In our blog post of March 21 about the Chicahauk Property Owners Assn.’s enforcement of a covenant violation, we misstated the law vis-à-vis town ordinance. Local laws generally supersede homeowners association rules, but HOA rules may be more restrictive.
We regret any confusion this misstatement may have created.
We also should have elaborated upon the House Bill in the N.C. General Assembly that seeks to require municipalities to allow one accessory dwelling unit per single-family residence.
H.B. 409, which was overwhelmingly passed last year in the N.C. House of Representatives, but has stalled in a Senate committee, has exceptions for homeowners associations’ restrictive covenants and historic properties. It seemingly would not affect Chicahauk.
We have edited the March 21 blog to reflect these updates. Our haste to publish during a busy time last week created errors for which we apologize.
We trust the CPOA Board of Directors will make an effort to resolve covenant violations involving accessory dwelling units without holding adversarial hearings and imposing fines. Accessory dwellings have been allowed to be built and to be rented in Chicahauk, and homeowners have come to rely upon the income that their rental provides. We hope that fairness prevails for all parties, in light of the circumstances, and that all divisiveness can be resolved.
Thank you.
THE BEACON, 3/25/24
The Southern Shores Beacon 