FAQs

Welcome to our FAQs!  We hope you’ll find them informative and possibly even entertaining here and there.  Although every effort has been made to be accurate, and source documents are referenced as appropriate, ultimately, the governing documents themselves are the final, authoritative word.  (It is inevitable that there will be some bloopers, misspellings, or links that don’t work, in spite of the hours spent staring at our computer screens till the letters dance across the page like insects.  When you find one of these errors, or if you come up with another question, please send an email to VIS at info@vismanagement.com, referencing “HPL website” in the subject line.   We thank you for helping to improve our website!)

Note:  “CC&Rs” refers to the Covenants, Conditions, & Restrictions, the original blueprint for the Association.  “Rules” refers to the Rules, Enforcement Policy, and Fine Schedule, a “short form” document that contains exactly what the name says; this is also where new rules are put that address items that have come up since the CC&Rs were first created.  The Architectural Modification Standards Guidelines have the specific dos and don’ts for exterior standards and changes and what things do or don’t require ACC approval.  The Bylaws contain the specific definitions and rules that govern how the Board and Association operate.  Your homeowner portal is where you sign into your VIS account, the link for which is in the footer of this website.

I. All A-Board

– the Board of Directors, committees, Board meetings

In general, the Board is responsible for seeing to it that the provisions of the CC&Rs are followed.  This includes maintaining oversight of our finances; maintaining our reserves; making decisions on projects to be done and related bids for those projects; approving contracts; creating/adjusting rules; and making decisions on delinquent accounts, compliance appeals/waivers, and account adjustment request.  Our management company is responsible for day-to-day operations. 

-Our By-Laws state that Directors (the legal term for Board members) “must be owners of Lots within Horizon Pointe, must be current in their assessments, and in compliance with the covenants and any rules and regulations adopted by the Board.”  (You must be named as a legal owner, not just the spouse of or related to the legal owner.  Be sure your VIS account has the correct listing!  Escrow companies don’t always get it right.)


-Set up a dedicated Board-business email using a more-or-less standard format
-Check for between-meeting communication on the on-line communication hub VIS uses, called Basecamp – preferably daily.  (You can set it up to get email notifications of new Basecamp updates.)   
–Respect the confidential nature of information you will have access to.  This is critical. 
-Attend as many Board meetings as possible.  Our target time is 1-2 hours. 
-Prepare for the meetings by reviewing any information sent out ahead of time including reports, the monthly financials, any homeowner compliance waiver/extension/account adjustment requests, any attorney recommendations on delinquent accounts, bids for projects, and so on that all come through Basecamp. 
-Make every effort to maintain a good working relationship with other Board members, especially those with whom you may differ in perspective.  We all have the same goal:  taking care of Horizon Pointe Lacey assets and funds so we can keep this a great place to live.
-Memorize the CCRs, By-Laws, and Rules.  …    Just kidding!  Board members should at least familiarize themselves with the documents, but you don’t have to study them in detail.  When questions arise, answers can be looked up.  (The documents may be found on the VIS homeowner portal or on this website. 

This is the answer

It is helpful to have Board members active in committees, but such involvement is voluntary.  The Architectural Control Committee (ACC) is the only committee whose existence is mandated by the Covenants; all Board members serve as ACC members so that votes may be held at regular Board meetings.  The Communications Committee is currently a single person operation; new members would be appreciated.  Other committees have existed at various times as there have been members interested or there has been a need – Social Engagement, Budget, planning for specific amenities.

There are elections for Board members held at every Annual Meeting each November, providing we meet quorum.  (44 households represented)  Between elections, members may be appointed at any time by the Board.  Members serve a two-year term unless appointed to fill out a term vacated by another member.   If it’s between Annual Meetings and you’d like to volunteer as a Board member, send an email to VIS at info@vismanagement.com with the subject “HPL Board volunteer” and inform them of your interest; they will pass the information to the Board. 

You can always send an email to info@vismanagement.com and our manager will forward it to the appropriate Board/committee person, or find the Board member email addies under the About Us tab.

The Board meets on the third Thursday of each month via Zoom.  The link may be found on your homeowner portal under “Documents->Meetings Announcements and Info.

Yes!  All Association members are encouraged to attend.  Renters may also be allowed to attend after  requesting the link from their landlord or VIS.

Once the meeting is officially started, there is a 15-minute forum for homeowners to speak to the Board.  There will be reports from the President, Treasurer, and manager, then on-going and new business, then Executive Session for the discussion of confidential matters.   

No. Board meetings are not an Association meeting or a “townhall”.  

Transparency is vital for good government.  There is no better way to know what issues the Board is dealing with and to see how Board decisions are made.  Minutes are made available on the homeowner portal once they are approved, but minutes will never give you the same picture that attending a meeting will. 

You need to mark that option on the form you submit.  The manager will then notify the president, and you will be placed at the start of the Executive Session.  You will be given a time to present your case, then Board members may ask you questions for clarification.  Once this has been done, you will leave the session before deliberation begins or decisions are made.  You will be notified of the decision by the manager.

