Southbridge Forest HOA

The HOA president Elect will be moving and therefore will not be the president. Currently the HOA's VP will be stepping in until a replacement can be found. Please contact the board if you are interested in volunteering for this position. email@southbridgeforesthoa.com 980-236-9248 The HOA cannot exsist without volunteers. You will be paid $40 per meeting. There are only 5 meetings per year. 

Voting results 12/1/2025. Items in Red are "permanent" CCR changes that required a majority of resident owners. The HOA has 41 rentals and 154 total properties meaning a majority of resident owners is 57 votes. Exact voting percentages can be found in the PDF under this text block.   

1. Preferred 2026 Budget Level:   In ranked-choice voting, the $90 “Park & Front Entrance Improvements” budget won Members also voted to keep grass cutting budget to $2550. However members also approved a revised 2025 budget with $70 credit, so dues next year will likely be $20, board needs to discuss.

2. Third-Party Inspections A majority (about 58%) supported 2 inspections/yr by a 3rd party.

3. Board Email Transparency A large majority (over 80%) supported allowing members read-only access to board emails. You can now view them at bit.ly/hoaemails 

4. Security Cameras About 2/3 supported installing a Flock Security Camera @ entrance.

5. Participation in HOA Meetings & social events Roughly 2/3rds of members preferred not to attend any meetings each year. People who abstained were grouped as not wanting to attend. only 1/3 want to attend hoa meetings or social events.

6. Volunteer Interest Around 10% of residents expressed interest in volunteering for committees or small tasks. thank you , we will be reaching out for your help..

7. Neighborhood Direction, Value of $90 Dues, & Communication Quality all got majority approval. Only 10-15% disapproved in each category.

📈 For the 3rd year in a row, Southbridge Forest HOA has maintained a positive favor ability rating across all major satisfaction categories — confirming that the HOA Board continues to act in line with what the majority of residents want.  Please remember facebook is not a voting platform or even an official communication channel for the HOA. For example most FB users who replied to the thread on flock cameras, were against having a security camera, but when the entire HOA was asked 2/3rds wanted it. 

13. Hiring a Management Company Nearly 80% voted against hiring a management company costing $15,000 per year. This is the 2nd ballot where a mgt co. was voted down.

14. Board Member Compensation  About 2/3rds favored paying board members and the most popular amount was $40 per meeting as a very modest compensation for board members. There were many people who voted to not pay board members and also not get a mgt co. This is unrealistic; board members are running YOUR business for you. It’s no different than if 150 friends bought a restaurant, but only 5 of them did the work to keep it running. 

15. Real Estate Investment:   Results were close, but just over half supported investigating the purchase of three empty lots at the end of Cane Field. This does not mean the HOA will buy it! It just means the hoa will see what the numbers are.

16. Financial Transparency Platform  About 2/3rds supported real-time spending visibility online.

17. Amendment to Annual Meeting Date Over 80% approved allowing the Board to set the annual meeting date each year, instead of keeping it fixed. It might be changed to the first weekend In Oct to allow for more participation next year.
    The revised CCR's will be submitted to the Registar of Deeds today12/1/2025. Full election results will be posted to votesbf.com  

Voting Results August 15, 2025.  An updated version of the HOA CCR’s with the approved changes as voted upon above can be found here:   https://bit.ly/sbfhoareadme

96 Owners voted which is the highest turn out with out door knocking

E. Should the HOA invest $1700 to repair the 2017 split rail dog fence which has been falling apart since around 2021 or tear it down which would cost $350?

About half voted to tear it down and about half voted to fix it. Slightly more voted to tear it down.

F. City $10,000 Grant Project Selection The HOA plans to apply for a $10,000 Charlotte grant.

The project with the most votes was park improvements: soccer, volleyball, pingpong & swingset. March 2026 is the next grant cycle contact the board if you want to host a social event to help w/grant.

G. Non binding vote on Preferred Budget dues of $0, $40 or $90/year.

About ½ wanted dues at $90 and the other half wanted them at $40 or less.

1. Change Easement/Sale Threshold in CC&R’s & AOI to majority from 2/3rds.
   Majority voted to lower the easement/sale threshold from 66% to 50%. This will make it easier to buy/sell land or get easements in the future.

