<p>Everyone is helpfully sticking to topic while I am still laughing about swimcatsmom’s president of the homeowner’s association who is a fiesty old lay… (sorry - usually I am very mature).</p>
<p>instransition - lol - I saw that, too! What’s amazing is that it got past violadad.</p>
<p>VeryHappy - I have to agree with those saying don’t pay. To me, it sets an unfortunate precident. But if you were close to the time of repaving anyway, perhaps you could acknowledge this, send a check for whatever you feel would have been the appropriate amount, along with a very nice letter, explaining that it is normal for neighbors to approve community projects together, and not bill each other without prior consent. And that you welcome them to the neighborhood, are happy to have them, and hope that understanding the community mindset will help them in the future.</p>
<p>I wonder if it’s possible they did talk with some of the neighbors, and thought they were doing something that was okay. You could even mention that if they spoke with some of the neighbors ahead of time, then of course, they should feel comfortable billing those people.</p>
<p>I do not think you should just acquiesce. You sure don’t want to live in a neighborhood where one person makes all the decisions. Who knows what they’ll decide next.</p>
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<p>binx, I saw it. Nothing gets by me. It’s been years since both my name and “hot” have been used in the same sentence. Quite simply, I was far too stupefied to formulate a retort. And for those interested, I’m one helluva cook. ;)</p>
<p>Ooh, where’s mythmom? We gonna be talking about poseidon and venus envy again soon? ;)</p>
<p>I agree that there are 2 issues at play here, and you are fortunate to have the group on your block respond to the new neighbors as a “block”. Do you know how much others were “billed”? If you were billed $1100, and others were too, thats a pretty hefty bill for some repaving of only a portion of your street. And, when you schedule to repave your street, will the new mcmansion owner be paying into that cost as well (if the owners are setting a precident that they are expecting your to pay for their work, seems reasonable to me to say that they are now planning to participate in the repaving of the street in an ongoing basis, since they now have “property” under your street that affects their home). </p>
<p>Did the new homeowners use the same paving company that you do when you repave? Since they are new, maybe the paving company just told them that they usually send bills to all the homeowners on the street when they repave, and maybe, just maybe, it was an innocent mistake ( ie-- pavers: "do you want us to divide the bill up to the homeowners on the block like we always do? " -slim chance, but possible). So, before responding with an unkind response, it might be better to ask a few more questions first. For sure though, if your street members do contribute to this cost an any small way, to be nice to the new neighbors, I would do so only if they plan and agree to contribute to any and all upcoming street paving. And, I’d get it in writing.</p>
<p>I do have to agree with those above who said that you’ve probably been lucky all these years to pay a smaller portion of the repaving do to your amount of “use” of the road. Here too, when something is done, homeowners usually are expected to pay an equal share, not a proportionate share. That said, our homeowners voted down a plan to build a small clubhouse at the pool. It was a great plan, well thought through and researched, with great designs, etc, but the real estate market softened too much by the time the plans were brought to a vote, and the HA board decided to have a high bar set for “yes” votes so they didn’t have a huge problem collecting the assessment that would be added to the dues, and it failed. It is a shame. It would have been a good addition to the value of the homes in our neighborhood. People were short-sighted and cheap, IMO.</p>
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<p>That was my thought also…I don’t care how many potted plants they sent to all of their new neighbors.</p>
<p>I can’t believe that someone would start a project, knowing that they were going to ask the neighbors to contribute $$ to said project, without talking to the neighbors in advance.</p>
<p>Unless there is something else in the homeowner’s association bylaws or other documentation about the private road, as far as I can see, you have no obligation to pay. There was no contract between you and the new owners. There was no contract between you and the pavers. There is therefore no basis on which you can be found obligated to pay.</p>