II. Architectural Control Committee (ACC)

– we are an HOA, after all

All of these are available either on this site under Governing Documents-> Architectural Control Related, or on your homeowner portal under Documents.

The Architectural Modification Standards Guidelineshas complete information, but these common things you do not have to put in an ACCapplication for:
-replacing/repairing a fence with the same materials in the same location
-staining a fence with any approved Behr stain color 
-painting the exterior using any of the Behr colors from the approved palette
-using a window A/C unit between May 1 and September 30
-doing a (front) yard project that will involve less than 50% of the area in any 6-month period (as
long as it adheres to the general guidelines for front yard landscaping)

Not under the standards established in the CCRs Section 9.1.

No such exceptions to the fence standard set in the CCRs Exhibit D have been granted.

You can find them on this website under “Governing Documents – Architectural Control-Related”.  They are also on your homeowner portal.

No. 

The palette is from Behr Paint, which is available at any Home Depot, or may be ordered at a discount directly through Behr.  Contact VIS for more information on ordering.

Yes, the Association can require you to repaint your house as part of the CC&R requirements for maintaining your property.  Historically, owners have been given up to one year to get the job done.

Sign into your homeowner portal, then choose “Documents->Forms” and open the “ACC form – fillable” pdf.  Fill out the form, then save it to your computer along with your documentation (site map drawings or photos.)  Go back to your account and click on “Architectural” at the top, then click on the “Submit New Request” button on the left.  Choose from the options in the drop-down menu.  This will create your application number and open a small window with three steps, including uploading your filled-out ACC request.  (At any time, you can close the window, and get back into it by clicking on that application number under the “Architectural” tab.)  Failure to provide all pertinent information will result in automatic denial. 

The ACC has thirty (30) days from the date of submission to respond to your request with either a decision OR a written statement that they will need more time to consider the request.  If neither of those occurs, the request is considered as automatically approved and you may proceed.

Your request may have had factors in play that differ from the others that were approved.  Per the CC&Rs, Section 8.3, the fact that the Association approves any particular plan does not constitute waiving the right to deny another similar request.  Keep in mind also that there are also residents doing work without getting ACC approval.  See the next question.

The CC&Rs Section 9.10 gives the ACC the authority to require that unapproved work be stopped and removed.  If the halt/remove order is not followed within thirty (30) days, then the enforcement procedures in Section 18.1 shall be applied.  Having an approved ACC request is your insurance that no one can question you, either now or later under different ACC members. 

III. Associative Properties

– all about homeowner associations 

The formation of an HOA was a requirement of the permitting process for the original developer.  Developers are allowed to have denser housing in exchange for creating “common areas” or greenbelts, but these spaces must be maintained by the owners in the development. 

It is most likely that the developer simply grabbed a template off the internet.  In general, rules found in CC&Rs come down to perceptions of what will enhance property value for the buyers in the developer’s target audience.  HOA Boards cannot create rules that contradict CC&Rs, but they may create additional rules to clarify those provisions.  The provision against “nuisance activity” found in most Covenants gives associations wide latitude to create more specific rules such as regarding barking dogs.  Additional rules may also have to do with situations or technological advances that were unforeseen by the original developer of the Covenants, such as solar panels.  So long as the rules don’t contradict the CC&Rs or go against any provision of State law, these additional rules are just as enforceable as those in the CC&Rs.

If you move to any city, county, state, or country, you are legally bound to abide by its laws.  If you buy a house in a development governed by an HOA, you are legally bound to abide by its governing documents. 

IV. Inspector Le(Balu)strade

 – for folks living on the main drag  

Our most common Balustrade question, but no, it’s not an option. The CC&Rs Section 6.3 specifically delegates responsibility for yard maintenance of alley access lots on Balustrade to the Association.   (It would also be a logistical nightmare for the landscapers to keep track of which houses were doing their own maintenance.)

YOU own all the plants, shrubs, and trees in your yard just like any other owner.  Your extra assessment pays for the landscapers to maintain your yard as it is, but it does not give the Association ownership.  You are only under the same rules for landscaping changes as any other resident.

The landscapers are responsible for mowing and edging your lawn, treating it for moss and weeds, and for pruning bushes and shrubs.  Shrubs will be trimmed only up to 12 feet, as anything over that requires specialized equipment not included in the contract.  (If you’re not happy with how your shrubs look, you may take them out or hire someone to trim the top.)  Landscapers are not responsible for turning on or running your irrigation system.

If you are there when they are pruning bushes and you have a specific request (e.g. “Could you cut that pyramidalis off at porch rail height, please?”), you may certainly ask the workers – but if the request will not fit in their schedule, they are within their right to decline. 

The Association has a deal with the company that does the testing for the Association’s system to do testing for all Balustrade houses at the same time, in return for the company granting everyone a nice group discount.  The fee for this testing is included as a line item in the budget for the Balustrade assessments.  If the company finds an issue, VIS will pass on that news to the homeowner.

No – but you are still under the same lawn appearance requirements as everyone else in the Association. 

