Mark Friday, August 15th on your calendar and plan to visit Ye Old Car Club Show at The Manor at Canyon Lakes. You can admire cars from the past while you enjoy refreshments at the Community Club and out on the patio. The event starts at 12:30 PM. The Manor at Canyon Lakes is located at 2802 West 35th Avenue. Hope to see you there!
Sharon Warren Sasser
Your Canyon Lakes Realtor.
Have you been noticing ’For Sale’ signs as you drive through Canyon Lakes? Ever wondered how many homes are for sale or how long it takes a house in Canyon Lakes to sell? Here are the answers to those questions and more…
Number of Canyon Lakes homes currently on the market: 57
Number of Canyon Lakes homes currently in escrow: 5
Number of Canyon Lakes homes sold in 2008: 36
Average number of days on the market in Canyon Lakes: 140 days
I’ll continue to monitor the real estate market in Canyon Lakes. Let me know if there is other information that you would find useful. Or, you can contact me directly, if you have specific questions.
Your Canyon Lakes Realtor,
Sharon Sasser Warren
The Masonite Roof made by “Woodruf”. This Roof was the latest thing in the 80-90is. Better than Composition, better than Shake, less expensive than Tile. Then come the problem of some shingles delaminating. There were Class Action Law Suites against the Masonite Corp. Lots of money was paid out. “Woodruf” had two dates to file claims - seven year program: last date to file a claim was January 6, 2006. The second claim period - the Ten Year program - ends January 15, 2009. If you have a roof called ”Woodruf” and it is failing, look into it. You may be entitled to some help replacing this roof in the future, but you have to act soon! We are providing you with a link to the website that will answer all your questions. It also has a claim form.
http://www.masoniteclaims.com/woodruf2/FAQ.htm
Your Agents at Distinctive Properties!!
Christa Sasser
The Kennewick Farmers Market’s hours have been changed to 9 AM to 1 PM every Thursday. The market is now open for the summer season and runs through September. The Farmers Market is held in the parking lot of Key Bank, at the corner of Auburn Street and Kennewick Avenue downtown.
In addition to being a great place to pick up fresh produce, market vendors also offer baked goods, a variety of delicious foods, plants, arts & crafts and much more!
For more information to to sign up as a vendor, call Ann Steiger at 582-8844 or 509-585-2301. Or visit the website at www. kennewickfarmersmarket.com.
Brought to you by Sharon Warren your Canyon Lakes Real Estate Agent
The following is an excerpt from the June 15th letter, from Jodi Landefeld, Manager of CLPOA, mailed to all members of the Canyon Lakes Homeowner’s Association as an update addressing the McKay Retaining Wall issue and notice of the Board’s intention to restore enforcement of all rules, covenants and bylaws at Canyon Lakes.
“In December we initially wrote to Mr. McKay, notifying him of his violations and asked that he cease and desist further construction. He obliged this request and subsequently, through his attorney, accepted service of our formal civil complaint to enjoin construction until issues regarding his wall and his compliance with our Architectural Review Committee process were properly addressed.
Since that time the Board and Mr. McKay have been in regular communications concerning options for addressing his non-complaince, mitigating the appearance of the wall in question, and addressing safety concerns that a rise out of the manner and method by which the McKay lot has been filled and leveled. These tentative solutions include a landscaping component to block any visual concerns, a reduction in the height of the wall by two feet, a requirement that safety issues be addressed by an engineeering report for the benefit of and satisfactory to the Association; and most importantly, a recognition and agreement by Mr. McKay that all further construction, including landscaping, would be conducted through the appropriate architectural review process in place under our covenants.
While some may suggest we should not tolerate this construction at any level, your Board, in good faith, has determined it preferable to address the issue of sightliness and safety rather than expend Association funds to determine whether or not the McKay wall must comply with the architectural control guidelines; a battle that will invariably call attention to numerous other walls in our community which do not comply with our guidelines.
While unfortunate, this dispute underscores the Board’s current goal of reversing past tolerances, oversights, and failures of enforcement. We cannot go back and fix all the past mistakes. But your Board is committed to reducing future non-complaince. To that end the Board has undertaken a review of our governing documents, and is in the process of making amendments so that obligations of the property owners are clear and easy to follow. This process continues. A comment version will be forwarded prior to a formal meeting but in the end we hope this effort will be approved. By eliminating the numerous documents that property owners must consult in order to determine their responsibilities, it is the Board’s view that violations are less likely to occur and enforcement more predictable when necessary.
Getting back on track is like a big ship, it turns slowly. However, this letter shall serve as notice to all property owners that the Board is committed to restoring consistent, uniform and appropriate enforcement of all rules, covenants and bylaws in order to maintain the high quality community that we all enjoy here at Canyon Lakes.”
By Sharon Warren Your Canyon Lakes Real Estate Agent
Alex and Jane Teimouri say the backyard of their 42nd Avenue home has been walled in by the concrete barrier erected by Bill McKay, a Kennewick banker who is building a 9,600-square-foot, $583,000 home on 46th Avenue.
McKay’s retaining wall would allow him to bring in fill dirt to level the backyard.
But he didn’t obtain a city building permit for the wall or tell the property owners association about his construction plans before the blocks were stacked up last October.
The Teimouris notified the city and the property owners association, for which Alex Teimouri previously was a director and member of its architectural design review committee.
McKay subsequently got a city permit and applied to the association for approval.
McKay learned from Jodi Landefeld, manager of the association’s office, that his wall did not appear to be “in harmony with the rest of the structures in Canyon Lakes.”
Landefeld said Monday: “The board never would’ve approved a 10-foot retaining wall.”
“Is it an eyesore? Yes. Who can deny that except McKay?” Landefeld said.
But McKay said he hasn’t “done anything with that lot that I wouldn’t be happy with as a neighbor.”
P. Craig Walker, a Richland attorney representing the association, said negotiations have been under way for five months.
Ken Miller, a Kennewick attorney representing Bill and Cynthia McKay, said the association has allowed similar retaining walls to be built in Canyon Lakes, even while Teimouri was on the architectural design review committee.
“This wall isn’t any different than others. The problem is the association has never uniformly enforced the rules,” Miller said.
But Teimouri, who resigned from the board months ago, said the association isn’t willing to enforce the “covenants, conditions and restrictions” created when Canyon Lakes was developed in the 1980s.
Walker told the Teimouris and a neighbor, Paul Dughi, by letter last week that the association board has prepared a lawsuit against McKay “to fully enforce covenants (and) retaining wall standards.” But it has not been filed.
A copy of the May 27 letter, which was provided to the Herald, admits past “intermittent compliance with the architectural review process and apparent disregard for the retaining wall guidelines.”
Consequently, the association may not have absolute authority to enforce, Walker noted. “In a neighborhood that size (more than 860 homes), it’s almost an insurmountable task to enforce the regulations,” he said.
But Teimouri says the association board has abdicated its responsibilities.
“The board has authority to take down that wall and send the McKays the bill. The board is choosing not to do enforcement,” he said.
The Teimouris circulated a petition last December calling for removal of the wall. It represented 19 neighbors.
Landefeld said the problem began when McKay started building without approval from the property owners association.
Miller said McKay bought the property from a developer who specifically had been exempted from the architectural review requirements. Miller said McKay thought that he, too, was exempt.
It was a mistake, Miller said, but not intentional.
And now the association finds itself caught between a 172-ton concrete wall and two neighbors.