FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

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Your HOA is a non- profit business that is incorporated to operate within the State of Texas.  Our purpose is to do everything we can to at least maintain If not improve the market values of all 1037 homes in the 10 sections that comprise the Sugar Mill HOA. The affairs of the HOA are governed by a Board of Directors, which Board is responsible for adhering to the By-Laws, Articles of Incorporation and all other governing documents, the most important of which are the Deed Restrictions. The BOD is expected to operate in a financially responsible manner while bringing about our stated purpose 

As our HOA is a Texas non-profit corporation, we have three key governing documents that we must follow conducting the “business” of managing the activities of our HOA.  We have a set of By-laws which define when and how our Annual meeting is to be held, how many SM residents need be present in person or via a written proxy to constitute a Quorum. They also define how many members the HOA BOD can have, the terms of office, and a good bit more info.  

Your yearly maintenance fees are utilized to pay for the ongoing operation and maintenance of all the physical facilities that our HOA owns and operates.  There are 2 swimming complexes, three tennis court complexes with 5 tennis courts, and about 30,000 LF of various types of fences and two playground areas.  It costs your HOA about $60,000/month on average to operate.  That information along with any planned increases for utility items is used to create the HOA yearly budget. 

Starting in August of each year, the SM HOA BOD starts putting the yearly budget together using input from our various vendors’ and suggestions from our various HOA Committees as to what we need to be doing to maintain/improve the availability of our various amenities to our residents.  This is a multi-step process based on the various inputs to try and determine the most effective usage of the HOA’s funds and once our budgets are finalized, we then set the yearly maintenance fees for all SM HOA members.   

Sugar Mill has 10 separate sections each having their own set of ACC restrictions.  Each of those 10 sections has an ACC restriction calling out that our HOA has a “uniform rate” yearly maintenance fee structure. 

Trash Pickup Days are MONDAY & THURSDAY
Solid Waste Collection Requirements

Recycling Day is THURSDAY
Curbside Recycling Information

Green Waste Day is MONDAY
Green Waste Information

Bulk Waste Day is the 1ST MONDAY (EFFECTIVE ON NOVEMBER 1, 2023)
Bulk Waste Information
    

Trash carts can be placed no earlier than 6:00pm the evening before and must be removed by 8:00am the morning after pick up.   

Christmas Decorations can be displayed at the beginning of December through the end of January.  

Purchasing a home can be one of the largest single financial investments that an individual/family can make. Obviously, protecting that investment over time is very important.  Real estate Developers in Texas realized that and working with the State of Texas Legislature, created Texas legislation which gave the Developers the authority to create sets of community standards, called Deed Restrictions. Those community standards/restrictions cover everything from minimum square footages for a home, to acceptable paint colors and many other specific items. The Legislature also gave HOA’s the power to enforce those restrictions through legal action if necessary.  If we did not have Deed Restrictions, residents could choose to paint their homes whatever color that they wanted and add whatever improvements that they desired to their homes regardless of what those improvements did to negatively impact their neighbor’s ability to enjoy the usage of their homes. For example, residents could build fences all the way down to the sidewalks in front of their houses if they chose to even though it would block their neighbor’s views.  We could have bright yellow houses with big black polka dots all over them. With Deed Restrictions in place, our HOA has a clear set of standards as to what our individual homes will look like over time, and home owner’s values are thus protected.   

Basically, anything that you do to the exterior of your home that is visible to anyone walking/driving by your house must be approved before that improvement is started. This does include painting your home the “same color”, replacing the roof and adding landscaping to name just a few examples.  Work done to the outside (roof, building additions, electrical work etc.), will also most likely need a City of Sugar Land Permit.  It is YOUR responsibility to obtain all the necessary permits for work done to your home.  Your contractor may or may not do that step in ensuring your repairs are legit, so you need to be the responsible party to ensure all work is done properly and within the constraints of the City. Please, get your permits! 

The short answer is “yes they can” the long answer is that the Legislature of the State of Texas intentionally makes it a difficult process to change existing deed restrictions or create new ones.  That being said, it can be done and in fact has been done 4 times in the past.  Please remember, No one within the HOA leadership has the authority to change deed restrictions period. 

Also, please keep in mind that any existing federal, state of Texas or City of Sugar Land legal restrictions apply and take precedence over our ACC restrictions. Case in point, the State of Texas specifies that flags can only be displayed if mounted to a building or other permanent structure and can not be mounted to a tree in a resident’s yard.

Please remember that Sugar Mill HOA has 10 separate sections number 1-10 consecutively.  If you do not know which SM section your home lies within, we have a map here on our website.  Please go to the Documents page and click on the "Maps" link to locate your home.

The only way that deed restrictions can be changed is if at a clear majority of the actual property owners of the specific Sugar Mill Section will undertake an expensive and time sensitive legal process to define the change they want to implement, and obtain the necessary properly notarized signatures of a clear majority of the actual property owners of a given SM HOA Section and submit them to the Ft. Bend County authorities for posting. The current “Clear Majority" is 67%.

As this is a legal process that is governed by the Texas Property Code laws, we strongly suggest that any property owners within Sugar Mill who want to change/modify our existing deed restrictions obtain the services of an attorney who practices Texas Real-estate law regularly.