Yes, but once you do, YOU are responsible for the upkeep on that strip and will be expected to keep it maintained like any other part of your yard.  The landscapers are only responsible for keeping gravel areas weeded back there.

You are expected to keep whatever can be seen from driving through the alley to the same standard as elsewhere.  This is also true of any area immediately adjacent to your driveway.

Your cans may be visible while driving through the alley, but your cans should not be visible in the alley corridor itself looking from the END of the alley.

No.  You may not place any sports equipment of any kind in the alley.  This includes parking bicycles there.  These constitute a traffic hazard.

V. Keeping up Appearances

– yard and house maintenance 

Our front yards must be at least 50% plant material (grass or other groundcover, flowers, shrubs, etc. –  anything but what are considered common or noxious weeds); the rest may be rock, stone, bark, or even left bare as long as it’s kept free of weeds.  Plants in raised beds or pots count toward the plant percentage.  Typical yard decorations – fountains, statuary, planters, and figurines -are fine as long as “appropriate for general audiences”.  Moveable basketball hoops are allowed in yards/driveways ONLY and may not block sidewalks.  Garbage bins not kept in the garage may be placed by the side of the house, preferably hidden behind a fence or other barrier.  Political signs for candidates or ballot issues are allowed during the relevant election season. 

Grass should be trimmed often enough to look like a residential yard and not a cow pasture wanna-be.  Lawns must be watered in summer enough to prevent dormancy, unless an official drought has been declared by the State for our county.  Weeds should not be readily visible on drive-by inspection.  Bushes should be trimmed so they aren’t extending into the sidewalk up to 7 feet, tree branches trimmed so they do not hang lower than 7 feet to ensure pedestrian safety and driver visibility.  Diseased plants and dead plant material (e.g. leaves in the fall) should be removed so as not to look junky; removing diseased plants also helps prevent the spread of contagious conditions to other plants in the neighborhood.  (Sharing is NOT caring in this case!)

Furniture suitable for the outdoors, planters, other items of a decorative nature, or delivery boxes for grocery items or pickup of recyclable items are fine.  If you are doing a remodel and know you will need to use the porch temporarily during the day to move things out of the house while work is done, send an email to the management company ahead of time and let them know.  Delivery boxes for pick up should be placed out on the day of pick up; boxes delivered should be taken in the day of delivery.

Seasonal decorations and light may go up no earlier than 6 weeks ahead of the pertinent holiday, and they must be removed within 30 days of the holiday.  For the two biggest decorating events here, that means Halloween decorations may haunt yards from Sept. 19th to November 30th and Christmas ones may twinkle from November 13th to January 25th.  Mark your calendars and start planning your extravaganza! 

By State law, fences built directly on property lines are owned equally by the adjacent owners.  On Balustrade, some fences (and even patios!) were built over the neighboring property line.  Check the property description in the papers from when you bought your house or check on the Thurston County home page using the Geodata or Assessor’s Office links (https://www.thurstoncountywa.gov/tchome/Pages/default.aspx ).  If a shared fence needs to be repaired/replaced due to the actions of one owner – such as if their dog has pushed through some boards – then a reasonable expectation is that that owner should pay for the needed work.  If the repair/replacement is due to aging or what insurance refers to as “acts of God”, both owners should share the cost.

No.  You will generally find the original property line markers buried in the strip of ground 6-12” behind the fence, clearly marking that the fence is wholly located on the Owner’s Lot.  The only time the Association would share costs would be for the two fences bordering the Inlay Tot Lot, as those Association fences tie into them to enclose that amenity.

No, the Association does not have jurisdiction on what is legally a matter of civil law.  If you have an issue with your neighbor about a fence and you cannot work it out in a friendly fashion, you will need to seek legal advice.

VI. Land(scape)-Ho

– Association landscaping   

There is a map of the Common Areas under “About Us->Maps”.  We have 844 houses with around 13+ miles of parking strips (the area between the sidewalk and the curb), all the larger areas of grass here and there called “pocket parks”, the main entrance to either side of Balustrade by the roundabout, the “Tot Lot” playground on Inlay, the “Prism Park” (a little undeveloped lot), the Balustrade bio-swales (the grassy stormwater treatment areas down the middle of the road), the entire length of Rainier Rd. on the east side from 66th Ave. SE to the railroad trestle, the storm ponds between Rainier Road and houses on Compass or Radius and between the houses on Radius and the railroad tracks, and the “back hill” running between Radius and the tracks from the “wet pond” to Lintel Lane. 

You can read the actual contract on your homeowner portal under Documents->Contracts. All the parking strips and pocket parks are mowed and edged regularly during the growing season, as well as being fertilized and sprayed for weeds.  The “back hill” is mowed several times during the season to reduce the fire hazard from sparks from passing trains.  All barked areas and tree pits (no – not their underarms!  The areas around the base of the tree where there isn’t grass) are to be kept free of weeds and suckers.  The bushes in the bio-swales are treated with a chemical that slows down their growth and then pruned a couple of times a year. The litter bags on our eleven doggy doo stations must be refilled and the trash receptacles emptied.  The trash can in the “Tot Lot” on Inlay must also be emptied.  During Fall, the landscapers pick up the leaves from our over a thousand trees.  (See a detailed discussion of leaf pickup below.)  The irrigation system is maintained and monitored.  The trails around the storm ponds are maintained. 

