes, the Hot Springs Village Board of Realtors publication, saying:

"For about the price of a decent golf-course lot, you can now own a percentage of a fully furnished home on Granada Golf Course which will entitle you to five weeks of usage per year per unit.

"HSV Dreamhomes and Approved Realty are now offering you the opportunity to become a member of a partnership that will allow you to have an ownership position in a new beautiful 3,200-square-foot home on one of the Village's premier golf courses ...

"This home boasts four bedrooms, four full baths, with upper and lower entertainment areas."

Members of the ACC, which is an arm of Cooper Communities, said their problem was obviously not with the building's construction, but that it was clearly a commercial venture in a residential neighborhood.

Gray disagreed.

"It's no different than having a rental unit," he said, "except that it's better (for the community) because with an LLC, the members have a financial interest at stake. We weren't trying to hide anything," Gray said, noting no shares had been sold yet.