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Ten
Reasons for More
Lots to become All Year-Round at "Latitude 49"
Currently 170 lots out of 318 are restricted to occupancy of 180 days
per year: the rest are year round. Without apology to David Letterman, here are ten reasons for all of
Latitude 49 lots to be year-round. It is predicated on the the
assumption that year-round owners will have an incentive to build
better-quality homes, and become fully engaged in ass'n and civic life.
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Property Values: modular manufactured homes
are typically
built to a much higher
HUD standard of e.g. insulation, structure, storm-proofing,
foundations, fire safety than
lower-cost "park model" on wheels
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Fairer on Assessments:
180-day lots pay the same
dues as year-round. Becoming year-round enables us to get more enjoyment
and use out of what we pay for.
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Maintenance Funding:
In return for a right for a lot to become
year-round, an option for Owners
Association to vote on is set
a one-time fee - few thousand dollars? - dedicated toward
core facilities energy-efficiency and maintenance
Reserves.
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Better Property Care:
with more people year-round, there will
be more people available to volunteer in support of needed maintenance of the core central
facilities.
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Ass'n Board Functioning:
Currently, the need for some board
members to be gone half a year practically limits having a Board
where each member can pull their equal load
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Energy Efficient Homes: "Latitude
49" could establish a
voluntary "Build Green"
standard. Info. on this is available from the county
Builders Industry Association.
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Energy Efficient Appliances:
With improved funding
for core central facilities, the Owners Ass'n could invest in new
coin-operated
high-speed washers and driers.
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More Exercise:
With total laundry time down from an hour to 30 minutes,
men and women could use the 30 minute time window
to exercise on gym equipment.
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Multi-Generational:
the larger homes can have spaces for relatives to
visit and stay, leading to them wanting to live at Latitude 49 when
they inherit the home
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Better Community: year-round residents
will become connected outside of narrow interests within the fence!
Get involved with e.g.
Birch Bay
Steering Committee.
Owners with a choice to be
year-round could choose larger
manufactured
homes and not the smaller 400 sq. ft "park
models", still classified by
Washington DOL as removable
RVs.
Smaller homes could avoid the cost and space of washers and driers,
by making use of newer high-speed laundry appliances in the central core.
Use the space saved for e.g. a bunk-bed for relatives and friends to visit!
Web-page
www.BobAndrew.info/latitude49/allyear.htm |