The irrigation system needs annual repairs.  Dozens and dozens of trees each year must have their canopy lifted (be trimmed up) to 14 feet over the street by demand of the trash company.  There are dead/dying/damaged trees that need to be removed and new trees put in.  Turf sometimes needs extra attention for insect infestation or disease.  Bark is replenished alternating years between the main areas and Balustrade areas. 

 Yes!  The State of WA keeps a registry of chemically sensitive and landscapers must provide notification any time there will be a spraying event.  Get all the information here:  https://agr.wa.gov/departments/pesticides-and-fertilizers/pesticides/sensitivity-registry

This is part of the landscaper’s contract.  If you notice the grass there is getting high enough to lose a small child in, please notify VIS by putting in a maintenance request through your homeowner portal, sending an email to info@vismanagement.com with “HPL” starting the subject line, or by calling (800) 537-9616.

Every year, alternating areas.  One year will be all Balustrade houses, bio-swales, and other Balustrade Common Areas; the next year is all tree pits and Common Areas in the side streets, including the “Tot Lot” playground on Inlay, and tree pits and Common Areas on Rainier Rd. SE.

For something urgent, call the management company at (800) 537-9619 so they can get someone out to deal with it as soon as possible.  If it’s not urgent, put in a maintenance request through your homeowner portal or send an email to info@vismanagement.com .  In any case, be sure to give the address of the closest house, or, if it’s on Rainier Rd., give as many reference points as you can. 

Call the City of Lacey Utility Emergency at (360) 491-5644.  After hours, call (360) 704-2740.

If you can tell if it is a City of Lacey water or sewer junction box (they are usually labeled) call the City Utilities Department at (360) 491.5644.  If it is an Association irrigation control, contact the management company at (800) 537-9619.  For either, give the address of the closest house or as many reference points as possible for Rainier Rd. SE. If you’re not sure whose box it is, call the management company.  They will check it out and will contact the City of Lacey if appropriate.

Streetlights are the responsibility of the City of Lacey.  Please report the outage at (360) 491-5644.  They are limited on crews, so it may take time for the issue to be taken care of. 

The Association is responsible for any trees in the parking strips.  Homeowners are responsible for trees in their yards.   Problem trees need to be reported to the management agency through your homeowner portal or at info@vismanagement.com.  The tree will be added to a list so that multiple trees may be taken care of at one time for cost efficiency.

The Association owns the trees in the parking strips, and is responsible for their maintenance, while the City of Lacey is responsible for maintenance and repair of sidewalks, so this is a partnership to deal with.  Report problem trees to the management company through your homeowner portal.  Report all lifted or broken sidewalks to the City at (360) 491.5644. 

Leaf cleanup here is extremely complex. We have some 1500+ trees on our parking strips and other Common Areas.  Certain species of trees drop their leaves pretty much en masse, some early in the season, some late.  Other species drop… their… leaves… slowly… over… several… months.  Most streets have a hodgepodge of tree species, meaning there are leaves dropping for the whole season.  Due to variations in weather, just when leaf season begins differs every year as does how long it lasts.  Our trees are getting continually bigger and dropping ever more leaves; the volume is several times now what it was ten or even five years ago.  Cleanup is further complicated by the wind that loves to unmake piles before the vacuum truck can get to them.  Even if our contractor had nothing else to do but devote every crew and all their equipment to leaf cleanup of our 6+ miles of streets and 13+ miles of sidewalks every day from September to January there would still be places where leaves would pile up.  

Although our landscapers do try to stay ahead of the worst of the pileups, ultimately the responsibility for leaves on the sidewalk lies with the homeowner. 

Go right ahead!  Just please don’t blow them into the street.

Put in a maintenance request through your homeowner portal using “Maintenance->Submit New Request” on the left side.  The manager will need to determine whether it is a matter that can be handled by the landscapers under our regular contract or if it will need a separate bid.  (The regular landscapers can only work up to 12 feet.)  If it is an emergency because an Association tree has fallen or is splitting or leaning markedly, call (800) 537-9619; make clear it is URGENT.

It’s a matter of finances.  Taking trees down, grinding the stumps, buying suitable new trees, getting them planted and supporting poles put in, and then repairing irrigation pipes damaged in the process is not an inexpensive process.  With so many to do and so much OTHER tree work to be done (like all the canopy lifting being demanded by the trash company or removing trees as part of sidewalk repair projects) we are having to prioritize.  Under new City of Lacey code, if a tree is 15 feet or closer to a streetlight or a water connection, it will not be replaced.

The Association is responsible.  Put in a maintenance request on your homeowner portal, call the management agency at (800) 537-9619, or send an email with photos to info@vismanagement.com. 

