Land Swaps

A land swap is when a Co-Owner requests an equal exchange of land to ensure all elements of their home are within the designated building envelope. The Master Deed states that no Co-Owner can own more land/square footage (sf) than what their original building envelope states in the Condo Subdivision Plan. If elements are found to be outside of your building envelope and a land swap cannot be arranged, it may lead to title issues when selling the house unless the encroachment is removed.

A land swap is a last resort used when an existing condition or previous action is not in compliance with the Master Deed. It must benefit the Association and be the only way to achieve compliance.

How does a Co-Owner request a land swap?

Contact the ARB and submit your plans, along with a survey showing the current building envelope and the requested land swap. The land swap must be of equal value.

• Building Additions: for example, if your envelope is 4550 sf and you want to add 350 sf porch to your home that will not fit within the existing building envelope, you must relinquish 350 sf of land from your current building envelope to accommodate the porch in the proposed location and then redraw the survey of the envelope accordingly to maintain the original square footage.

• Existing Building Elements: If you discover that your driveway, porch, or other fixed/permanent items are outside of your envelope, you may request a land swap and have your building envelope redrawn to accommodate the item(s).

• Permanent/Fixed items, such as poured concrete driveways, porches, outdoor showers, A/C condensers, generators, and hot tubs must be included within the building envelope.

• Non-permanent items such as stone paver walkways, stepping paths and movable fire pits do not need to be included within the building envelope.

The ARB will review any proposed land swaps and make a recommendation to the Association. A Land Swap requires a vote from the entire Association and requires 2/3 approval. The condo documents and Master Deed must also be updated to reflect the change.

All costs associated with a land swap – survey and attorney fees – are the responsibility of the Co-Owner initiating the land swap.

Wightman Surveyors

https://gowightman.com/services/survey

269.927.0100

Wightman has conducted several land swaps for Highland Shores and owns the Exhibit B – Subdivision Plan to the HSA Master Deed. This document needs to be updated to reflect the land swap and submitted, along with the Amendment and Ballot at the Association Annual Meeting, which takes place the Saturday of Memorial Day Weekend.