Mr. Taylor's HOA

FI Plantation, Eagle Harbor have sign restrictions.  The HOA's establish this so the neighborhoods aren't trashed with signs.  Actually there is a strict sign ordinance in Fleming Island that businesses are not able to put signs out either.  It seems to be ignored lately but I know they do have someone from the county pick up garage sale signs.  Either way if you live in a community with restrictions you know them prior to purchasing as you are given a HOA book at closing.  Taylor knew he was violating the county election laws putting up signs early and having the endorsements on his signs.  I agree with other writers that he has shown us over and over he feels he is above the law which is a statement I keep hearing from FI resident that his son seems to feel.  Maybe it is because it is being taught at home that rules don't apply to him. 

Another mentioned the hazing and I am in total agreement with them that the term hazing does not apply, this was a sexual offense.  Either way, hazing is a felony I thought!  Anybody know for sure?  So how did they get out of prosecuting that one?  Does this mean next year the wrestlers can do the same to a student and a presedent has been set to allow this behavior?  One of his other sons is still a student there and is on the wrestling team I believe. 

Yes, Mr. Taylor has continued to keep his political sign in his yard and refuses to remove it. 

The policy in FIP allows for uniform "for sale" or "rent" signs and security system signs only.

I do not know whether they "invited" him to appear today. If so, it sounds like preferential treatment has been given him. What should have happened is by now, several violation letters would have been sent ( He has ignored them??). By now, the issue should have been before the violation committee and fines accessed.

Mr. Taylor, a realtor, is very aware of the rules for the reason Mr. Pike stated. Neighbors that follow the rules view it as arrogance by Taylor. The community does not anticipate him changing now. Pointing out the violation and not removing the sign is what neighbors have come to expect from Mike Taylor.

I do not know anything about the HOA and a sign in his yard. He should just put it on his car if that's the case.

The statement about the signs being improperly done. The ones I've seen have been changed and brought into compliance. Now I haven't driven all over the county to look for each sign. So I can't speak to every sign. There may be some they have placed and they forget where they put them. So if anyone see's any then I'm certain if you contact them. They will correct the problem.

The statement about violating the laws about placing signs out early was covered in a news story here on MCS. He was not in violation of the laws.

http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/020208/nec_242501616.shtml

I have seen signs still in violation on HWY 17 and wells road.  They are still in violation.  Mr. Taylor was contacted by code enforcement, he does not need my phone call.  I dont think needing multiple calls to become compliant with election laws is becoming of a prospective sheriff.  Also, even if you are right and every single sign is in compliance at this point, he was in violation until about 19 days before the election.  That isn't very becoming of a proseptive sheriff.  Bottom line, he recieved a copy of the election laws when he registered to run.  He had to look at the sign rules when he ordered his signs, how did he know to order them the size that they are (and not make them 10 feet wide)?  Without the ad ons, he is in compliance....this shows me a lot.

If he doesn't know where his signs are, that is a big problem.  He has a very short time after the election to remove them and not knowing where signs are isn't a good excuse.  This shows me that he can't handle the helm of the Sheriff's office because he cant even keep track of a couple hundred signs.  Youu have to be crazy to think that his campaign isn't keeping track of how many signs they have and where they have them. The Taylor campaign wants to make sure they have proper coverage around the county.

In 2004, the BCC changed the policy on political signs, allowing them to be placed out "whenever". Until then, the rule was that no political signs were put up, even at businesses, until 30 days before the election...

The policy is up for review again and would go through the Policy and Rules Committee, governed by Commissioners Conkey and Rutledge. After going before that committee, any change in policy would go before the BCC for a vote.

AHHH.....I long for the good ol' days of no political signs before 30 days prior to the election! Heck, I'll compromise and go with 45 days!

Angela, Mr. Peck was talking about Taylor violating his community's policy on signage, and not following the restrictions residents agreed to when purchasing property in FIP.

Yeah, gone are the days when you could leave your car on blocks till you could get an engine or park your RV in the front yard! What's wrong with us that we want to conform?  I think all that live in Fleming Island understand and appreciate the reasons for regulations, even those affecting home ownership.  They preserve our value of our nest eggs!  So no RV or blocks.  I do believe I read something about not being able to put signs out until May 15, yet Taylor's signs were out way before then.  I can't remember where I read it but I did notice that other signs were immediately after May 15.  Anybody know what the deal with that was?

