Mesa HOA vote to build $8.5M luxury center tossed out by judge

A Superior Court judge has ruled against a homeowners association in east Mesa, halting its plans to force residents to pay for the construction of an $8.5 million luxury community center.
Many residents said the project was rammed down their throats and that they couldn't afford the mandatory fees.
A vote in February by homeowners in the Apache Wells neighborhood, a large senior community, narrowly approved the plan to demolish an old, retro-style center with a golf pro shop, meeting hall, restaurant and fitness center to make way for a new one.
However, Superior Court Judge Bethany Hicks ruled this week that the election held earlier this year was invalid, despite an apparent 644 to 594 vote in favor of the project.
Hicks held that those voting in favor of the plan didn't represent the majority of all of the members of the homeowner's association. The association has 1,412 members; a majority would be 707.
More than 80 opponents of the project brought the lawsuit. Their ire was raised, in part, because each home in the community would have been assessed a one-time $6,020 payment to build the new center.
"We didn't go out and dance in the streets, but we were certainly pleased," said Bob Teague, one of the plaintiffs. "Our support in the community is quite strong and I'm sure that if they held the election — any way you figured it — they would not prevail today."
Representatives of the Apache Wells Homeowners Association Inc. did not return phone calls Thursday.
Gary Linder, a Phoenix attorney representing the association, said the ruling would be appealed.
He said the association's bylaws clearly require special assessments to be endorsed "by the majority of the residential unit owners at a special election called and publicized for that specific purpose."
He contended that the bylaw states the majority of those that vote in the election must approve the assessment. Around 88 percent of the neighborhood turned out for the election.
"That's incredible in any election," he said. "The ballot that was put in front of these folks was very, very clear."
Pat Tariff, a homeowner advocate, said the $6,020 assessment to build the new center was an attempt to benefit a select group in the neighborhood, which has a golf course.
"That's for the clubhouse and the golf course and it really benefits the golfers," she said. "I'm really tired of these boards and these HOA attorneys thinking they can do whatever they want to do."
A Web site for community news in Apache Wells run by opponents of the assessment — www.saveapachewells.com — states that the homeowner association is offering refunds to homeowners who already have paid their assessment.
Apache Wells is a retirement community where some of the original manufactured homes sit next to large custom stucco houses.