<p>As others have said, the road was torn up to meet the needs of the new owners. It was not done for “general improvement” purposes, whereby you also would benefit from the work done. (For example, if the town had required that all houses on your cul de sac now must be hooked up to town water, then you could have done it at the same time as the new owners and received a benefit. At that point, you may be liable for some of the costs which you otherwise would have borne had you done the work yourself.)Included in this category would be the general repair & maintenance of the road, which does benefit you. </p>
<p>They could argue that they did, in fact, increase the value of the road and you are thereby enriched by it. However, that increase was something to which you never agreed. They decided on their own to make those improvements, and voluntarily agreed to absorb those costs; if they didn’t want to absorb those costs, they could have left things as they were.</p>
<p>Again, as noted above, this assumes that there is nothing in writing about the road in your deed, town bylaws, or other documents to the contrary. And of course you should consult an attorney in your jurisdiction for specific legal advice.</p>
<p>For the sake of peace in the neighborhood, however, you may want to pay what you think is reasonable (and can afford) for the paving work that will benefit you.</p>
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<p>I think this is what has to be confirmed first. Did these people speak to ANY of the neighbors about it? jym626 brings up an excellent point about the possibility of the same paving company being used and suggesting this splitting of the payment? In any case, if it were me, I’d still arrange for all to get together and discuss it, in an attempt to reach an amicable solution. </p>
<p>I wouldn’t be looking at this as to whether I had a legal obligation to pay, but rather what is the way to handle it to make ‘neighborly’ life what I’d want it to be. Simply presenting a bill with no prior discussion with anyone doesn’t seem to fit with how these people handled themselves in other interactions with their new neighbors. Lastly, I have to say that $1100 sounds pretty cheap for even a portion of a repaving project of a street/cul-de-sac. That would be what you’d pay for a standard sized driveway here. :)</p>
<p>I notice that VeryHappy lives in Connecticut, as do I. Given the weather in Connecticut, it is probably that there is <em>other</em> road maintenance to which the neighbors contribute annually, i.e. snowplowing! How is that handled? Looking at the snowplowing bill might suggest how the paving is handled.</p>
<p>I have also considered buying homes on private lanes where the homeowners share the maintenance costs. Usually there is some sort of agreement on costs attached to the deed, although ours in pretty loose and casual. (I would note, that often these private culdesacs are not built to normal streets specs and are not much more than a shared drive. Think 12 feet wide, not 25.)</p>
<p>On my driveway, 100 feet in common (and something like 500 feet just to us, and 200 feet just to the other guy) we just plow our section plus the first 100 – and if the other guy gets to it first, it gets double plowed. The common portion is not paved however. Every once in a while we have a contractor dump a load of gravel on it.</p>
<p>Agree with those who say:</p>
<p>1) Try to get agreement with neighbors about how to proceed.</p>
<p>2) Really dumb of new people to incur a cost they expected you to pay.</p>
<p>3) Good neighborly relations are priceless, so whether or not you and other neighbors can agree how to proceed, I’d try to settle this somewhat amicably.</p>
<p>How I’d do that is pro-rate each person’s usual portion based on how many years it’s been since it was last paved.</p>
<p>FYI, we lived in our house for 20 years. I used to love all our neighbors. We used to have picnics on the front lawns, block-wide garage sales, cooked for each other when there were births, illnesses, ice-cream socials, etc. There has been such turnover, and now I don’t even know the names of many of these neighbors. It really affects the quality of life. I’m in favor of keeping the peace without being a chump.</p>
<p>My sister in Bellevue lives on a road that isnt paved- just gravel.As they live just off the city owned road, they don’t want to pay for the thing to be paved. ( which brings up- doing it every 10 years sounds expensive in the long run- if it is cured right, should it really need to be redone that often?)</p>
<p>They live on a slope bordering a green belt and when they built, they were the only house for quite a while, with land becoming so expensive & because it is Bellevue with a view, eventually about 5 or 6 homes have been added & just with the one soil class I have taken- I really wonder about the current stability of the hillside. I would also think that their refusal to contribute to paving the road affects their relationship with their neighbors , but I don’t think they care.</p>
<p>But I agree w youdon’tsay, neighbors can add alot to quality of life. We have lived in our “starter house” since 1983, across the street from this amazing woman.