There are multiple reasons this may happen.  A ticket closing on the homeowner’s end doesn’t necessarily mean nothing is being done.  Maintenance issues have to be prioritized, so sometimes delays are simply a result of having more critical issues happening with something else at the same time.  Sometimes, a maintenance item requires a separate bid, so it takes time to get the bid, get it approved by the Board, notify the company with the bid, then for the company to get the item on its schedule.  If it is a sprinkler issue, taking time to get things fixed could be due to the landscapers having to wait for repair parts to arrive, or your non-working sprinklers might be part of a larger problem that won’t be a simple fix.  If you put in a request and VIS asks you for more information, if you don’t respond within 30 days, the ticket automatically closes.  When you put in a maintenance request through your homeowner portal, it creates a ticket number, and you (and the Board!) can track when issues are resolved.  If a ticket is supposedly resolved, but you can still see a problem, send an email to info@vismanagement.com and put “HPL” and ticket number in the subject line.  This is an area that we are working on to improve follow-up and communication!

VII. Mr. Postman Look and See…

– mailboxes      

If the doors are open, so there is a possibility that mail has been compromised, call the City of Lacey non-emergency number (360) 704-2740 and the management company at (800) 537-9619 immediately.  Give a precise location of the box – which street, which side of the street, the nearest cross-street or the house address it is in front of.   If the doors are still fully intact, just call the management company.  They will contact the Post Office to send a technician to assess the situation.

If the key won’t turn at all, it’s likely water has gotten into the lock and caused some rusting issues.  Try spraying the lock with WD-40 or another similar lubricant or rubbing the edge of your key on pencil lead or wax to coat it then reinsert.  If weather has been cold and icy, try heating the end of your key with a lighter before inserting it.  If the key turns in the lock, but only partway, then most likely there’s a large piece of mail, or a whole bunch of mail, jammed in.  If you can’t jiggle it enough to force the latch to turn, you’ll have to contact the Post Office for help.

That depends.  If you are an owner, you will have to contact the Post Office.  They install the locks in the boxes.  They may provide new keys or may put a new lock on the box; in either case, there will be a charge.  If you are a renter, and you were issued only one key when you moved in, first check with your rental agency manager to see if they have additional keys.  If not, it will be up to the owner to get the Post Office to either issue new keys or replace the lock and issue new keys.

Alas, no.  Even if you present full ID, under Post Office regulations, the carrier is not allowed to give you your mail.  This is between you and the Post Office, no matter how long the situation lasts.  There is nothing the Association can do.

VIII. Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (and RVs)

As a matter of fact, yes!  Well, not within the development itself, but very close.  There is a tiny, privately owned public use grass landing strip called Hoskins Field on the other side of Rainier Rd. SE across from the golf course.  Its FAA LID is 44T. 

Mostly we get freight trains coming through, but several times a day we also get a high-speed passenger train heading to/from the Amtrack station down Yelm Highway. 

Other than intersections, train engineers blow the horns whenever they see someone/something on or too near the tracks.  Since we don’t have any intersections nearby, if you hear the train horn, most often it’s because there are kids playing on or by the tracks.  However, if you are nearby and wave to the engineer, he may give a “hello” toot back.

Our streets are public City of Lacey streets, so, regardless of what our CC&Rs state, the Association has no jurisdiction over who parks on them.  However, all City of Lacey and Washington State laws apply, so you may still be ticketed for parking infractions.

Nope.  You aren’t allowed to do anything but emergency repairs or minor tasks such as oil changes in your driveway.  No inoperable vehicles may be stored here unless they are kept out of sight in the garage – the driveway is forbidden in the CC&Rs, the street is forbidden by City of Lacey.

Call the Lacey Police non-emergency line (360) 704-2740 and report it – location, make, model, color, and license number.  The police will determine the owner and contact them.  If it’s a resident, they will be told to move the vehicle, as City of Lacey code does not allow for using streets as long-term parking lots.  It’s also possible that the car is stolen; neighborhoods such as ours are frequent “drop zones” for such. 

If you know who the car belongs to, first try approaching them in person and pointing out the hazard.  If you don’t know to whom the vehicle belongs, you can try leaving a note on the windshield.  Failing either of those approaches, call the City non-emergency line (360) 704-2740 since it is a traffic code violation, especially if the vehicle is blocking a fire hydrant.

Yes, but it’s a no-go.  Although speed humps were put in on 66th Ave. SE in 2024, we can’t get them on Balustrade because it is a bus route and a main emergency vehicle route.  Radius doesn’t have enough traffic to qualify under City parameters.    

No. If you are new and are on the waiting list for a storage site, contact the management company at info@vismanagement.com and provide documentation, then keep them informed.  As with so many things, communication can make all the difference!  If you just want to park it temporarily, see the next question.

Contact the management company at info@vismanagement.com and let them know the dates of your trip.  Generally, you may park your rig for up to 24 hours before and after your trip if you have gotten advance permission.  Please be considerate of your neighbors in parking.    Our narrow streets are not built to accommodate big rigs, and parking one in most driveways means blocking the sidewalk, which is against City of Lacey code.

