The C&O Club Association is a site condominium association located in the City of Charlevoix and Charlevoix Township, Michigan.
A condominium is a legal means for dividing, describing and owning real estate under Act 59 of the Michigan Public Acts of 1978, as amended. A site condominium is one in which the units consist of only the individual building sites, and the common elements of the condominium do not include the buildings and improvements constructed on the sites. In the C&O Club, each owner holds an absolute right and undivided title to his or her own unit and to the dwelling or other improvements located on the unit (to the extent not designated in the Master Deed as common elements). Each unit owner is generally responsible for all aspects of ownership, maintenance, repair, replacement and insurance of the buildings and improvements on the site. The Association maintains liability insurance only for occurrences on the common elements and such other insurance on the common elements as is necessary and appropriate.
The association was originally developed by Waterfront Partners Limited Partnership and Oscar Stroud. The developers sold all of the lots by the middle of 1998, and since then have had no role in the governance of the Association.The Association is governed by volunteer neighbors for the benefit of the Association community as a whole.
The Association is governed by a Master Deed, originally recorded on June 16, 1992 at Liber 338, Pages 0277-0346 of the Charlevoix County Records. There are nine amendments to the Master Deed, all of which are also recorded. You can see these documents here.
Bylaws governing the Association are an exhibit to the original Master Deed and were amended slightly in the First Amendment to the Master Deed at Liber 340, Pages 365-378 of the Records.
The Association is also governed by Special Use Permit #92-2, issued by the City of Charlevoix.There are restrictions on the construction and landscaping of residences within the Association, as well as restrictions on the ownership, occupancy and use of the property. You should consult your own legal advisors to make sure you are aware of all of the restrictions.
In particular, you should be aware:
- the Association collects annual operating assessments for maintenance of the common elements and a reserve as required by law. The assessment levied in 2024 was approximately $2,700 (and varied slightly depending on whether the unit owner participated in the dock fund - see below).
- the City of Charlevoix imposes height restrictions on buildings that are different in different areas of the Association.
- all exteriors and changes to exteriors are subject to approval by the Architectural Review Board of the Association. This board consists of three volunteer unit owners appointed by the president, as set forth in the Bylaws. THIS INCLUDES ALL LANDSCAPING OR SIGNIFICANT CHANGES THERETO.
- The City of Charlevoix does not provide regular trash pickup. Each unit owner is responsible for making garbage pickup arrangements with a waste hauler, but in any case the Board of Directors has issued a rule that trash must be left at the street in a heavy duty tote that can be purchased or rented from the waste hauler.
- in 2002, with the approval of the required number of unit owners, the Association purchased property lying between Stroud Court and US-31 from one of the former developers of the Association in order to maintain a buffer from the highway. In 2008, it purchased an additional piece of property adjacent to Stroud Court, as reflected in the Eighth Amendment to the Master Deed.
- The beach lot and the first 75 feet of the community dock are common elements of the Association as set forth in the Ninth Amendment to the Master Deed. The remainder of the dock and the finger piers are owned and maintained by those unit owners on the terrace side of C&O Club and Stroud Court who have paid to be equity participants ("Common Dock"). Those funds are accounted for separately. The rules and regulations governing Common Dock participation are found here.
The rules and regulations for use of the common beach and dock area are found here.
Last updated: July 3, 2024.