Greetings from your ARB Committee!

Berkshire ARB Newsletter
Greetings from your ARB Committee!
First of all, we would like to thank all of the Berkshire residents that have been upkeeping their
property and getting the proper paperwork into our committee ahead of any outdoor projects.
This is a great help to our volunteers, and we appreciate it! Those who are maintaining their
yards and painting their homes have helped the entire community keep our property values up,
so thank you!
Of course, basic maintenance of the home does not need to be approved by the ARB. Examples
of this are: Any power washing or cleaning, painting mailboxes or putting new numbers on
them, replacing sod, replanting flowerbeds, touching up paint, replacing mulch or rock in
approved beds, cutting down dead trees and shrubs, and of course the trimming of shrubs and
trees.
Many of our residents have inquired about painting their homes. Please disregard the gossip
that you must repaint your home every 2 years. That is not true. We strongly encourage
homeowners to inspect the paint on their residence. If it has not been painted in over 5-10
years, please look to see if it just needs to be power washed, or if it needs to be repainted. If
the paint on your home has become chalky, it needs to be painted. Remember, we live in the
sunshine state! As much as we love living here, the sunshine breaks down paint very quickly.
Also, please remember that all painting of homes must be approved by the ARB committee.
Even repainting the same color must be approved, as our color selection has changed over the
years. You can either submit your paint samples with your ARB application or stop by the office
to see the range of color choices available first. We have a large variety of coordinating colors
that may inspire you to update your home with a new color palette.
The ARB would also like to remind our residents that we are now in rainy season and hurricane
season, which comes with some unique challenges. If you are planning to replace sod (as some
of our residents need to do after the drought), now is the time to get that project done. Sod
loves all this Florida rain! Of course, so do our trees and shrubs as most are now in their active
growing season.
With this said, we would ask all our residents to inspect their trees and shrubs. Trees: Please
trim off any dead limbs and ask a landscaper if they need to be thinned out. Be sure to remove
any dead or dying trees. You may be saving your tree and/or your home by doing this ahead of
a hurricane! Shrubs: If your shrubs and/or hedges do not meet the ARB Standards for height,
please get them trimmed down a bit below the maximum. They grow quite rapidly with plenty
of rain, so the ARB would like to encourage you to give them a trim to give them space to grow
without exceeding our height standards.

Remember, this is a deed restricted community, which comes with specific standards that you
agreed to follow when buying your home. Please refer to the current ARB Standards to see the
guidelines of Berkshire Lakes. The website can be found at: https://berkshirelakes.org/ You
should be able to find everything you need on the website, including the ARB form to receive
approval from the committee for any outdoor projects. You will also find what the height of
shrubs should be in various locations on your lot. Please trim them down to the proper height
(or slightly lower to allow for growth).
If you have completed any projects without ARB approval, you will want to submit a form now
to avoid having compliance make you remove them. Of course, owners should have applied
and received approval before the project proceeded. Please send in your forms ASAP.
To those of you who are properly maintaining your property without getting letters from
Berkshire Lakes Compliance, thank you! This saves the entire community money because our
manager and our office administrator don’t have to spend their precious time on this task (also
our postage cost!). By keeping your property in compliance with the Berkshire Lakes published
standards, you will take away the ability of your neighbors to sue the association for non-
enforcement. The cost of responding to lawsuits is born by residents through the HOA fees.
Complying with the rules and thus eliminating law suits, help keep our HOA fees low. So,
thanks again to those thoughtful residents who have been upkeeping their homes diligently!
Finally, we would like to thank the many volunteers who have pitched in to do numerous tasks
around the Berkshire Lakes community! Many of our residents have been doing volunteer
work such as unpacking and putting together the pickleball nets, tying down the wind netting,
picking up trash, doing minor repairs, helping with landscaping, watering new landscaping, etc.
Completing all these tasks free of charge helps all of us in the community, and we greatly
appreciate it!
Sincerely,
Your Berkshire Lakes Architectural Review Board (ARB)