islandpacket.com - The Island Packet Online

• Archive Search

Search Everything in the Lowcountry and the Coastal Empire.

Residential unrest: Sun City Hilton Head panel resigns

Comment on this | | | | | | | |

An eight-member group of Sun City Hilton Head volunteers -- who for the past two years have worked to move the community to eventual resident-control --resigned in protest last week after the community's developer said their services weren't yet needed.

The resignations comes two months after the developer, Pulte Homes, took majority control of the seven-member Community Association Board of Directors by replacing two residents with Pulte representatives. The move gave Pulte four members on the board and a majority vote. The board takeover was announced to a disapproving, standing-room- only crowd at Sun City Jan. 24.

The board of directors later voted five-to-two to suspendthe Transition Team -- according to a letter team member Ira Kirschner wrote and posted on the Sun City website. All four Pulte representatives voted for the suspension.

Jon Cherry, Pulte's general manager in Sun City, said Thursday the Transition Team's work is unnecessary until Pulte is closer to building and selling all the homes in the development. Cherry said transition from developer- to resident-controlled community associations generally begins about two years before a developer plans on finishing construction and sales.

"We were a little ahead of ourselves," Cherry said, comparing the more robust real estate market two years ago to today's more dismal conditions. He would not say when he expects Pulte to finish in Sun City.

Members of the former transition team -- which will be suspended for at least two years -- said Cherry's answer is not satisfactory.

Former team chairman Dick Eberhart and member Joel Spiegel met with Cherry and another Pulte board member ahead of last week's announcement to discuss slowing down the team's progress. At that meeting, the two parties agreed the team could continue to meet on a quarterly basis, as opposed to the monthly schedule they had previously set.

Last week's announcement, however, ended that agreement.

"The continuity is lost. If you suspend the team for two years, you terminate it," Kirschner said. "Whatever skill sets we achieved during our two years there will be lost."

Among other things, the Transition Team was responsible for finding a new management team to run Sun City. The Transition Team -- originally given responsibility for making recommendations on the final decision -- set up a task force to request proposals from management companies.

The board announced last week it still wanted the task force to complete the research, but said it would no longer have input on a final decision -- an arrangement the Transition Team did not agree to.

"The [board of directors] wanted...the Management Task Force to do all of the hard, tedious work and turn it over to the [board] without giving any recommendation as to which company or self-management would be best for the community," Kirschner wrote in his letter.

Eberhart agreed.

"Pulte will be deciding who to hire, but it's the residents paying the bill," he said

The board of directors is now seeking out proposals from management companies, Cherry said. The Pulte-controlled board will decide which management company will replace the current one, Del Webb Communities, Inc., a Pulte subsidiary scheduled to be replaced by the beginning of next year.

Sun City resident and Board President Bob Hooper, who along with resident board member Jo Stephey opposed the suspension, could not be reached for comment Thursday.

| | | | | | |