We Have Helped 50 HOA's To Date

Dear VARD Members and Friends:

We’ve helped 50 HOA’s in 5 years...

and still going!

Our mission is to protect Teton Valley’s breathtaking scenery, laid-back lifestyle, and close-knit community by influencing valley-wide planning, carefully reviewing development proposals, and strengthening the functionality of our valley’s subdivisions and neighborhoods. There are over 200 Homeowner Associations (HOA’s) in Teton Valley, with the vast majority formed during the development boom of the past decade. 

Since 2016, we have offered our free legal and planning advisory service to local HOA’s to assist and teach them how to manage themselves and navigate Idaho’s changing legal landscape. 

We just hit an important milestone in the program - we assisted our 50th Homeowner Association - Chilly Water subdivision north of Driggs. 

“Our Homeowners Association was established over a dozen years ago.  The Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions (CCRs) prepared at that time, while appropriate, placed some emphasis on the development and initial sale of lots in the small subdivision.  With the change from a ‘development’ phase to an ‘operations’ phase with residences established and occupied, the Association sought assistance from VARD to amend the CCRs to reflect the change and better position the HOA for the long term.  Anna Trentadue worked closely with the HOA Board to craft key revisions to the CCRs to meet our needs and protect the resource values which drew many of the owners to the community.  Her legal expertise and Teton Valley experience created a set of amended CCRs that exceeded our expectations and have been embraced by our members.  We appreciate the quality assistance provided by VARD.”

-The Chilly Water HOA Board

It seems fitting that Chilly Water would be our milestone HOA. Back in 2007-2008, our staff were staying up late to testify at crowded courthouse hearings when so many subdivisions - including Chilly Water - were being approved…...sometimes as many as 3 or 4 subdivisions were approved in a night! The developer of Chilly Water was also profiled along with our organization in a 2012 cover story in High Country News.  Slowly over time, Chilly Water has gone from being a “paper plat” subdivision to a dynamic, and growing neighborhood. We were there at Chilly Water’s inception many years ago, and we continue to work with the current residents. 

Our staff has loved the personal interactions and grassroots community building that has grown from this program. We’ve made some pretty cool stuff happen by working together! In an especially rewarding effort, we helped the Teton Saddleback Vistas HOA write a lease agreement to provide a home for HAPI Trails, a nonprofit that cares for orphaned horses. As you may recall, back in 2014, the luxury indoor horse arena at Saddleback Vistas was auctioned off for $650,000 to billionaire Aussie mining mogul, Clive Palmer, and relocated to his ranch in Pinedale WY. When you drive past Saddleback Vistas on Highway 33 today, you’ll see corrals, barns, and happy horses where the blighted hole from the horse arena once stood.  Through our HOA program we paired the Teton Saddleback Vistas HOA with HAPI Trails, and our staff directly facilitated the negotiations and drafted the custom contracts for HAPI Trails to take over these languishing equestrian facilities and breathe new life into the site.

We are proud to employ certified planners and licensed attorneys to provide this advisory service free of charge. The market rate for these services is several hundred dollars per hour, but our employees work for very modest compensation because they are dedicated to our mission of building strong neighborhood communities. 

Types of services we offer through the program include:

• Lien templates
• Q&A advisory services
• Navigating the world of short term rentals
• Amending or overhauling covenants. 

If you have questions about your neighborhood association - give us a call!