ACC and its rules
There are at least two very important rules in governance. "Never make a policy that you know you cannot keep or you do not have the will to enforce." And another rule is, "The policies should be applied to all citizens equally."
Bella Vista has four layers of bureaucracy: city ordinances, Property Owners Association covenants, Architectural Control Committee regulations and Cooper Communities Inc. 1965 Articles of Incorporation, which can trump almost all other rules. Lump the four entities together and the rules are almost too many to keep up with.
Some of the rules state that you can't leave a boat, golf cart, cars or RVs parked in your yard for an extended period of time. You have to get approval for the color to paint your house. You cannot have a white fence, etc. Most residents adhere to these rules, but some do not.
Allow me to give an example as to how some people are allowed to ignore the POA, the ACC and CCI rules. Let's look at the case of a home on Duvall Lane.
The lot is platted as a single-dwelling lot. Paragraph 15 of the POA's Protective Covenants is clear that only one home can be built and only one family can live on a single-dwelling lot. The covenant is perfectly clear that the owner cannot live in one house and rent out the other. However, in the case of this house, it has been going on for at least seven years.
The ACC has jurisdiction regarding this issue. With this new revelation coming from the ACC board, perhaps it is time for the entrepreneurship within us to rent out our basement for a little extra income. Or perhaps rent out the mother-in-law space above the garage, or how about building a rental house in our backyard? The precedent for such a plan has already been set and approved by the ACC.
The Bella Vista Patriots questioned the ACC as to why this case has been allowed to continue, and the ACC board agreed that they do not have a uniformed police force, they are not allowed to carry guns and they don't have the judicial authority to act in this case.
The Patriots' question is, "If the ACC has no authority to enforce their rules, why do we need an ACC?"
Because the POA, the ACC and CCI have a tendency to pick and choose who has to follow the rules and who do not, it is the Patriots' opinion that these practices are unfair to the citizens of Bella Vista and the three entities should dissolve and allow us to be a normal American city.
Bella Vista does not need four forms of government and two sets of taxation. It is time to think about becoming a city with one set of ordinances and one tax to pay.
Jim Parsons
Bella Vista
Editorial on 07/23/2014