Declarations of Restrictions are legal documents that lists all rules and guidelines for the community that you must agree to live by in exchange for living there.

When the Church Point neighborhood was developed in the 90’s, restrictions were put in place by the developer for each group of lots and some of these restrictions have been amended by the developer and the HOA. As a result, the total set of restrictions is complicated and when printed out, requires almost 1 inch of paper. The good news for individual lot owners is that only a few pages apply to them although it can be complicated to find them.

In 2011, the HOA’s Board of Directors created a simplified document called the Rules and Regulations which makes it easier for lot owners to read all the restrictions. In 2023, the amendments to the Declaration of Restrictions from 2017 until 2019 were incorporated.

It is important to note that the Rules and Regulations are a Non Authoritative Copy and if any provision of the Rules and Regulations conflicts with the terms or provisions of any of the Governing Documents (Articles of Incorporation, Bylaws and Declaration of Restrictions), the terms and provisions of the applicable Governing Document(s) shall control.

In the fall of 2022, the board hired a lawyer to simplify the Declaration of Restrictions and offer them to association members for approval. During the 2023 Annual Homeowners Meeting, the association members overwhelmingly rejected the redrafted documents. The board is evaluating when and how to address homeowner concerns. Until then, the original Declaration of Restrictions and the many amendments, remain in place.

Source:

A PDF version of all the original documents can be downloaded. Please note that the file is almost 11 Megabytes so be careful what you wish for.

Note: On September 28th, 1998, the Declaration of Restrictions was amended to include a new provision outlining how changes can be made. This amendment is included on the large PDF file linked above (pages 32 and 33) but for convenience, the amendment is listed below:

“This Declaration may be amended by the affirmative vote of two-thirds (2/3s) of the members present, in person or by proxy, at a meeting duly convened for the purpose of voting on the amendment after notice, including a copy of the proposed amendment being sent pursuant to the provisions of the Virginia Non-Stock Corporation Act. Such amendment shall be duly recorded in the Clerk’s Office of the Circuit Court of the City of Virginia Beach and shall be effective 30 days after such recording and mailing by regular mail to all members at their addresses of record.”