[HeraldNet:</a> Hikers stay happy together](<a href=“Hikers stay happy together | HeraldNet.com”>Hikers stay happy together | HeraldNet.com)</p>
<p>For some reason those on our street are remarkably long lived so we don’t have much turnover! :D</p>
<p>But living in the city, with sidewalks, near a school, means that we meet lots of our neighbors out and about & we still have block parties etc. Many more kids than there used to be.</p>
<p>Perhaps the McMansionites did not plan to bill the neighbors for the road - but after al the McMansion bills came in, the price started to seem high, and I can see a contractor saying, “What! You’re not asking the neighbors to pay!!??!” Hence, the bill. </p>
<p>so, the new neighbors may have sent the paving bills as a fishing expedition…to see if y’all would pay. Talk to the other neighbors, get more facts, and then develop your plan of action, whether offering to pay some if the road was ready to be re-paved, or none until next needed paving time.</p>
<p>Don’t you just love it when the locus of suggestions is tight like they are in this thread? </p>
<p>Of course you shouldn’t pay without neighborhood agreement, so go ahead and convene that neighborhood meeting. Hey, you might be the only one who’s even considering paying! The other neighbors might be thinking “Well what if the street damage wasn’t caused by water line installation. What if the damage was caused by the neighbor himself who got drunk one night, and drove a conveniently available bulldozer up and down the street. The next morning, realizing what he’d done, he called all of his neighbors and sent apologetic notes and plants, and arranged to have the street repaired – AND THEN SENT NEIGHBORS THE BILL!”</p>
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You are my new best friend, alwaysamom :)</p>
<p>Anyone remember the “neighbor building a chainlink fence” thread of about a year ago?. Some posters gave that OP a hard time for supposedly not taking the neighbors feelings into consideration. As more information surfaced, opinions changed about the situation. Perhaps here too, when VH finds out if the other neighbors on her cul-de-sac were billed, if the owners of the McMansion were given incorrect info from the pavers and made an honest mistake vs. whether they just tried to stick the neighbors with a bill may change our thoughts as to how she and her neighbors should respond. By history, according to VH, the new mcmansion neighbors have been friendly and considerate. Is there a reason to think they have changed their tune? Certainly I agree, I would be disinclined to pay a bill I was sent out of the blue, but I’d want to know why the newbies think anyone else besides them should be paying anything. That is an important question. </p>
<p>Other option-- tell them where to stick it and take that job transfer to Atlanta!! 
(Just don’t let them try to mess up the sale of your house with some pesky dispute…)</p>
<p>It boggles my mind that they would tear up the road for their own purposes and then expect YOU to pay for it, especially with no discussion. It’s just totally out of line.</p>
<p>As for why the previously friendly newbies did this, consult the thought processes of Mr. & Mrs. Dashwood in Sense & Sensibility as they persuade themselves that it is acceptable to do the half-sisters out of their inheritance! :)</p>
<p>We used to share a septic system with the house across the street. (Strange, but true. Both houses were built by the same family, the first one around 1790 and ours around 1886, and the intervening road was dirt at the time they put the sewage line under it.) A while after we moved in, we noticed that our neighbors had someone over there digging up the junction of the sewage line. A couple of days later, the neighbor appeared at our house with a bill, expecting us to pay half of it. (We had experienced no trouble, sine we are uphill, but they had a clog.) We paid it without protest, but frankly I was not pleased that they had chosen to proceed without ever telling us that they were having a problem, or giving us the opportunity to have input into how it was solved. I felt that this showed lack of courtesy and an assumption of bad faith on their part, and wasn’t sorry when they moved.</p>
<p>I agree with those that suggest that you should check the legalities, then get together with the other neighbors and decide what to do. Even if you decide to chip in some amount, I think that you need to convey clearly to the McMansionites that you are doing this to be nice, and that in the future all expenditures must be agreed upon in advance or you will not pay for them. Snow plowing can be a bone of contention: some people get hysterical every time a flake falls and want the plow guy out there repeatedly during every storm. Other people are willing to wait. The difference in $$ can be substantial. Let’s not even get into whether to salt or not! :)</p>
