June President's Letter

Dear Friends,

By this point, we all know what June 1 represents…the “official beginning of Hurricane Season.” For many years VI residents may have taken this date for granted. After what we experienced in 2024 I think we all need to take Hurricane Season more seriously and begin the preparations NOW. Stock up on all the items that have been described by all the major new outlets and consider picking up sandbags that are available from the City. If anyone has heard of unique surge protection measures let me know and I’ll pass your suggestions along in the next President’s Letter. These may be helpful to all VI residents especially those who have moved into the neighborhood recently.

After the May President’s Letter, wherein I wrote that the VIHA Board voted to temporarily suspend DRs 19, 20 and 34 which pertain to “Property Maintenance” with the understanding that VI is still recovering from the effects of the 2024 hurricanes, we received a number of reported DR violations through phone calls, emails and posting to the website. On June 7, members of the Deed Restriction Committee performed a street side review. It appears that at least 35 percent (my estimate only) of the homes in VI are still being repaired, under construction or unoccupied. The DR violations found on this review largely pertained to the parking of golf carts and boats/trailers in driveways, which were NOT temporarily suspended. As you were informed when you moved into VI, the Deed Restrictions are not voluntary, please abide by them.

It was clear from the streetside review that many property owners have worked very hard and incurred considerable expense to maintain/repair the appearance of their homes. The VI community THANKS each and every one of you for your efforts!!!!​

Below is an update on the ballots submitted for the 5 Deed Restrictions Revisions (“DRR”) that the Deed Restriction Revision Committee had advanced for consideration by VI property owners:  

The DRs require 66.7% of property owner approval on any DRR and so far 4 of the 5 DRRs proposed by the DRRC have been approved.

If you have not yet received a ballot or misplaced it, please let me know IMMEDIATELY and we will have one sent to your current location. This is your opportunity to determine the future of your neighborhood. Please vote, even if you are not in favor of any, or all, of the proposed DRRs.
Ballots will be accepted through September 30.

The next steps on the adoption of the DRRs are as follows:

1. the written ballots that have been received will be reviewed by an “audit committee” comprised of VI residents to make sure that each ballot has been accurately recorded by a registered property owner with the appropriate signature;
   
2. those ballots will then be sent to VI’s counsel, Anne Hathorn;
   
3. Counsel will record those DRRs and the required Certificates in the appropriate land records of Pinellas County;
   
4. the approved DRRs will become “revised restrictions” on the date recorded and will revise and replace the DRs previously recorded. Once the ballots are provided to Counsel, the remainder of the process should be completed within 2-3 weeks.
   

Finally, thanks to the 303 property owners who have paid their $200.00 annual VIHA Dues as of June 8. We’ve been featuring advertisers in the Homeowners Directory in each of the 2025 President’s Letters and this month we feature All Our Air Conditioning. We have a number of new directory advertisers this year so please try and patronize these companies, many of which are run by VI residents, and thank them for supporting the VIHA.

Lastly, as our community continues its recovery, let’s continue to be patient and kind to our neighbors.

Sincerely,
Rich Scanlon
VIHA President
[email protected]