At the end of John Gattuso’s presentation to the Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors Tuesday night, the Virginia Heritage at Lee’s Parke Homeowners Association president said he was concerned his organization’s request for relief from the county would “open the floodgates” for others to come forward with gripes.
But Board of Supervisors Chair Chris Yakabouski said he’s never witnessed a situation like the one facing the 1,200 residents of the 795-home senior community in his 11-plus years as Battlefield District representative.
“I have to say this is unique,” Yakabouski said. “At the end of the presentation, John had said there was concern about opening Pandora’s Box and sort of everybody else can come in and complain about this or that. In all my years here, I’ve never seen another situation like this.”
Virginia Heritage residents are requesting nearly $1.3 million in relief from the county after its staff released performance bonds to builder Lennar Homes. The HOA alleges that the bonds were released despite the construction company not completing requirements that resulted in county code violations for the HOA once it assumed full responsibility for management of the community.
“As we transitioned from a developer-controlled association to a homeowner-controlled association, we have been confronted with several expensive and unfair financial burdens that we believe should’ve been mitigated by the county in its role to oversee the proper, safe and responsible development of Virginia Heritage,” Gattuso said.
Gattuso condensed a litany of complaints into four items during his 15-minute presentation on Tuesday.
First, he noted that county officials granted a waiver to certain roadway width requirements to allow the developer to construct a private street in the community. Gattuso said this resulted in an unresolved zoning violation concerning the sufficiency of roadway widths and enforcement of “No Parking” signs.
Secondly, the HOA contends that the release of the bonds allowed the developer to avoid construction of an access road, which resulted in county code violations issued to the association. The HOA then spent $679,238 to build the road, Gattuso said.
The third complaint is that the developer failed to properly design and construct a cul-de-sac at Hazelnut Court, which includes a steep grade that exceeds Virginia Department of Transportation and county requirements and cost the HOA $153,342 to repair.
The final issue that Gattuso noted is that the county failed to require the construction of mandated stormwater management facilities. The HOA contends that when the county released bonds in 2009 and 2024, it “constituted a determination that these facilities were properly constructed.”
“However, expert investigation of the facilities, before the bonds were released, made it clear that the facilities were not constructed according to the approved design plans,” Gattuso said. “Now, the association is faced with ownership and responsibility for several facilities which have and will continue to fail basic operating requirements, subjecting the community to hundreds of thousands of dollars in repair costs.”
Gattuso said the repair costs could’ve been avoided “but for the county’s ineffective evaluation of the developer’s work prior to releasing its performance bonds.”
Gattuso requested $880,368 from the county to reimburse the HOA for its expenses. The HOA is seeking an additional $400,000 for estimated costs associated with future design and repair costs or for the county to take over all stormwater management facilities within the development.
Yakabouski said he’s met several times with HOA representatives, but suggested Gattuso give a presentation to the entire board at once so that all members are aware of the concerns.
Yakabouski requested that county employees avail themselves to board members to provide additional information, so that they can make an informed decision on any relief next month.
“Tonight, I am not proposing any remedy,” Yakabouski said. “I do not think that is fair to any of my board members up here. Some of them are hearing this for the first time … I don’t want to rush this, fast-track it, get it done and get rid of it. I want to give it proper time so that we can have these discussions and give my fellow board members the correct amount of time to learn, ask questions, have those questions answered and discuss what the proper conclusions could be to this.”
Only one other board member spoke in addition to Yakabouski. Courtland District Supervisor Drew Mullins hinted that he is willing to vote to offer relief to Virginia Heritage residents.
“I look forward to trying to find some way to help you guys out,” Mullins said. “So, I just want you to know that it’s a tough position to be in for the reasons already mentioned. But I want to convey to you that someday, we could all be in the same situation and I’d want someone to be listening to me, too. So, I just want you to know I’m here to try to help you guys out.”
