The following is an e-mail that was sent by Irwin Seitelman to Bernie Amero in response to the News Bulletin published on BaywindsLife©.

Bernie,

Normally I have a high regard for your point of view, but in this case I think you're very wrong.

I thought this was a dead & gone, decided issue, but you choose to open it up again. I guess it's your right as a resident & because you own the bully pulpit to do it from.

You are operating under the assumption that a rate increase of 14% is fixed in stone. No one can be certain of what the increase will be at this point in time. The change from 5 story buildings to two story buildings is NOT the only reason for a rise in our community & clubhouse dues, but it is a factor.  Unfortunately you've oversimplified the issue. Lets look at the other side.

The residents as a group decided that 5 story buildings did not belong here. The mayor & the W.P.B. Commissioners agreed that 5 story condos had no place in a community of one-story homes.  There are no communities of one, or even one & two story homes that have 5 story condos in their midst in this city.

Our clubhouse facilities, pools, tennis courts, etc are taxed to their limit NOW... & there are no residents at all as yet from Pod I taxing these facilities further.  Our ballroom in the clubhouse has a maximum capacity of about 300+ persons & since most residents in Baywinds are here as couples, that means that currently the 1000+ homes are housing over 2000 people.

Adding 150+ condo apartments plus two homes more to be situated on the present parking lot of Regatta Cove's sales office would bring in 300+ more warm bodies.  Just that proposed new housing alone would fill our ballroom.

As a COP I get to patrol other communities in our area.  Some of those communities have a mix of one & two story homes.  In some cases, single story homes are sandwiched between two, two story homes. The one story home is overshadowed & I imagine its owners must feel claustrophobic having to look up & see homes on either side towering over them. 

Now its true that if 5 story condos were built, they'd have their own Pod, but the reality is that, the larger the building near your home is, the further away it can be & still produce those claustrophobic sensations. 

Let's face it Bernie, neither of us will be forced to stare up at those 5 story condos for the rest of our lives because we aren't near them.  Other sections of Baywinds buffer us.  What of those neighborhoods in Baywinds that will be next to Pod I?  What will happen to THEIR property values?  The answer to that is the same answer as was given concerning those homes that believed the sales pitch that the preserve behind their homes would be there in perpetuity & now know a road is going in behind their homes.  They discovered the truth too late. 

The neighborhoods next to Pod I don't wish to make the same mistake.  If the residents of Baywinds wanted to live less expensively, they could have moved to hive-like communities with many thousands of residents & relatively low fees.  They chose Baywinds, a moderate sized community of single family, single story homes. 

A compromise was reached between the city & the builder that seemed reasonable to our residents.  We will have 50+ homes that will be of two stories.  Yes, we will have to pay higher fees.  Yes, Lennar apparently always planned the 5 story buildings, which was how they determined how much money to charge for maintenance. 

When we purchased our homes several years ago, builders in Florida were not required to provide full disclosure.  Now they are.

14% sounds like a lot & I assume it's 14% of both the Baywinds Association & the Clubhouse fees, which are the same for all residents.  Doing some quick math in my head, that comes to less than a $25 increase.  I think that's a small price to pay to maintain the original nature of the community & the quality of life here. 

True I'd rather not pay it, but to keep things in perspective, last year my homeowners insurance with full coverage & a 2% deductible for hurricane coverage, went from $800 the prior year to $1500; a $700 increase.  What did I get for my insurance dollars?  NOTHING!!!  The roof damage I incurred from the hurricanes I had to pay for out of pocket because it was only a few hundred dollars in damages & surely would not meet the deductible's limits.  Everything costs more today than yesterday, but less than tomorrow.

I'm not trying to figure your finances & we each make our own monetary decisions, but you have your own pool & drive an expensive car.  Why are you so anxious to accept so many more residents plus 5-story buildings in order to prevent a 14% increase?

Irwin

The following is the e-mail reply from Bernie Amero to the above e-mail from Irwin Seitelman.

Irwin,

As always thank you for your considered thoughts. I found them thought provoking and informative.

Tell me what other choice I really had given the circumstances.

First, I did not solicit nor had I any idea that Lennar still had an interest in 5-story condominiums. Lennar called me and Lennar made that statement which was completely contrary to a statement Dave Baselice made in my presence almost a year ago.

Second, neither Paul Helfgott nor I have been given the courtesy of a response to our inquiries to Joe Cabano and Karen Israel regarding the reported 14% increase. Maybe I'm paranoid but I believe it is reasonable to conclude that the Presidents are now putting up a wall of silence at least towards BaywindsLife© as they have been doing for a long time with the Breeze. Had these Presidents seen fit to respond to our inquiries I probably wouldn't have been talking to Lennar about the basis for this proposed 14% increase and Lennar representative probably wouldn't have made the offer that was made. Everything is connected and there are consequences to even the inactions of our Presidents. This is yet another example of why it is critically important that these Presidents open up to the community and let us know what they are doing and the process that they are following.

