9/20/2005

Public comments go overboard at OPA meeting
By Bob Lassahn

As is pretty much a normal occurrence at Ocean Pines Association (OPA) meetings there was dissent laid before the OPA board during the public comments portion of the gathering. Property owner Bill Rakow spoke regarding his perception that the Environmental Controls Committee (ECC) and by extension the Architectural Review Committee (ARC) have become burdensome to OPA homeowners as a result of a legal opinion from OPA counsel and resultant policies adopted by the ECC.

These have resulted in a denial of variances requested for lot coverage percentages (impacting total square footage of homes) and building heights that he envisions as arbitrary. His research indicates such variances have been routinely granted in the past, but since the June 2005 legal opinion and policy change all such requests have been summarily denied since the homeowner could not prove “hardship.”

The basis of his complaint lies in the application of the Declaration of Restrictions, documents established for each section of Ocean Pines establishing basic prohibitions and limitations, through a set of guidelines developed by the ECC containing further rules and restrictions on OPA properties.

Mr. Rakow also takes exception to the manner in which the ARC has provided these documents for resale packages provided to purchasers of properties or homes in Ocean Pines. The documents must be provided to buyers under Maryland law. According to Mr. Rakow the Declaration of Restrictions have been routinely provided in the requests but not the guidelines, even though they obligate the purchaser to further restrictions.

Mr. Rakow summarized that he has attempted on several occasions to arrange a meeting between those with complaints, board members and the ECC without success. He therefore determined to bring the complaint to the meeting in hopes of stimulating some action. On two occasions other OPA members awaiting their turn to speak yielded their time so Mr. Rakow could continue. In total his address to the board lasted 15 minutes, or three times the allotment normally afforded an individual. The complaint from Mr. Rakow has been a hot topic of discussion for a number of contributors on OceanPinesForum.com over the last several weeks.

Charlie Herpen, leader of a group of OPA property owners attempting to stop development of a new marina facility at the Swim and Racquet Club, addressed the board to announce his group has collected more than 1,600 signatures of property owners calling for a referendum on the proposal. The number represents about twice the 10 percent necessary to force a referendum and Mr. Herpen requested a reply from the board by September 20 to indicate if they will put the project on hold and avoid the referendum, a process that could cost OPA about $7,000 or more.

Two additional OPA members, Nancy Weber and Jack Barnes, also spoke against the marina project in its current configuration but the opposition was outnumbered by a total of five other speakers supporting the marina project.

Roelof “Dutch” Oostveen, a regular speaker and familiar to regular attendees of OPA meetings launched a very personal attack against board member Heather Cook. He squarely laid responsibility for problems experienced during the most recent OPA elections on Ms. Cook and even took exception to her personal choice of a location to celebrate passage of the community center referendum, complaining that she failed to use the Ocean Pines Yacht Club even though residents were being encouraged by the board to patronize the facility.

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