OLATHE, KS (KCTV) -
Update:
It looks like it'll be another week before an Olathe, KS, patio home community will get to use its clubhouse and pool again.
Wednesday afternoon a judge agreed to allow developer Joe Campbell to be added to the Homeowner Association's insurance policy before releasing the common area back to the neighborhood.
The HOA filed a lawsuit against Campbell more than a year ago for unfinished repairs to the neighborhood. It's still unclear why the developer has demanded to be added to the HOA's insurance policy.
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Ownership is at the heart of a dispute at a patio home community in Olathe. The fight is over whether residents can use the fitness center and clubhouse.
Hal Frye - who lives across the street - found a "No Trespassing" sign and locks changed Friday when heading into his neighborhood clubhouse for his routine swim. And just like anyone else who pays Homeowner Association fees, he couldn't understand how the developer could shut down the common area.
Frye can see the "No Trespassing" sign as plain as day from his own living room inside a patio home he bought 10 years ago for its maintenance-free amenities.
"We were promised that when we came that was one of the amenities that we would have - a clubhouse with exercise room. I have the documents that show those promises," he said.
Just before the holiday weekend Frye said the developer Joe Campbell changed the locks and shut the clubhouse down.
"A lot of us needed the pool to just keep us physically going to get the exercise we need and using the exercise room to keep us healthy," Frye said.
The HOA's attorney, Rod Hoffman, showed KCTV5's Bonyen Lee the covenants and restrictions for Asbury Villas, located near 157th Terrace and Ridgeview Road, which states "declarant shall convey title to the pool area".
Campbell's business address came back to a vacant plot of land in Overland Park. His phone numbers went to an elementary school, a tech company and his father. When Lee finally found Campbell, neither he nor his attorney would talk on the record.
"I'm ticked off. You would not believe how ticked off our community is," Frye said.
One of the reasons the residents are so angry is because Frye and his neighbors pay $214 a month for common ground maintenance and the money isn't paying off with a buttoned up recreation center.
The HOA attorney said he's filing for a temporary injunction to open the clubhouse while a pending lawsuit against Campbell is settled. The HOA filed suit against the developer for unfinished repairs totaling $309,000.
Ewing 3 Development and Pate-Campbell Properties, Inc. are both businesses associated with Joe Campbell and Asbury Villas. The Kansas secretary of state's business filings show both companies have been forfeited as of 2009.
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