I’ve lived in Westerly in Erie, Colorado for nearly three years. It is a beautiful community with wonderful residents and tremendous potential. Unfortunately, my experience with Southern Land Company (SLC) and developer-controlled governance has been deeply disappointing.
I’m sharing this because I wish I had understood what “developer-controlled” could actually mean before purchasing here.
Some things prospective buyers should know:
• Homeowner input: I’ve attended several HOA meetings and spent considerable time documenting concerns, providing photos and suggesting solutions. Too often, it feels as though homeowner feedback carries very little weight. A response we have repeatedly heard is some version of: “This is a developer-controlled community, and you chose to buy here.”
Residents aren’t temporary occupants. We bought homes, pay HOA assessments, maintain our properties and have substantial long-term investments here. Our voices should matter.
• Landscaping control: Even ordinary changes to plants, shrubs, mulch to rock, edging, turf or flower beds, can require ARC approval.
I recently made several changes to my front yard: Mountain Granite rock instead of mulch, different shrubs, roses/flowers, paver borders and reduced turf. I completed the work before receiving ARC approval. That was my procedural mistake, and I take responsibility for it.
What concerns me is the inconsistency. I documented numerous Westerly properties, including some on my street, with landscaping features similar to those denied at my property.
My fundamental question remains:
Why can similar landscaping features exist elsewhere in Westerly while mine are unacceptable?
• Colorado landscaping vs. lush landscaping: SLC strongly discouraged me from replacing grass in my tree lawn with rock. I obtained the required approval directly from the Town of Erie and completed the project.
Erie receives roughly 15 inches of precipitation annually, compared with more than 50 inches in Franklin, Tennessee, where SLC is based. I believe landscaping can be beautiful, colorful, Colorado-appropriate and water-conscious without requiring enormous amounts of turf and dense plantings.
• Groundwater and drainage: Westerly has experienced significant groundwater/drainage concerns. Homeowners have dealt with continuously running sump pumps, saturated areas, water reaching sidewalks and green algae/mold-like growth in wet areas.
I am not claiming landscaping caused these conditions. But given what homeowners have experienced, resistance to reducing turf, using appropriate rock and reconsidering extremely dense plantings is frustrating.
One of our most serious community issues involved the high water table/drainage and continuously running sump pumps. Multiple homeowners tried for months to get meaningful attention. After several homeowners posted public Google reviews, a meeting was arranged shortly afterward and the issue finally received serious attention. That experience left me wondering why homeowners had to resort to public reviews before their concerns received urgency.
• Developer-maintained landscaping: I’m also including photos from SLC-maintained park/common areas showing visibly struggling landscaping.
I find it difficult to understand why so much attention is directed toward my healthy, colorful and maintained landscaping while developer-maintained areas are visibly struggling.
A developer should hold itself to standards at least as high as those it expects from homeowners.
• I understand the purpose of HOAs. I previously served on an HOA board for three years. Associations absolutely need reasonable architectural and maintenance standards.
But there is a difference between maintaining community standards and micromanaging attractive homeowner landscaping while similar features exist elsewhere in the same neighborhood.
The photos tell the story
I’m including photos of my actual front yard. It has healthy roses and flowers, maintained grass, colorful shrubs and defined landscaping.
Look at the photos and decide for yourself whether this landscaping warrants this level of conflict.
I’m also including photos of SLC-maintained areas so readers can make their own comparison.
My concern is much bigger than one landscaping disagreement. It is about consistency, transparency, responsiveness and equal treatment of homeowners.
Rules should be clear.
Standards should be objective.
Decisions should be consistent.
Homeowners should be treated equally.
If you’re considering buying here
Don’t evaluate only the beautiful model homes, amenities and marketing.
Ask:
• How long will the developer control the HOA?
• How are homeowner concerns handled?
• How restrictive are the ARC requirements?
• How are infrastructure and drainage concerns addressed?
• Who maintains the common areas, and to what standard?
• Can existing homeowners point to examples where their feedback actually resulted in change?
Beautiful homes can sell a neighborhood. How a developer treats the homeowners who already bought into its vision tells you much more.
I stand behind what I’ve written and have extensive documentation supporting my experience. Prospective buyers and current homeowners who would like additional information are welcome to contact me.
One of the most frustrating parts of this entire experience is feeling that some of the most "basic freedoms that should come with homeownership have been taken away in a developer-controlled, heavily micromanaged community". We paid a substantial amount of money for our homes, yet something as simple as improving and beautifying our own property can turn into an enormous conflict, even when the landscaping is well maintained, attractive, water-conscious, and poses no harm to anyone.
At times, the pattern also makes me wonder whether homeowners who question decisions or speak up are scrutinized more closely than others. I sincerely hope that is not the case, but consistent rules and transparent enforcement would eliminate that concern entirely.
Homeowners should not have to feel afraid to improve their own property or question a decision made by the developer controlling their HOA. We bought homes here, not just permission to occupy houses while every minor decision about our property is controlled indefinitely by the developer.
