Section 18.1. Security and Safety; Limitation of Liability.
(a) Neither the Association, the Declarant, nor any successor or assign of the Declarant, shall in any way be considered insurers or guarantors of security within the Community, nor shall any of them be held liable for any loss or damage by reason of failure to provide adequate security or any ineffectiveness of security measures undertaken. No representation or warranty is made or implied that any fire protection system, burglar alarm system or other surveillance system or measures, including, without limitation, any mechanism or system for limiting access to the Community, cannot be compromised or circumvented, nor that any such systems or security measures undertaken will in all cases prevent loss or provide the detection or protection for which the system or security measures were designed or intended. Nothing is this Section shall be deemed in any way to obligate the Association, the Declarant, or any successor or assign of the Declarant, to provide any fire protection system, burglar alarm system or other surveillance system, security access system, or similar measures with respect to any portion of the
Community.’
(b) Each Owner acknowledges, understands and covenants to inform its tenants, and all occupants, guests and invitees of its Living Unit that the Association, the Declarant, and any successor or assign of the Declarant, are not insurers and that each person using or present within the Property assumes all risks of personal injury and loss or damage to property, by theft or otherwise, including loss or damage to Living Units or personal property (whether such personal property is maintained within a Living Unit or the Community Areas). Each person using or present within the Property acknowledges that certain risks are inherent from being on or in the proximity of a golf course and agrees to assume all risk of personal injury, including death, resulting from being on or in proximity to the Golf Course.
(c ) The Association shall not be liable for any failure of any services to be obtained or provided by the Association or paid for by Assessments, or for injury or damage to person or property caused by the elements or resulting from water which may leak or flow from any portion of the Community Areas, or from any pipe, drain, conduit or the like. No diminution or abatement of Assessments shall be claimed or allowed for inconvenience or discomfort arising from the making of repairs or improvements to the Community Areas, or from any action taken by the Association.
Section 18.2. Enforcement.
Unless otherwise limited, the Association, the Declarant, any Owner and any Mortgagee shall have the right to enforce, by any proceeding at law and/or in equity, all restrictions, conditions, covenants, reservations, easements, liens, charges or other obligations or terms now or hereafter imposed by the provisions of the Governing Documents. Failure by the Declarant, the Association, any Owner or by any Mortgagee to enforce any provision of the Governing Documents, shall in no event be deemed a waiver of the right to do so thereafter. There shall be and there is hereby created and declared to be a conclusive presumption that any violation or breach or attempted violation or breach of any of the Governing Documents, cannot be adequately remedied exclusively by action at law or by recovery of damages. If the Association, or any Owner or Mortgagee, successfully brings an action to extinguish a violation or otherwise enforce the provisions of the Governing Documents, the costs of such action, including legal fees, shall become a binding, personal obligation of the Owner and/or resident committing or responsible for such violation, and such costs shall be collectible in the same manner as any other Assessment under the Governing Documents.
Section 18.3. Severability.
Invalidation of any one of the covenants, restrictions or other provisions of this Declaration by judgment or court order shall in no way affect any other provisions, which shall remain in full force and effect.
Section 18.4. Successors of the Declarant.
Any and all rights, reservations, easements, interests, exemptions, privileges and powers of the Declarant hereunder, or any part of them, may be assigned and transferred (exclusively or nonexclusively) by the Declarant expressly by an instalment in writing, without notice to the Association.
Section 18.5. Taxes and Assessments.
It is the intent of this Declaration that insofar as the interests of each Owner to use and enjoy the Community Property is an interest in real property appurtenant to each Living Unit, die value of the interest of each Owner in the Community Property shall be included in the assessment for each such Living Unit and as a result, any assessment directly against such Community Property should be of a nominal nature reflecting that the full value of the same should be included in the several assessments of the various Living Units.
Section 18.6. Conservation Easements and Other Restrictions.
The Association shall be responsible for monitoring compliance with the requirements of any conservation easements and other restrictions imposed on the Community Property by the County, and for periodically reminding the Owners of these restrictions.
Section 18.7. Extraordinary Actions.