IX. Spare Change

– the process for changing things   

First, just because you don’t know what is being done doesn’t mean that nothing IS being done.  If it’s an Association issue, for any but emergencies, it can take a month or two (or more) for the issue to be brought to the Board, then go out for quotes, then the quotes to be voted on at a Board meeting, then the approval is relayed to the company, then they have to put it on their schedule.  If it’s an irrigation system issue, there may be parts that have to be ordered.  It all takes time.
 
For owner compliance issues, such as an ugly, weed-infested yard, the Board is limited to sending compliance letters and issuing fines – and the process takes time.  The house with a yard with grass and weeds high enough to lose a small child in may be many, many months (or years) into delinquency proceedings. 
 
There are also some complaints about things that the Board has no enforcement authority over, such as forcing neighbors to share fencing costs.  There are complaints made about things that are impractical to attempt to enforce or that the Association cannot follow through on because of limited information.   

The procedure for trying to change something will depend entirely on which document it is in or is affected by.
   
The CC&Rs (Covenants, Conditions, & Restrictions)  The full details of trying to amend the CC&Rs are in Section 13.2.  You must first bring an amendment to an Association meeting called for the purpose.  It must pass there by 67% of the total voting power of the Association, which means 566 owners would have to approve the amendment.  Depending on what the amendment is, it may then need to be approved in writing by 100% of the membership before it can take effect.  The CCRs will not expire until 10/14/2055. 
 
The By-Laws govern the details of how the Association functions as an organization.  The CCRs Section 2.3 dictates that the Association be managed by a Board of Directors, but it leaves the details to the By-Laws. Our By-Laws allow for changes to the By-Laws by majority vote of the Board or by majority vote of the membership at a special Association meeting called for that purpose. 
 
The Rules, Enforcement Policy, and Fine Schedule is a document created by the Board but not referenced in either the CCRs or the By-Laws.  The Board created this document as a “Cliff Notes” version of the CCRs and to apply principles of the CCRS to new situations not specifically addressed (such as solar panels, which were not around when the CCRs were created.)  Rules cannot be used to negate provisions of the CCRs but may be used to interpret how specific provisions of the CCR will be interpreted and enforced (such as the nuisance pet rules.)  The document is changed by a simple majority vote of the Board.
 
The Architectural Modification Standards Guideline is a document that is referred to in the CC&Rs but which had never been created until 2026.  This document spells out standards for exterior house and yard, enabling homeowners, the ACC, and management to be on the same page as to what is or is not allowed, allowing for more efficient approval or disapproval of ACC modification applications.  The document is changed by a simple majority vote of the Board.

There is no specified process for this.  You may bring it up in homeowner forum for consideration or you may submit a request/petition to the Board through the management company. 

By-Laws Section III. B. states that special meetings may be called at any time by the written request of at least 10% of the members (we have 844 members) or by the President or a majority vote of the Board.  If a special meeting were to be successfully called, the same quorum requirements would need to be met as for any other member meeting, and a simple majority of the membership present at the meeting would be sufficient to pass a matter. 
 
Note:  If you want to try to change something about what is covered by a contract already in place (such as landscaping), it may not be alterable until the next renewal date.  If the matter would affect assessments, then the matter must be raised before the budget for the next year is passed and assessments are set.  (The Board generally finalizes the budget by September.)

   

X. Uh-oh!

– complaints, compliance, and collections    

For quiet hour violations and such, you may fill out the official Complaint Form that you will find on your homeowner portal under “Documents->Forms->Complaint Form – fillable.pdf” and submit it to the management company.  For immediate issues such as a loud late-night party, or for threats of any kind, you should call the police. 

To appeal a violation letter or request a waiver, go to your homeowner portal, then look under “Documents->Forms->CCR Violation and Fine Waiver Request Form -fillable”.  Download and fill out the form, then submit it as directed on the top of the form.  For many waiver requests, VIS is authorized to make initial decisions, but owners always have the right to request to be heard by the Board.

The same as the above question.  Especially for bigger ticket items such as house painting or fence replacement, the Board understands it may take time to save up for, or to schedule a contractor.

Contact the management company as soon as possible to let them know of your difficulty!   The Association has contracted bills to pay, so the Board doesn’t have the authority to waive assessment payments (thus putting a greater burden on the rest of the community) but setting up a payment plan may avoid incurring late fees and interest and the administrative costs of monthly late fee letters.

Contact them as soon as possible!  The manager will work with you on a payment plan to get you caught up and defer additional late fees and interest.   On your homeowner portal, under “Documents->Forms”, there is a “Payment Plan Agreement Form – fillable pdf”.  The manager will go over it with you and submit any proposals to the Board for final approval/denial.  There is a small charge for administration of a payment plan, but it is far less than the late fees, late fee letter administration fees, and interest incurred by doing nothing.

