Monday, April 10, 2006
Timeshare Ordinance OK’d
There aren’t any timeshares at Richland Chambers Reservoir yet, but members of the Navarro County Lake Planning and Zoning Commission weren’t waiting.
The commission approved a new ordinance governing timeshares and other fractional uses, during their monthly meeting Thursday at the courthouse.
P&Z vice-chair Barbara Moe, leading the meeting in the absence of chairman Terry Jacobson, said there is nothing to stop four or five people from going together and jointly purchasing a home and mapping out when each could use it “and if we did anything about that we ... could be infringing on their rights.”
But when it comes to a timeshare situation where it is for commercial use, it’s another story, she said.
P&Z member David Martin noted that there is a key difference between the two situations, the group buy and timeshares.
“In a timeshare you are purchasing time not a real estate interest,” Martin said. “In the other case it’s a real estate deal ... there’s a property interest.”
Moe said the ordinance passed at the meeting spells out what can and cannot be done, like actually having a timeshare project. The ordinance prevents that type of business from being in a residential area, for example.
With the ordinance in place, if a situation arises that is out of line, it gives a neighborhood or a homeowners association a leg to stand on. They can also pursue civil litigation in regards to deed restriction violations, Moe said.
Lake area developer Jerry Jackson said he had never considered the timeshare situation rising, but was glad the commission had.
“It seems like a good place to start,” Jackson said of the ordinance. “I’m glad there’s enough timeshare interest (in the lake) that we’re having to talk about this.”
The commission approved a new ordinance governing timeshares and other fractional uses, during their monthly meeting Thursday at the courthouse.
P&Z vice-chair Barbara Moe, leading the meeting in the absence of chairman Terry Jacobson, said there is nothing to stop four or five people from going together and jointly purchasing a home and mapping out when each could use it “and if we did anything about that we ... could be infringing on their rights.”
But when it comes to a timeshare situation where it is for commercial use, it’s another story, she said.
P&Z member David Martin noted that there is a key difference between the two situations, the group buy and timeshares.
“In a timeshare you are purchasing time not a real estate interest,” Martin said. “In the other case it’s a real estate deal ... there’s a property interest.”
Moe said the ordinance passed at the meeting spells out what can and cannot be done, like actually having a timeshare project. The ordinance prevents that type of business from being in a residential area, for example.
With the ordinance in place, if a situation arises that is out of line, it gives a neighborhood or a homeowners association a leg to stand on. They can also pursue civil litigation in regards to deed restriction violations, Moe said.
Lake area developer Jerry Jackson said he had never considered the timeshare situation rising, but was glad the commission had.
“It seems like a good place to start,” Jackson said of the ordinance. “I’m glad there’s enough timeshare interest (in the lake) that we’re having to talk about this.”
# posted by John @ 4:32 AM 