Well I'll take a ride and look and then complain. I ride that way sometimes but I guess I just didn't pay attention to the signs. In some parts of the county it is sign overload. The ones I have noticed has been changed.

If Mr Taylor can keep up with the location of all those signs. Then he might be a good manager of the Sheriff's Office. I think they have as many employees there, as they have signs.

I alread posted this once. You should read it. He was putting signs out long before May. Unless the county has some rule otherwise I haven't heard of the May deadline. The sign ordinance is 40 pages of where as if you can figure that out.

http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/020208/nec_242501616.shtml

You "Signs" post wasn't to me was it?  I never said anything about putting them up early.  I read the articles on that a long time ago... You are right...there is no rule about when you can start putting them up.

No I was addressing the person asking about the May date. Sorry I should have stated the name. I hadn't heard of the May date but if you read the sign ordinance you could be easily confused. 

In most covenants & restrictions even his graffics on his vehicle  are violations, so what. If may is the magical month, how come Beseler had his signs all over the Clay Fair in April

May isnt the magic date...you can put them up as early as you want.

Thanks I saw May somewhere. Taylor was originally critized for having signs during the last primary.I guess that wasn't a bad afterall

too bad gambling is illegal, we could take bets!

The signs are all suppose to come down seven days after the election,, I wonder if Taylor will follow that rule when he does not win the election???

Just make sure you have all of Mr Newmans down and don't worry about the others

I don't want Taylor for Sheriff, but I would rally behind him to knee-cap these homeowner associations.  It's his yard, if he isn't violating the county law I don't see the problem.  As a matter of fact, I consider this a positive point for Taylor because he's the only one of you man enough to stand up to the hoa.

I guess in Fleming Island you must like asking permission to plant bushes.  Here in Lake Asbury we love getting fined $100 a day, up to $1000, for grass and tree related crimes.

I'm tired of hearing how the hoa protects your property value.  It's the market that determines what your house is worth.  Housing prices are falling, right?  I guess it's because your neighbor let their yard go.

I missed our last homeowners meeting, but I heard it was a shouting match.  I had thought that the hoa was supposed to be for the homeowners, but all I hear about are homeowners getting pushed around. 

Felix;

Yes it could be that your house value went down because your neighbor trashed his yard, or has 8 cars sitting on blocks or put up 4 metal sheds that are rusty and falling down.

The point is that he signed on for the restrictions of an HOA when he bought the house. If he didn't want to live by those rules he should have moved to somewhere else.

Just like when you moved to Clay County you signed on to the laws and rules of this county. If you don't like the rules here you move to Bradford or Duval.

Yes some HOAs are a pain in the nether regions but I don't want some idiot painting their house international orange and setting up an auto repair shop in his side yard so I put up with and HOA.

You seem to be saying that if is elected Sheriff and he doesn't agree with the rules he can just follow and enforce the ones he likes. Which is exactly what I think he would do and that is why I don't want him in office. 

Mike Heemer

If someone doesn't want to ask permission to put up a bush then they shouldn't buy a house where there is a HOA.  I have friends that live in HOA communities and friends that don't.  The ones that don't live in them, aren't in them on purpose.  It is the owner's yard, but he signed his name to abide by the bylaws.  Does Mr Taylor's signature mean nothing?  He knew what he was getting in to when he signed the paper, if he didn't then he should have.

You are right abaout the market, but the HOA does help your value (it plays its part).  It keeps the houses near yours nice, giving you a good neighborhood and good comparables.  Comparables are used when doing an appraisal.  If the house doesn't get appraised for the value you are offering, you don't get a loan.  Also, if you built a 10 million dollar home in the ghetto, even if the market was up, it wouldn't sell for 10 million.  Neighborhood is a big concern for home buyers and plays into value.

I would bet if one did an age check at most HOA meetings, it would be retirement age. I am not posting this to sound mean but most people living in these communities just don't have time to attend or participate.  I live in a community that has gone to sh*t because of this.  We let reired people run the communites. They have plenty of time.  They ride around my neighborhood on there golf carts and check if your within regulations. I WILL JUST PAY MY DUES AND LIVE WITH IT....