Although the Board of Directors shall generally have broad powers to regulate, govern and manage the Association, the power to approve certain Extraordinary Actions (as defined below) shall remain vested in the Members of the Association. Any provision of this Declaration or the Bylaws to the contrary notwithstanding, the Board of Directors shall not be authorized to take any Extraordinary Actions without the affirmative vote of at least seventy-five percent (75%) of all Members. As used herein, the term “Extraordinary Actions” shall mean any and all actions taken by or on behalf of the Association, including, without limitation, commencing or maintaining any litigation, arbitration or similar proceeding which would reasonably require the expenditure of funds in excess of Fifteen Thousand Dollars ($15,000.00) in the aggregate during any fiscal year of the Association (except for routine Assessment collection matters or actions required to enforce restrictions on the use of Living Units, including, without limitation, architectural controls, and the Community Codes). However, Extraordinary Actions shall not be deemed to include the Association’s defense of litigation or other claims made against the Association, or actions by the Association in connection with the normal care, upkeep, repair, maintenance or replacement of any Community Areas, including the establishment and utilization of reserves for the repair or replacement of Community Areas. Such actions with respect to the normal care, upkeep, repair, maintenance or replacement of any Community Areas shall be subject to Sections 5.3, 5.4, 5.5 and 5.11 of this Declaration. Each planned expenditure of more than Fifteen Thousand Dollars ($15,000.00) shall require the aforesaid consent of at least seventy-five percent (75%) of all Members.
Section 18.8. No Dedication to Public Use.
Nothing herein shall be construed as a dedication to public use or as an acceptance for maintenance of any Community Property by any public or municipal agency, authority, or utility and no public or municipal agency, authority or utility shall have any responsibility or liability for the maintenance or operation of any of the Community Property.
Section 18.9. Reserved Rights of the Declarant.
No supplement or amendment to the Governing Documents may remove, revoke or modify any right, reservation or privilege of the Declarant without the prior written consent of the Declarant or any successors or assigns of the Declarant pursuant to Section 18.4 of this Declaration.
Section 18.10. Non-Association Disputes; Limited Authority of the Association to Act for Building Condominiums.
(a) The Association expressly has no right or obligation to intervene in any disputes between or among Owners or in any other matters that do not directly involve Community Property or other issues for which the Association has been conferred responsibility pursuant to the Governing Documents.
(b) Pursuant to Section 12.4 of this Declaration, the Association has the authority to provide maintenance and similar services to Building Condominiums. The Association’s authority to act on behalf of any Building Condominium shall be limited to such matters that are reasonably
required in connection with the responsibilities delegated to the Association pursuant to Section 12.4. All obligations of a Building Condominium Association under the Maryland Condominium Act that do not relate to the limited authority delegated to the Association under this Declaration or which otherwise may not be delegated to the Association, shall be exercised by the Building Condominium Association; the Association shall have no liability for any such obligations. Without limiting the scope of matters that are outside of the limited authority that may be delegated to the Association by the Building Condominiums, the Association shall have no authority or obligation to act on behalf of one or more Building Condominium Associations or any unit owners within a Building Condominium with respect to any claims, litigation or proceedings related to the construction or warranties of any Building Condominium. The provisions of this Section 18.10(b) may not be amended without the express written consent of the Declarant.
Section 18.11. Limitation on Opposition to Development.
As long as the Declarant is the Owner of any portion of the Community or the Annexable Property, the Association may not use its financial resources to defray the costs of opposing any lawful development activities of the Declarant. Nothing in this Section shall be construed to limit the rights of Owners to act as individuals or in affiliation with other Owners or groups.
Section 18.12. Conveyance of Community Property from the Declarant.
The Declarant may convey unimproved or improved land to the Association to be held as Community Property, or may construct improvements on any Community Property. The consent of the Association shall not be required for such conveyance or construction. The Declarant shall have the right to permit the Association and its Members to enjoy and utilize land which has not been conveyed but which is intended to become Community Property. The Association shall have the right to maintain such property and levy Assessments for maintenance costs, notwithstanding that such property has not yet been conveyed to the Association.
Section 18.13. Captions and Gender.
The captions contained in this Declaration are for convenience only and are not a part of this Declaration and are not intended in any way to limit or enlarge the terms and provisions of this Declaration or to aid in the construction or interpretation of this Declaration. Whenever in this Declaration the context so requires, the singular number shall include the plural and the converse, and the use of any gender shall be deemed to include all genders.
Section 18.14. Perpetuities.
If any of the covenants, conditions, easements, restrictions, or other provisions of this Declaration shall be unlawfully void, or voidable for violation of the rule against perpetuities, then such provisions shall continue only until twenty-one (21) years after the death of the last survivor of the now living descendants of Elizabeth II, Queen of England.
Section 18.15. Conflicts.
In the event of any conflict between this Declaration and the Articles of Incorporation or the Bylaws, the terms and provisions of this Declaration shall control.
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