<p>I echo checking with the other neighbors first. My instinct is that you guys shouldn’t have to pay, especially if the road were recently re-paved. Sounds like Mr & Mrs McMansion weren’t clear on how the whole road-paving arrangement works, I’d be polite when explaining it to them -as a group, in writing). </p>
<p>Keep us updated; I’m curious to see how this one turns out!</p>
<p>I have not read any but the first post, but my first thought would be “How long has it been since the last repaving?” If you normally do it every 10 years and it has been 2, then they should pay; if it has been 5 or more, maybe the neighborhood kicks in some portion.</p>
<p>On the costs, I do not know how these cost compare to prior times, if it has been ten years, is the cost they chose reasonable? They definitely need some training as to how the neighborhood works for future reference!</p>
<p>Was thinking about this… VH, who exactly sent you the bill? When you say “they” sent you a bill, is “they” the new neighbors or the paving company? If the bill came from the paving company, it is possible that they have something on file there that tells them to divvy up the road repair bill amongst the neighbors (and hopefully the new McMansion owners got a bill too. It would suck if the bill for the street only went to the residents of the street!). If the “bill” came from the neighbors, (ie “Pay us back X amount for the road repair”) well, that’s a different story, and warrants a response from you and all your cul de sac neighbors. Good luck.</p>
<p>Another thought… (is it obvious I am procrastinating at work??) If you were about to repave the road anyway, is the paving company going to reduce your cost by not having to repave the part they just did? That is, if, say, it was going to cost 10K to repave the whole cul de sac, but now it will cost only 7K because part was just done in conjunction with the McMansion, then there might be a reason to consider what the benefit was to you. That said,they should still have talked to you first, and all of you should be able to decide what if anything is reasonable to contribute. If, however, it all has to be redone to be smoothe and contiguous when you repave the whole street, don’t pay anything now.</p>
<p>While we don’t share a road, I do share a number of tools and equipment with my neighbor across the street. Best example is the riding lawn mower which we split.</p>
<p>I’ll digress for a minute - best idea we ever had. We moved in a few months apart and when it came time to mow, neither of us had a lawn mower. I was going to Sears to buy a lawn mower, asked him if he wanted to come along and we could throw them both in the back of my truck as he did not have a large enough car to get one home. We were there looking at mowers - and just to the left was the John Deere display. Total cost of two push mowers was 80% of the cost of the baby John Deere. The rest is history. Since we mow probably twice a month (this is country - all we are doing is keeping the weeds down), that thing will probably last forever - it is currently in its 10th year. It still takes 4 hours to cut my property and 3 to do his (as he has more trees). </p>
<p>Deal is very simple - but written down. All maintenance is agreed upon in advance unless it is less than $100. Costs of the maintenance are split 50-50. If work needs doing, we share the effort (e.g. jacking it up to change the blades is really a two man job.)</p>
<p>How does this relate to the road - all of it is written down - even though it is simple. And no costs are incurred without advance warning (other than little stuff like a quart of oil). </p>
<p>I agree that it does matter how long ago the road was last repaved. If the bill were coming up shortly anyway (say within the next two years) then I would be inclined to pay my normal share given that I was going to have to pay it soon anyway. If the road was recently repaved - forget it. The challenge lies when things are in between e.g. 5 year old road. There I would say that pro-rata seems fair.</p>
<p>Regardless, I would talk to my other neighbors first, agree upon a course of action and then present it to the new neighbors. I would have a draft agreement that all could modify and then sign at the whole neighborhood meeting.</p>
<p>Reading this is timely, we are on a little gravel road about 6 lots long after the end of the pavement; it’s not private and the county is supposed to chip seal it. We’ve been working on it for a long time and just now a steam roller went by- yay, soon, no more dust.</p>
<p>If the road of VH is being redone every ten years, maybe it is chip seal and not asphalt? Or did the McMansions upgrade to asphalt? I have read a lot great deal about chip sealing being redone about every ten years.</p>
<p>Impressive arrangement, Scualum! especially that you have kept things friendly for ten years.</p>