SUN CITY – The Sun Day’s April 21 report on garage sales was not accurate regarding the Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions (CC&Rs document) that governs use of common areas in Sun City.
Thanks go to the readers who noticed some inaccuracies in the facts and history of the community’s CC&Rs. The Sun Day makes every effort to verify facts and information, but occasionally, some things slip through the cracks.
We regret and apologize for the problems. The following is an update on this subject.
First, the community’s CC&Rs were put in place by the Del Webb organization before the first Sun City house was sold in April 1999. They remain unaltered today. They constitute an adhesion (permanent) contract between the association and homebuyers, and still exist today. Garage sales are not mentioned in the community’s rules and regulations.
Signing and retaining a copy of the CC&Rs has been a fundamental requirement of buying a home in Sun City since 1999. If a resident does not have a copy of this document, they are available on the association’s website, www.SCCAH.org.
In CC&R Section 10.15 entitled “Business Use,” the following is stated: “No business or trade, garage sale, moving sale, rummage sale, or similar activity shall be conducted in or from any dwelling unit, except that an owner or resident may conduct ancillary business activities within the dwelling unit so long as a the existence or operation of the business activity is not apparent or detectable by sight, sound, or smell from outside the dwelling unit; b) the business activity conforms to all zoning requirements for the properties; c) the business activity does not involve regular visitation of the dwelling unit by clients, customers, suppliers, or other business invitees or door-to-door solicitation of residents of the properties; and d) the business activity is consistent with the residential character of the properties and does not constitute a nuisance, or a hazardous or offensive use, or threaten the security or safety of other residents of the properties, as may be determined in the sole discretion of the board.”
In order to amend the CC&Rs, residents in at least two-thirds of the community’s 5,480-plus dwelling units, or nearly 3,700 of them, would have to approve a proposal in a community-wide vote.
According to Kevin Johnson, past general manager and president of the Pulte Homes-controlled Sun City board in 2004, “Section 10.15 deals with business use being conducted from any dwelling unit and includes garage sales. The intent of the CC&Rs is to prevent a dwelling unit from becoming a regular or frequently established place of business. The board of directors made a decision (in 2004) to allow a trial community-wide garage sale as a response to the large number of residents who requested it.”
About 200 residents participated in that event.
The current board is doing the same thing now. In response to a proposal from the Neighborhood Advisory Council (NAC), a community-wide, supervised, garage sale in Drendel Ballroom at Prairie Lodge is being considered. The board asked the NAC to survey residents to determine their level of interest in participating. If it is sufficient, a sale may be approved for sometime late this summer or fall.
The Sun Day will publish the results of this survey and information on any subsequent board action regarding a community-wide garage sale in a future issue.
