To the editor:
As we approach winter in Cherry Home Shores, we reflect on how peaceful the summers have become after the board took action to shut down predatory vacation rentals.
We achieved an uneasy peace against commercial interests. One board member active in 2019 getting the board to act was mercilessly attacked. My sister, who was also on that board, is concerned to this day for her personal safety. And I, prepared to retain an attorney at that time to present a case before the court in 2019, have been subjected to repeated threats and harassment from a woman I do not know who is a neighbor and apparent friend of one of the defendants.
In August of 2020 a new board took over, stunned by Judge Power’s opinion prohibiting vacation rentals, it stated falsely we were bankrupt over a minor outstanding debt. A debt that the board had the power to assess the membership to cover; but found a way to pay without resorting to such.
The new board terminated our attorney at a critical time leaving us defenseless in front of an appeal of Judge Power’s decision.
But the appeals court supported the judge and went further in stating that when we buy property in Cherry Homes we enter a binding contract that prohibits us from using our properties for anything other than residential. Only rentals over six months are considered residential.
Now the word “residential” in the covenant protects our rights to build a home on these small properties as it has done in the past multiple times. Should we lose that word “residential” and let in commercial interests, many could find in the near future that they could be prevented from building.
Charles Bombaugh Northport