 I would like to put a sign in my yard. But it is against the rules and regulations.

Felix I'm with you on how much HOA are up in your business and there is selective enforcement stuff that goes on around here.  I think a person should be able to post a sign in their own yards if they want to.  Around here they even regulate the number of decorative flags you can put up.  They even rule the signs or prohibition of them on your cars.  I'm surprised they don't want to examine your toilet paper.  

I do appreciate the no soliciting rule although that one didn't stop the Taylor supporters from entering the Ravines knocking on everyones door.  There were so many of them no way they all live here.

It was Ronnie Robinson I believe who stuck palm cards on everyones mailbox, it was some politician running for something with red white and blue on it. Didn't read it basically on the same principle Maxie has about getting solicited in her personal email by them I didn't even look at it, just threw it away.

http://www.ctlac.com/

Taylor knew the ordinances and the HOA rules before putting up the signs. After he was reminded that he was in violation of the rules / ordinances he failed to take action to correct them. He has recently began to correct the signs in violation of the ordinance but still has not fixed all of them. How can you enforce laws when you dont abide by them?

Mr Pike,

I am an Appraiser myself, and you're right that the Deed Restricted Communities assist in keeping a community up but it's more of a selling point then it is a tangible value.  Many don't want to pay those fees so it's actually more of a subjective value then anything.  The yard that grows four feet high and looks like a used car lot doesn't hurt values anymore then your neighbor who prices and sells him home below full market value for a quick sale. 

There are many Homeowners Associations that are not mandatory and who deal with only maintaining common areas.   

So far as the 10 million dollar home in the ghetto, it is against the law to discriminate, even in Appraisals.  The properties' value would be lessened because it would be an over improvement or superadequacy for it's market area. 

http://www.ctlac.com/

Vicedr said the county picks up signs.  Well they did.  I talked to a Code Enforcer who was in a store.  I asked if they still picked up every Sat. and why so many signs were still on the road.  She smiled and told me since the county commission directed that code enforcement is complaint only, they no longer pick up sign unlesss there is a complaint.  I said so they are just going to sit out there.  And she said, yeah, unless we get a complaint.  Thanks county commissioners.  You're still not serving the public good.

I try to stay away from political talk, got enuff to worry about.  BUT.  When someone buys a house in a HOA, they are not only receiving a copy of the rules, they are signing with their good name that they will abide by those rules.  Is that correct?

The reason for Home Owners Associations is not just collect dues and tell a property owner what he can and can’t do. Some associations are stricter than others but that is because the "Developer" wrote them to be that way. Each new owner receives a disclosure statement before he goes to closing and knows full well that there are covenants and restrictions that he is required to follow before he ever signs on the dotted line. If the prospective owner finds that he can’t abide by the rules and the assessment fees, there is a time span when he can back out of the whole process without penalty.

The primary reason for HOA’s is because of the environmental impact that a new development has on the surrounding area, not because a group of snob’s wanted to create a community to exclude the non-elite. If you will read your covenants and restrictions, an article is included in each and every one of them. That article sets up the rules and fees for the maintenance of the surface water and stormwater drainage system within the community. The St. Johns River Water Management District has some pretty strict requirements about which way the water flows and they want a system that will be maintained for perpituity. FSS 718-720 are some other areas to look if you are interested.

Semi,

You are correct. When someone buys a house in FIP (Taylor has owned and lived in two.), they are given copies of the CCandR's. It's just that some people (Taylor) pick and choose what they will obey and think rules apply to everyone but them. 

In Taylor's case, not only was he aware of the rules when he moved to FIP, he was actually a member of the CCD Board, although he did not attend regularly. Funny...now that he is no longer on the CDD Board, he has changed his stand on rule compliance. Let's not forget that he and his wife are local realtors and well aware of FIP's covenants, codes, and restrictions.

Semi, I guess some people think they have a "good name", but rules apply to the other guy, and certainly not to Mike Taylor.

I don't know when the county fair was but that was the first Beseler sign I saw and I was looking cause the only one with signs out was Taylor.  And there he was at the fair with his FDLE badge on.  Even though now I hear he is not even working for them!  The fair seemed to be the same time everyone's sign came out whenever that was. 