Assessments, like taxes, are a legal obligation.  The only thing not paying your assessment will do is incur escalating late fees, administrative costs, interest,  a lien filing fee, and legal charges – and potentially foreclosure.  It also places a greater burden on every homeowner who IS paying their assessments.    

A “soft” cost is a fee that is charged by the Association solely at its own discretion.  Late payment fees or compliance fines are considered “soft” costs because if the Board chooses to waive these charges for special circumstances, it doesn’t impact the Association’s finances.  A “hard” cost, on the other hand, is an administration fee that is charged by the management company to the Association, then charged to the homeowner by the Association as reimbursement.  Since this is a direct cost to the Association, regardless of whether the homeowner pays up, only the management company can choose to waive the fee.

XI. Up Your Assessment

– All about what assessments do and don’t     

There are three categories of assessments. Depending on where you live, you may pay one, two, or all three of them:  Basic, which everyone pays; the Alley Access Lot Reserve Fee, which is paid only by those whose garage is accessed via an alley; and the Balustrade Yard Maintenance Fee, which, obviously, is only paid by Balustrade residents.  The percentages given are general, with slight variation year to year.  (Percentages are not for 100%.) 
 
BASIC: 

Common Area Landscaping: 61%  The landscape maintenance contract alone comprises 54%, making it our single biggest cost, with tree work and irrigation repair representing the largest portion of the rest of the total cost.  Look at the Common Area map under About Us to see just how much Common Area the Association is responsible for taking care of.  (See Section VI. LAND(SCAPE)-HO above for a detailed explanation.)
 
Administration:   24%  Over half of this is the management company contract.  (See next question below.)  The category also includes insurance, bad debt, legal fees and collections, the annual reserve study, the annual audit, this website, and some other miscellaneous stuff.
 
Utilities:  12% This is all the water for the 13+ miles of irrigation, the electricity used by the controllers for the system, and for the lights at the entrance fountain.  (The trash can at the “Tot Lot” playground on Inlay and the 11 doggy- doo stations are included in the landscaping contract.)
 
Reserves:  11%  Reserves are our Association’s saving account to be prepared for major expenses so that we avoid having to do a Special Assessment. (See more detailed explanation below.)
 
Repairs and Maintenance:  4%  This is for smaller repairs such as entrance lights. 

ALLEY ACCESS LOT RESERVE FEE
This is to cover repair/replacement of the asphalt alleys for ALL houses with alley access.  Resealing is done about every 5 years, resurfacing, about every 30.  We haven’t had to do resurfacing yet, but it will be coming up around 2035 and is currently projected to cost ~$500K.
 
BALUSTRADE YARD MAINTENANCE FEE  (percentages of this fee only)
Landscaping:  87%  This covers all the front yard maintenance that the Association contracts with our landscapers to do, per our CCRs Section 6.3. 
Backflow testing:  3%  This covers the legally required annual testing.

The actual contract may be found on your homeowner portal under Documents.  Our management company handles all customer service calls, maintenance requests, waiver requests, and complaints.  They collect, post, and deposit assessments; prepare and post individual account statements; track and pay all invoices and payables; perform tracking, evaluation, and reconciliation of all Association bank accounts; prepare and mail delinquency notices and oversee payment plans for some delinquent accounts; facilitate collection activity of delinquent accounts, including communication with our attorney; arrange for the filing of the annual tax return and completion of the annual audit and reserve study; draft the preliminary annual budget; compile information requested by banks, escrow companies, and appraisers.  They do compliance checks, send letters noting violations, and track any necessary escalations.  They oversee our other contractors, such as our landscapers, to ensure that that work is being done, forward information on maintenance requests that residents submit, and relay communication between vendors and the Board when decisions are needed.  They obtain vendors for smaller jobs and seek bids on larger projects or contracts as the Board directs.  They provide a secure website where residents may make payments, set up ACH plans, put in ACC applications, create maintenance requests, and find documents.  Management hosts the monthly Board of Directors and the Annual Members’ Meetings on an electronic platform.  They handle all community-wide correspondence that the Board sends out through either email or hard copy, depending on the situation.

Just as a homeowner saves, knowing that appliances break down or the roof will need replacing eventually, homeowner and condo associations are required by State law to have savings accounts which are called “reserves”.   Just as a healthy savings account for a homeowner reduces the likelihood that they’ll have to take out a loan to complete a project, for homeowner or condo associations, healthy reserve accounts reduce the likelihood of having to do a special assessment.
 
A “reserve study” is a report prepared by a specialized accounting company that evaluates the amount currently in reserves, all the projects that will need to be done, the expected cost for those projects, and the expected frequency at which projects will need to be done, then makes recommendations for how much an association should be contributing to its reserve account to be prepared.  They give different levels of contribution that correspond to lesser or greater risk.  Horizon Pointe Lacey has always tried to keep our reserve account in the low-risk category, so we won’t have to do special assessments.  This will be even more important now that our trees are mature and wrecking our sidewalks.  Our annual reserve studies may be found on your homeowner portal under Documents.