2. What should be the minimum past-due amount before the HOA is allowed to begin foreclosure proceedings against a property?
   Owners voted for $1000 or 1 year late requirement before homes can be foreclosed upon. The HOA can no longer foreclose over $1 or other minor amounts, unless over 1 year late.

3. House & Mailbox Address Numbers This passed. Owners now must have address numbers on both home and mailbox. This will help with mailings and violations because there are several homes without address numbers.

4. Budget Approval Process passed. The HOA Board must now give owners at least 2 budgets to choose from, and owners must approve the budget not just board members.

5. Backyard Clotheslines passed. Owners can dry clothes outside if they have a privacy fence.

6. Parking on Grass Prohibition: Passed. City of Charlotte already does not allow this, but having it in our rules makes it easier to enforce.

7. Insurance & Inspection Clarification passed. The CCRs will be updated to specify all properties and types of insurance the HOA must carry since the HOA did not insure the park for 25 years and put all homes at risk if a single serious accident had occurred.

8. Right to Grow Food passed. Having a garden is now protected in the CCRs.

9. Don’t waste postage money on Uncontested Elections by Acclamation passed saving the HOA postage money when elections are uncontested.

10. Due Process for Violations & Fines passed. The HOA has caped fines at $25/violation or $25/day (max $300/year).This has been the policy for several years, but it now “permanent” in the CC&R’s.

11. Allow Work from Home passed. This expressly allows quiet home-based businesses, tutoring, and remote work under objective rules.

12. Change HOA Purpose to Limited Maintenance Corp Failed 59% want to keep things as they are and 41% wanted to have the HOA just take care of grass, insurance, etc but not actively enforce rules, letting owners do that instead.

13. Combine Officer & Director Roles passed. The HOA can no longer switch director roles and directors must work as officers, not just oversight board members.

14. Prevent board from Vetoing Member decisions passed. A simple majority of owner votes is all that is needed to create an action by members as long as quorum is met and voting rules as laid out in the CCR’s are met. The 5 member board can no longer veto what 90 or 100 people vote for.

Below is a summary of 2024 Fall vote:
All 5 people who ran to be on the board will be on the board due to bylaw updates being approved.

Do you approve of 3 changes to the SBF HOA CCR's.

82.6% approved

Do you approve the 2025 HOA budget?        93.8% approved

Should the HOA accept about $60K easment money and allow the City's easement request? 81.3%

If the above easement is approved, What should the HOA do with the approximate $60,000 from the City of Charlotte? 60.4% refund owners fair share

Should bylaws be updated to increase home owner powers and hold board more accountable? 92.4% said yes.

Should we spend about $600 for two aluminum soccer goals in the park failed 52.4% voted no

Should we spend about $300 on a volleyball net and posts in the park (approximately $2 per homeowner) Failed with 50% saying no.

Should we spend money on frisbee golf goals? Failed with 73.8% saying no.

Should we spend $6500 to upgrade the dog fence to aluminum fence Failed with 60.3% saying no

Should we spend money for dog playground equipment, like dog ramps, tunnels, etc? failed with 61.1% voting no.

Should we spend money on making a bordered 80 ft long mulch walkway from the playground area to the dog park? failed wtih 67.5% saying no

Should the HOA start a neighbor in need program. Passed with 73% voting yes

Should we spend $2750 plus labor to install a front entrance message board? About $19 per owner. Failed with 55.6% voting no

How often should inspections be done? 66.7% voted for free online reporting

Should HOA dues only be used for essential spending (lawn care, insurance, postage, utilities, taxes, maintenance & admin)? 66.7% agreed

Are you interested in helping volunteer for the Architectural, violations, Social or Grants committee, reporting broken street lights, Website updates, etc? only 16.8% volunteered

Does our HOA communicate well?

58.7% agreed

30% were neutral

11% said no.

Our HOA is heading in the right direction?

56% agreed

29% neutral

14% disagreed

Only 11% (15 owners) of the neighborhood uses the park more than once a month. If we spent $50,000 to upgrade park this would only increase about 10% or about a dozen people.

Should we cut more grass and do more landscaping in the park? 70.9% said no additional landscaping is needed.

Demographics of people living here:

1-10 years old = 44 people

11-17 years old = 21 people

18-24 years old = 18 people

25-34 y.o.= 34 people

34-54 y.o.= 88 people

55+ y.o.= 77 people