Thanks Pioneer.  I kinda thought that's what some were trying to say, but got too busy saying other stuff.  I thought places like that were deed and covenent.  But CCC and R cant mean Creedence, so C something Covenents and Restrictions??? and this would hold true for other places besides FIP, right?

Semi,

CCandR's stands for Codes, Covenants, and Restrictions. 

Conditions, Covenants and Restrictions

Wonder if they slapped him with a healthy noncompliant fine!

What really confuses the issue is if you look at case law on free speech. Even there it is contradictary. I do agree if you accept theam when you buy that you should abide by them. The county needs an ordinace where-by any sale that has deed restrictions the buyer must sign that he read and agrees with the restrictions. You would be amazed at how many people never new they existed.

If you don't want to live with deed restrictions, don't buy a home in a deed restricted community.

ex-oficio, the county doesn't need an ordinace about an owner reading his CCR.  The Florida State Statutes has already done that when it demands a disclosure statement on any sale within a deed restricted community.  The disclosure statement is to inform any buyer that they are about to enter a contract that requires them to abide by covenanants and restrictions in order to live at that address.  If an owner didn't get that disclosure statement prior to closing then the realtor and closing attorney violated state statutes.

I have purchased in deed restricted areas multiple times and was always informed at closing because usually they charge you for a portion of the month you moved in and credited the seller for the days the new owner took possession of the home.  There are some neighborhoods that have voluntary HOA's but their fees are often minimal.  If you are charged a substantial fee and are bound to these covenants and restrictions I can guarantee you that you are informed.  Taylor cannot play ignorance on the sign situation because that would be ridiculous, especially since he is a registered realtor.  Anybody get feedback on what happened at the meeting? 

vicedr,

Nothing changed at the meeting.

Did Taylor show and plead his case or did he just agree to disagree and left his signs up, subject to fines the rest of us would have to pay if we did the same?

Taylor should not be sheriff, because he put a sign in his yard and broke a neighborhood rule. He did not show up for a meeting he is such a rebel! What he has done has caused property values to fall and I think he might be putting cars on blocks in his front yard. Get a life of your own please!! And Mr. Heemer, I watched you the other night at a political forum and you seemed more interested in stuffing your face with free pound cake than the issues of the county. You sir, will fail to be elected with a big margin. Let me offer a litle advice If you spent half the time meeting citizens and discussing real issues in our community instead of blog, rumor, blog then you might be taken a bit more serious. By the way that small fraction of money you raised could not even buy you a nicer name plate. Good Luck!

I think that Mr. Taylor should keep his signs up, regardless of what the HOA has to say.

Because if he does, and if this story is true, it is very telling of Mr. Taylor.

I would think that his neighbors would look at it as if Mr. Taylor thinks he is above all else, especially if he has received notices and still refuses to comply.

"Do as I say, not as I do"

It doesn't work with children, and it won't work with the citizens of Clay County.

I can't type any slower or any louder so you have got to start paying attention. I said you would have to be more specific with the other night.

Let me be more specific. Which night, or at least which forum?

I also told you I don't do pound cake so you may have been hallucinating. Gotta watch that. It can be dangerous.

I'm glad to see that you noticed my name tag. It must have served its purpose.

I also told you I did not 'raise' any money. What money I have in my account is my own.

Here's a serious question for you Jackal. What issues have you heard a candidate discuss at a forum? Every one I've been to is nothing more than most standing up there telling everyone how great they are. Or how bad their opponent is.

The only forum that I have been invited to as a speaker was the Clay Hill forum. The reason for that is that almost every forum held is a Republican forum and I am not on the ballot as a Republican candidate therefore I can attend but I'm not allowed to officially speak.

At the Clay Hill forum I was pretty much the only candidate that spoke to a real issue. One Sheriff's candidate spoke specific issues and his ideas and another spent most of his time trying to wipe off the mud the third one had slung.

My opponent was not there. I have no doubt that he was at an important meeting but the fact is I and most of the others at the forum have heard that same Bio read by his wife more often than they have heard it from him. It is pretty much the same one anyone can read on the SOE web site.

What issues would you like me to discuss? Start a blog and ask away. I'll answer to the best of my ability.

Mike Heemer