City attorney outlines options to tighten Colony West covenants; resident-consent methods weighed
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Summary
The city attorney presented options to make restrictive covenants at Colony West more restrictive, including modifying covenant language and using a 400-foot radius resident-consent process; staff noted citywide elections would be costly and raised the possibility of an 80% consent threshold among affected residents.
City Attorney’s Office staff told the commission they researched options to make the Colony West restrictive covenants more stringent and discussed methods for obtaining resident consent to release restrictions.
The attorney said the commission had directed staff to consider tightening covenant language (for example to preserve an 18‑hole golf course use) and to create a process for affected residents to sign off on any release of those restrictions. Staff examined options including a citywide election, which they said would be expensive (county election staff provided an estimated cost in presentations as roughly $132,000 for a citywide election), versus a resident-consent process limited to owners within a 400-foot radius of the affected property.
The attorney said the city clerk’s office could implement a radius-based voting or consent mechanism and that prior radius-notification work exists; staff provided a count of roughly 4,054 (then referenced 5,400 in subsequent clarification) properties within the 400‑foot radius—numbers staff said they were still confirming. Staff asked the commission to decide whether any threshold for release should be required (for example 80% of affected residents), noting an 80% threshold had been discussed and that 100% could allow a single resident to block release. Staff said a citywide election was not recommended by staff primarily because of cost and complexity.
No formal policy change or vote occurred at the workshop; the attorney sought direction on whether to proceed drafting revised covenant language and on the preferred consent threshold and geographic scope.