Third, some of our residents are more than very upset with such a large increase that has yet gone unrefuted by any President as of this e-mail. Some residents are on fixed or limited incomes and may find it necessary to leave Baywinds because of such a large increase. I've had one person express that very concern to me this week. The way I understand the increase and contrary to your assertion that the change is "NOT the only reason for the rise in our dues", the 14% is ONLY due to reapportionment of expenses to existing fee-paying residents (i.e., 1022 currently-occupied homes will have to pay for the expenses of a 1082 future-occupied home community). The actual increase is likely to be more than 20% if you include items that aren't even in the current budget (e.g., attorney and engineering fees associated with transition and clubhouse purchase, reserves, etc.). Every percent increase is likely to force even more of our neighbors to leave Baywinds. You and I can probably afford to pay even up to 25% or more of an increase without too much trouble. Who will speak up for those who can't and who never realized that the loss of the 5-story condominiums PLUS transition PLUS clubhouse purchase would turn into a body blow to them regarding their personal finances? It isn't me that has "oversimplified the issue.” it is the Presidents who have done so by deciding, before the Proposal to purchase the clubhouse was even mailed, to raise our fees by more than 14%.

Fourth, the frenzy by those who were extremely adamant about rising up against the 5-story condominiums for the last year (i.e., sort of a mob mentality was in play) precluded the opportunity for a thoughtful debate over the pros and cons of this issue. Even Bernna acknowledged in an e-mail exchange with Al Tsacnaris and myself regarding the Petition that was circulated prior to April's vote on the Proposal that the atmosphere in the community regarding the 5-story condos precluded a real discussion of the issue. Karen Israel acknowledged at the time that there were going to be consequential increases in our fees. I am not sure whether or not she and others chose to communicate that fact to people that were being solicited for the petition against the 5-story condominiums. It is correct that those residents who didn't want the 5-story condos "decided the 5 story buildings did not belong here" but it is not correct to infer from that that a "fully informed community" made that decision.

Fifth, you repeat the mistake of enumerating the arguments that have been made repeatedly for more than a year now against the 5-story condos BUT dismissing the cost as unknowable or inconsequential. Maybe it is inconsequential to people like you and me but it surely is not inconsequential to some Baywinds residents. By the way, did you know that Baywinds, as originally planned and approved, was to contain over 2000 homes? How do you think the clubhouse would have handled that number of people? If you really believe removing 86 homes from POD I (i.e., 1168-1082) will make that big a difference then we all should be raising money to buy POD I from Lennar and turn it into a nice park. This would remove an additional 58 homes and free up more of the clubhouse. I can't believe removing 86 homes from the number of homes after more than 800 homes have already been removed from the count (i.e., the original >2000 approved homes) is all that significant but, if it is, so too would removing an additional 58 homes.

Sixth, you speak of property values. We were all told that the 5-story condominium units would come in at around $300,000 each. That price-point was greater than what Lighthouse Pointe homes were selling for at the time and therefore the 5-story condos would likely INCREASE not DECREASE our property values. In addition, in a recent conversation with Mark Todd about the 2-story POD I buildings, he claimed that it will be difficult to sell the units on the second floor given the likelihood that there will not be elevators and that fact alone will lower property values.

Finally, all that was published in BaywindsLife© was the facts regarding the 14% increase and the Lennar representative's statement. I did not propone a position one way or another. I take offense to your charge that I "chose to open" this issue up again and your implication that I did it because I "own the bully pulpit to do it from." The Presidents have decided to raise our fees by more than 14% due to the POD I issue and Lennar is offering our residents an opportunity to avoid that. Stop trying to dismiss the reality of the increase by saying such things as "You are operating under the assumption that a rate increase of 14% is fixed in stone." That's what everyone who is against the 5-story condos has done for more than a year now. Rather than doing proper due diligence and coming up with a number to include in the discussion of the issue, the opponents of the 5-story condos continue to claim "No one can be certain of what the increase will be at this point in time." Tell me why after more than a year of discussion hasn't someone done the proper analysis and put a number on this issue? I'll tell you why. They don't want to have to defend their position with both the positive and negative facts.

Boy, I really enjoyed getting all that off my chest. Maybe we should consider publishing both of our e-mails on BaywindsLife©.

I love a good debate about important issues.

Your serve.

Bernie