Operational expenses are all those that form a normal part of the day-to-day operation of the Association.  Reserve expenses are for those projects listed (or related to projects listed) in the reserve study.  Replacement of irrigation nozzles is a regular maintenance item, but the annual spring start-up repairs come from reserves.  The project in 2025 to rehab/repair/replace virtually the entire storm water treatment system came from reserves; the annual maintenance contract now signed comes from operations.  Some tree trimming comes from operations; bigger projects such as multiple tree removals for sidewalk issues come from reserves.

Our assets include our entire stormwater treatment system; the irrigation system and its controls; all common area asphalt and gravel walkways; the Inlay “Tot Lot” playground equipment and play surface; the eleven doggy doo stations; the 63 mailbox units; the bridge over the storm pond by Radius and Prism; the “monument” area at the roundabout at Rainier Rd. SE/Balustrade Blvd. SE;  bark replenishment; our gazillion trees; and anything else we have to maintain/repair/replace. 

Dues are for a voluntary association, such as a country club or a gym  membership.  Assessments are a legal obligation no different than your mortgage or property taxes.

  

XII. All that Jazz

– Everything that doesn’t fit in another category and we needed to put somewhere   

GOIN’ TO THE DOGS

We have 11 doggy-doo stations sprinkled throughout the development.

The Association provides the bags for the stations, and the landscapers are contracted to empty the receptacles.  If you notice a problem, please contact the management agency by either calling (800) 537-9619, sending an email to info@vismanagement.com, or go through your homeowner portal  “Maintenance->Submit New Request”.  Whichever you choose, specify the exact location of the station by nearest street address or nearest cross streets. 

In addition to being disgusting and rude, both HOA rules and the City of Lacey code require owners to clean up after their pets whether at home or out and about.  There must be some proof of the violation, and which resident is responsible in order for a compliance notice to be sent, which makes it very difficult.  If an owner is not cleaning up their yards and the waste is creating an odor problem, a complaint should be put in both to the HOA and to the Department of Health.

Unless you live way out in the country, barking dogs is a problem endemic to city life.  Having our houses so close together so the back yards all form something of an “echo chamber” doesn’t help!  However, it is not permitted to leave a dog outside to bark for extended periods of time.  We encourage residents to try to address the issue directly with the owner involved, but we know that doesn’t always work.  A complaint may be lodged with the HOA following the process outlined in Rules Section 9.D.  If it is extremely cold or hot, and the dog is left out without shelter or clean water and you are worried about its safety, call Joint Animal Services, whose number is listed under Local Resources-local links.

No.  Our entire neighborhood is subject to the City of Lacey’s leash laws, and that includes the storm pond area.  As a stormwater treatment area, it is even more critical that dog owners who walk their dogs there be sure to pick up any “deposits” – which is why there is a doggy doo station right at the entrance off Radius and Prism.  Dog poop contains a high level of unwelcome bacteria.  If you wouldn’t want that in your drinking water, clean up after your dog!

PLAYING WITH FIRE

NO.  The City of Lacey does not allow the discharge of any fireworks within City limits.  Please see: http://www.codepublishing.com/WA/Lacey/#!/lacey09/Lacey0920.html#9.20.030  With our houses so close together, the fire hazard is even greater, especially in dry years. 

ODDS AND ENDS

It is fine to walk or play in the storm pond areas, just don’t do anything that risks getting entangled in the power lines.  Many of our residents love using the trails around the stormwater ponds.  During the winter and spring, our stormwater ponds often flood and become a haven for wild waterfowl.  We’ve even had ducklings! 

NO.  Absolutely no wheeled vehicles of any size or type are allowed.  Wheels cause erosion and pack down the dirt, making the treatment of storm water less efficient.

Not without Board permission. 

This public park is owned and maintained by the City of Lacey.  The shelter is first-come, first-served but fields may be reserved for events.  See https://laceyparks.org/facilities/sports-fields/ 

Ownership of that perennial object of vandalism is disputed, but it absolutely does NOT belong to Horizon Pointe Lacey.  Our boundary ends at the fence behind the last house on Balustrade/Lintel Lane.

There are several possibilities.  While some people find it discomfiting, it is perfectly legal to take pictures of houses, although these pictures should not include people.  Any person with a legitimate reason for taking pictures should be willing to tell you who they are and what their purpose is.  If the person is in a car, it might be the management company doing their monthly compliance checks; they should have a magnetic sign on their doors.  Another possibility is that it could be a real estate agent doing “comps” for a sale in the area.  With as many sales as we always have going on here, this is fairly common.  If the person is on foot and taking pictures of something on the ground or the street and then of your house, it is most likely for landscape/utility work; it is industry standard to take a photo of the work area and then of the nearest house to serve as a reference point.  Another possibility of someone on foot is simply a local resident who is gathering landscaping or plant ideas.  One of the perks of this neighborhood is the variety of landscaping approaches and the wide variety of plants you can find, so more than a few of us have been known to snap some pics for inspiration as we’re out on walks, without considering that it might look creepy to someone else.

Yes, with certain restrictions, since this is a residential area.  See the Rules, Section 4.