Our governing documents prohibit garage, estate, and tag sales. There are several reasons for this, and they are significant.

We recently sought the counsel of our attorneys in this matter, and their opposition to any such sales is longstanding, detailed, and unequivocal. Their experience with such sales is filled with cautionary tales about how easily problems arise.

Reasons NOT to have publicly announced sales:

• It is against the rules, plain and simple.
• Our unit owners expect quiet and privacy; part of the rationale behind the prohibition of public sales is to ensure that peace and quiet are not disrupted by a sale.
• There is no way to anticipate the number of attendees, from 6 to 60—or more; a large turnout will quickly fill our limited guest parking, and attendees vehicles may block streets or damage turf when they are parked on our grassy areas. Parking can quickly become a safety issue, since emergency vehicles could easily be blocked in the event of fire, or sickness requiring EMS access.
• Publicly advertised sales may attract undesirable attendees who may place our persons and property at risk to theft or injury the day of the sale, or in the future, should they return unannounced after casing the area.
• Injuries (real or feigned) sustained by attendees may lead to lawsuits. This would place a burden on our legal budget and insurance premiums. Even the addition of special-event personal insurance or bonding secured by the unit owner or agent will not guarantee that a suit will not be filed naming the association or its residents.
• Board members place themselves at risk of personal liability if they choose to circumvent or override the rule in this matter, leaving them open to personal law suits.

The Board has a duty to protect the community as a whole, and appreciates your individual understanding and cooperation in this matter.

It has come to the Board's attention that door-to-door sales reps have made dubious claims to SVCA residents, suggesting that their company has a working relationship with the Association, or that they have special approval from your Board of Directors, endorsing their products. These assertions are factually unsupportable.

The Board of Directors of the Silver Valley Condo Association does not endorse home improvement vendors.

We strongly suggest that before signing any contract or letter of intent with any home improvement company, all residents should:

• research the contractor and the product through an online search or a Better Business Bureau report. (Any contractor worth his salt will share references.)
• demand a detailed proposal from any contractor that describes the exact scope of work, including a detailed product description and warranty.
• resist the urge to accept the first price offered.
• when appropriate, complete and file the Request for Change form on our web site to the Board for approval.

Hey. Let's be careful out there.

• Residents must use the garage as their primary parking space, with the corresponding unit driveway used for allowed vehicles that do not fit inside the garage.
• If the number of vehicles exceeds the combined garage and driveway parking space at any given unit, off-site parking must be used.
• Overflow (guest) parking areas are meant for use by guests or service vehicles. Unit owners who need to use the guest area for an emergency or for occasions where unit repairs block access to normal parking space (see item1) are asked to contact the management company and inform them of the special circumstances and anticipated duration of guest parking use.
• The guest areas are NOT to be used by residents for their personal vehicles on a regular basis.
• Residents may not use any parking area to store vehicles, or to park disabled vehicles or those with expired license tags.
• Parking on any grassed or lawn area is prohibited
• Parking on the street is prohibited since it may block access by emergency, fire, and police vehicles.
• Violators are subject to fines up to $25 per day; the Board reserves the right to tow violating vehicles at owner expense.

Parking signs at the main entrances to the Association property list the name and contact information for the towing company, in accordance with Ohio Law.

None of this is new. Please reference the Rules and Regulations for specifics. A digital download of the Rules and Regs is available for download on the Get Help page of this web site.

The Common Area in Silver Valley is just that: Common. It belongs to ALL residents, equally.

Some residents have co-opted and revised Common Areas adjacent to their units, making changes without first consulting the Board.

This is unacceptable.

All changes must be submitted to the Board in writing, using the Request for Change Form available for download from this web site.

Any changes made to Common or Limited Common areas (other than the planting of flowers described in the Rules and Regulations), without prior Board approval, will be removed at owner expense.

We have repeatedly cautioned in newsletters and on the web site that cats and dogs must be leashed if they are outside the owner's unit. This is a condo rule, and a matter of law in both Munroe Falls and Summit County.

Several unit owners continue to ignore the warnings, and their animals have been indentified.

If your cat or dog is roaming the neighborhood unleashed, we will contact the county and ask that the animal warden remove them.

Per day fines of $25 may also be imposed until the time the warden can schedule a pickup.

There seems to be no end to the confusion generated by the terms Common Area and Limited Common Area.

Limited Common Areas are most often:

• the space bounded by the privacy walls at the rear of a unit.
• an enclosed, gated courtyard at the front of a unit (on select units only).
• the areas immediately adjacent to the stairs on units with entry stoops.

Common Area = Everything else. This area is maintained by the Association. Residents may not make unauthorized changes in the green areas of the map, but may make changes in Limited Common Areas as long as those changes conform to limits defined in our governing documents.

We have prepared a map that shows the exact boudaries of typical areas, using the lower end of Lake Terrace as an example. This is the original site map, color coded to make each area stand out.

These areas were defined and mapped in the late 1980s; the official maps are stamped and stored at the courthouse in downtown Akron.

Please visit the Get Help page for additional map information. We have placed two maps there for reference.