Our History
Summerhill Community Association (Division 1) was incorporated as a master planned community by formal filing of a Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions in December 2006. The original filing documents are filed at the Douglas County Auditors records under AFN 3105550. A copy of the CC&Rs can be found under the Governance tab in the Homeowner Portal.
Prior to its development as a residential subdivision, the Summerhill site was part of a much larger fruit ranch orchard. The future Summerhill development was cleared of orchards and construction of roads and infrastructure began in 2006.
A second subdivision of nearby lots was annexed to the Association in 2010. Identified as Summerhill Division 2, this group of eleven homesites borders on Jarvis Avenue and Jean Street. The Supplemental Declaration of Annexation is recorded with the Douglas County Auditor as AFN #3146751. A copy of the annexation declaration is included in this website under the Governance tab in the Homeowner Portal.
State Laws that control Summerhill HOA
What is WUCIOA?
WUCIOA is the Washington Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act. A full explanation of this state law can be found at WUCIOA.info. The site includes a brief history of Washington's community association statutes and numerous differences between the requirements of RCW 64.90 (WUCIOA) and RCW 64.38 (the HOA act). It also explains why governing document restatements are a necessary step for most communities.
RCW is an abbreviation for the Revised Code of Washington that codifies all Washington State laws (statutes). The terms RCW 64.90 and WUCIOA have the same meaning and are here used interchangeably.
The Washington State legislature originally adopted WUCIOA as SB6175 effective July 1, 2018. In March 2024, Washington State's legislature passed SB5796 to further update WUCIOA. In addition to a single standard, this legislation affirmatively expands the reach of state statute to HOAs that were blissfully unaware of RCW 64.38.
Retrofitting WUCIOA to regulate all community associations in Washington state is a major step toward positive, lasting legislative reform because it eliminates the complexity of four different standards. The precision of WUCIOA increases accountability and transparency from community associations to their members (homeowners).
Reserve Fund
Under WUCIAO, specifically state law RCW 64.90.535, Summerhill HOA is required to maintain a reserve account program which must:
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Establish one or more reserve accounts specifically for the replacement of identified capital asset reserve components.
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Adopt and annually update a reserve study to determine the required annual contribution of association funds to the reserve account.
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Keep reserve funds separate from operating funds — no commingling.
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Hold the funds in a U.S.‑domiciled, regulated financial institution, in an interest‑bearing account.
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Title the account solely in the association’s name, controlled by the board.
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Invest funds only in permitted low‑risk instruments.
Landscape Management Obligations
On April 12, 2006, the East Wenatchee City Council issued final approval of a master planned subdivision which was fully developed and is now known as Summerhill Community Association, Division 1. The final approval was subject to more than twenty-five pages of detailed Conditions of Approval. Those conditions of approval required that all construction be in conformance with accompanying engineering drawings and written specifications.
Those detailed drawings and specifications identified street and sidewalk details and landscaping areas and general landscaping concepts that, once approved, were required to be completed. Landscaping along 4th Street and along Kansas Avenue was shown on the plans. Trees and multiple irrigation sprinkler zones were installed as a part of the initial development. Also, an extensive irrigation water distribution system serving each of the 86 lots was designated on the plans and was installed as a part of the overall infrastructure. Because the landscape areas and irrigations systems were created in designated common areas and can only be effectively managed by the association, the obvious implication is that the homeowners of Summerhill HOA are obligated in perpetuity to manage all the landscape-associated amenities of this development.
Landscape amenities, including trees, plants and shrubs and irrigation delivery systems are classified as capital assets, and therefore fall under the laws requiring reserve funding management.
Irrigation Water System
Irrigation water supplied to all ninety-seven homes in Summerhill Community and our common landscaping systems is pumped via a single pipeline from a canal located nearly a half mile away. Our association is one of five entities served by that system. The pump and much of the delivery pipeline up to our property are owner and administered by a third-party purveyor. Our HOA is obligated under established legal agreements to pay the purveyor a proportionate share of all costs incurred in the water system’s operation.
Drainage Retention Basin(s)
Our HOA owns and is required to maintain a large basin where all drainage from streets within the portion of Summerhill Community known as Division 1 (86 lots) is captured and detained. Regular basin weed control is required to minimize dry-weed fire danger. The obligation to maintain this retention basin in perpetuity was assigned to the owners of the development at the time the City of East Wenatchee signed off on the final plat approval in 2006.
A similar drainage retention basin was specified in the County’s approval of the eleven-lot plat (known as Summerhill Division 2) that was annexed to Summerhill Division 1 in 2010. In the County’s Conditions of Approval, maintenance responsibility of this drainage retention basin was assigned to the Division 2 owner group in perpetuity. However, subsequent development of adjacent open land caused the drainage basin to be later relocated and incorporated into a larger basin that serves other developments. The exact obligation, if any, for Summerhill Community Association to share in the long-term maintenance costs of that relocated drainage retention basin is unknown.