Homeowners tussle with managers at New Harbour - Maintenance fee delinquency triggers row over gate access
Published:Saturday | January 11, 2020 | 12:00 AMRuddy Mathison/Gleaner Writer
A war of words between homeowners and a citizen association is threatening to erupt into a legal fight over gate access privileges at New Harbour Village II, a sprawling housing development in St Catherine.
New security measures triggered by a rash of break-ins have put the association on a collision course with homeowners who have failed to clear outstanding maintenance fees in a culture of delinquency that the management group says is affecting its cash flow.
Thieves have targeted the housing scheme, located in Old Harbour, for the past two months, making off with electronic and other items. The thieves allegedly gain access to the property by either climbing over, or punching holes in, the perimeter fencing. This has prompted some homeowners to call for the height of the fence to be raised.
Citizens’ Association President Deloris Mollison told The Gleaner that the group has put in place new security measures in a bid to arrest the robbery plague in the gated community.
“A number of them (residents) are on board and are pleased with our efforts to establish a model community. With the new security measures, no one can enter the property without proper identification. Property owners who have paid their maintenance fees are given gate passes and are able to let themselves in and out without engaging the security personnel,” Mollison told The Gleaner.
“Those who are not in compliance have to identify themselves to the security personnel at the gate before they can gain access to the compound,” Mollison continued, adding that homeowners or their guests have never been prevented from entering the compound where they have been properly identified.
She outlined other measures such as the registration of taxi operators who transport residents, and lawn-service and other labourers who carry out work in the development; the identification of visitors at the gate by the person they are visiting before entry is permitted; and the registration of renters with the association.
HIGH DELINQUENCY RATE
Mollison said that appeals from residents to raise the height of the perimeter fence, in order to deter thieves, have remain unfulfilled because of high non-compliance of a monthly maintenance fee of $1,000.
“We have a very high delinquency rate ... . Even though I have put in place flexible payment plans and offered discounts in some instances, hundreds of thousands of dollars are owed right now,” she said.
“We have residents, some of whom have not paid for many, many years, and this has been hampering further improvement efforts.”
The Gleaner understands that New Harbour was never organised, contractually, as a strata development, which would give the citizens’ association legal cover to take homeowners to court with recourse to seizing the property. Action in the civil court might be the only option.
Homeowners on Block B have protested the changes made by the citizens’ association, accusing the president of replacing the previous electronic system and security personnel without notification, actions they claim have trampled their right to unrestricted access to their property. They have also criticised the management group for causing them inconvenience.
Mark Harvey, a homeowner who has been living in New Harbour Village II since the establishment of the development, has ceased paying maintenance fees for the past two years and is now taking legal action against the association for infringing on his right to access his property.
“Since the changes, I have constantly been harassed at the gate, with the security personnel each time requesting my car documents before I can gain access,” Harvey told The Gleaner.
“To make matters worse, my son had an illness 3 a.m. recently and they would not permit a family member of mine to come to my house to offer my son and myself a ride to the hospital since my car wasn’t working. Even my wife had to walk to the house from the gate because the taxi that was taking her home was not allowed to enter because there was no information about the taxi in the logbook,” he said, fuming.
Harvey said there should be an electronic gate system that permits self-entry to homeowners and a proper validation framework governing access protocol for visitors and workers.
He vowed to resume the payment of maintenance fees only when these recommendations are implemented.
FIVE YEARS OWING
Coral Gordon, a resident who owes five years of maintenance fees totalling $60,000, said he is also having issues with gaining access to his property because of restrictions imposed by the managers of the development.
“They are making it difficult for us and our visitors to go back and forth. Something must be done about it,” he said.
Karen McRae and Derrick Russell, property owners who have both admitted to being delinquent in the payment of maintenance fees, have complained of the same problems.
Russell revealed that he recently lost a brand-new door to thieves who took off with it from his mother-in-law’s porch less than four hours after it was placed there.
“The problem with taxis not being able to take our family members inside unless they are registered at the gate should be addressed,” he said, pointing out that taxis travelling from beyond Old Harbour could not have secured prior registration.