The Shorewood City Council voted in favor of mediation concerning the dispute between the Ashland Woods subdivision and the residents of the development.  The seven single-family homes project was originally approved in January 2013, but two of the homes have yet to be completed. 

According to the development agreement, a declaration of “covenants, conditions, and restrictions” needed to be provided to the city, and there needed to be an establishment of a homeowners’ association.  This group would monitor and conduct ongoing maintenance in the subdivision.

Two years after the approval, a city council member discovered the declaration had not been filed and no association had been established.  The council member notified the city planning director who told the developer it was in violation of the original agreement.

According to Mayor Scott Zerby, “I have been aware of this and I have spoken with a number of residents in that area for some time and I find it exceedingly frustrating.   I remember when this was in front of the city council, that we had residents that bordered this new development that was being proposed and they had concerns about drainage and this development.  Initially, that was supposed to be covered by the homeowners association and the developer was lax about putting the homeowners association into place.  I do not know if they intentionally did not put into place.  Without a homeowners association in place to help the ongoing maintenance of this drainage system, I feel there is responsibility on us to make sure we do not flood the neighbors who had these concerns to begin with, as well as the residents that are there now. ”

The mayor and others families with the situation believe mediation will be the best way to bring everyone back on the same page and get things moving forward again.