Prescott council postpones final plat for Prescott Lakes after HOA raises master-plan, signature concerns

Prescott City Council on Oct. 28 voted 5-2 to postpone consideration of a final plat for a Prescott Lakes subdivision after homeowners and the community association said the map before the council did not include required HOA approval and may assign responsibilities the association never agreed to.

The delay was proposed by Councilwoman Furworth, who said the council should not sign off on a final plat that could bind the city and the association to terms that are "not aligned" or accepted by all legally cited parties. "It would be in the city's best interest at this point to move to postpone this final plat approval, until a future date, pending that all the parties that are legally involved . . . have reached agreement," Furworth said.

Why it matters: The plat document before the council includes dedication language and references to CC&Rs that, residents and the association say, would place maintenance and slope easement liabilities on the Prescott Lakes Community Association. If the city approves a final plat that purports to assign those obligations, residents said, the association could be left to shoulder unexpected costs or pursue litigation.

Staff response and legal limits: Randy Perham, the city engineer and deputy director for public works, told the council that staffs review is limited to whether the final plat is in "substantial conformance" with the previously approved preliminary plat. "In my opinion of staff and as your city engineer, I would say that, yes, it is in conformance with the final plat," Perham said. Chelsea Walton, community development director, clarified that the preliminary plat had been approved at 54 lots while the final plat before the council proposed 48 lots; she said decreasing lot counts is permitted and still can meet substantial conformance.

Association and developer positions: Scott Carpenter, attorney for the Prescott Lakes Community Association, told the council the recorded CC&Rs require a notarized signature of the association on plats that assign responsibilities. "The CC and R's for the Prescott Lakes Community Association state that the plat must have the approval signature that's notarized of the Prescott Lakes Community Association. And the plat that's been put before you does not have a signature block," Carpenter said. Association members and long-time residents told the council that the master-plan exhibits (some dated May 2005 and the approved amendment dated Aug. 9, 2005) include protections for substantial open space and location-specific conditions they say the draft plat fails to honor.

Developer representatives pushed back. Luther Kratzberger, who described work to address earlier comments and to "clean up" the plat, asked the council to proceed, noting the plat includes items similar to other recorded plats in the neighborhood and that prior technical items had been addressed. Developer counsel Alex Fukula said the association had not identified specific items in the packet that required changes during the years since the preliminary plat was approved.

Action taken: Councilwoman Furworths motion to postpone the final plat until the involved parties reach agreement was seconded and passed 5-2. The council did not approve the final plat; staff and councilmembers said the item will return after additional coordination between the developer, the association and city staff.

What to watch for: The record shows disagreement about order-of-operations (whether developer or association consideration should come first) and about whether the city should review or enforce CC&Rs. City staff reiterated the city does not enforce CC&Rs; the councils action was procedural to avoid placing the city between private parties while recorded instruments remain in dispute.

Votes and procedural details: Motion to postpone final plat approval (agenda item 9b). Mover: Councilwoman Furworth; second: Councilman Grady. Vote: 5 yes, 2 no (pass). No formal amendments were adopted at the meeting.