Canyon Creek HOA
Architectural Control Committee (ACC)
Our HOA Bylaws specify an "Architectural Control Committee" (ACC) of 3-5 members, elected or appointed, to provide basic architectural controls for our neighborhood. This mainly involves review and approval for structural property changes - new structures, additions, roof replacements, etc. - and anything that impacts our common areas, native growth protection easements, building setback areas, and flood plains.
If you're making visible or structural modifications to your real property, you will probably need to submit your plans to the ACC for review and notify your neighbors in advance. We do NOT need to be involved in landscaping decisions, unless it impacts the areas listed above. Our job is to provide helpful guidance as everyone improves their own homes, and our neighborhood as a result.
Frequently Asked Questions
I'm planning a project. What are my obligations under the HOA?
Our HOA legal docs can be a pain to read through, so to sum up:
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Write a summary of your plans. Specific diagrams may be needed for structural changes to show their impact on the property as a whole.
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If needed, file permits with King County. Making sure improvements are up to code is your responsibility, and this may take a long time. We can advise with best effort, but we're not experts, and the HOA can't be responsible for these legal aspects of personal property development.
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Notify the ACC and your direct neighbors with your written summary, and allow them the chance to raise any concerns or give feedback. Officially the docs say this should be done via certified mail with specific waiting periods. In practice, most homeowners prefer to communicate via email, regular mail, or in person, so we are working to modernize these specifics for the good of our HOA. The spirit here is to make sure there is good communication before permanent and expensive changes are made.
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Work with the ACC on any concerns or clarifications, and we'll provide a signed document as your approval to proceed.
Note: Our latest PDF request form supports digital signatures if you open it in Adobe Acrobat Reader, so we can make the communication and approval process with the ACC streamlined and all digital.
The ACC should to give you a written decision to a completed submission within 21 days. If you did not get a decision by then, rules say that your submission is automatically "Approved". We understand the time sensitivity and urgency of many construction projects, and will do our best to expedite all reasonable requests.
What are the steps and timeline of a typical ACC review? What should I expect?
Our objective is to turn around reviews as quickly as possible. For a typical project:
Step 1: Notify your neighbors with your plans.
Step 2: Notify the ACC with your plans, including confirmation that you notified your neighbors. Emailing digital copies of your documents is appreciated! We have a helpful one-page form to fill out (link above) to kick this off.
Step 3: The ACC does an initial review ASAP (within a few days, sometimes same-day) and emails any immediate feedback or concerns to talk through.
Step 4: Notified neighbors technically have up to 21 days to escalate concerns to the ACC for consideration, but if all neighbors can provide written (email) feedback rapidly, including "Looks good to me!", the ACC can move forward on their decision sooner.
Step 5: The ACC works with you on any concerns or plan modifications, and ultimately provides a signed approval document for the project.
Step 6: Project work begins.
This can happen in parallel with other planning or permitting activities. The best way to expedite is to communicate plans early, even in preliminary form. Once everyone has given feedback, we can move quickly on decisions.
Who is on the ACC today? Who do I reach out to?
As of 2021: Jerry Nuernberger, Steven Petit, and David Wolf. You can use the "Contact the ACC" button above, or get our best contact info from the homeowner contact list.
Where can I get more information, documents, examples, etc?
Here is a list of ACC reviews completed from 2019-2024. If you need specific information from any of these reviews, please contact the ACC. Since they may contain personal information, we can't post their contents here.
I have a complaint. What do I do?
If you have a concern or complaint about a neighbor's pending project you were notified about, your first step is to talk with your neighbor and hopefully resolve it directly! That's why we do this, so neighbors can work together. In addition, you can raise your concerns with the ACC for us to take into consideration in our review, but direct resolution is always better if possible.
If you have a complaint about an already completed project, work with the ACC and HOA on improving our communication and process going forward. Canyon Creek Homeowners have historically not always followed or even been aware of our ACC process. We can't change the past and have no intention of becoming an overly punitive HOA, so help us make a better neighborhood where we all work together with best intentions. You can also initiate an ACC review of an in-progress or completed project by another homeowner, but that may be dismissed if it was already reviewed and there is no new information.
If you have a process complaint (rules not being followed, lack of communication, etc.) contact the individual first, or bring it to ACC or HOA Board members. Remember, we're all unpaid volunteers doing our best!