Arvada, CO HOA Rules: Board Governance (2026)

Section 8-4-5-4 applies whenever open space or other common areas within a subdivision or development are to be owned and maintained by a property owners' association. Before the City will approve a final development plan or site plan, the owner or developer must file a declaration of covenants, conditions, and restrictions governing that association. The declaration is required to establish the property owners' association before any homes or lots in the project are sold, so buyers cannot close before the HOA legally exists. Membership in the association is mandatory for every initial lot or home buyer and for each successive buyer who later purchases in the development, meaning the obligation runs with the property rather than attaching only to the original purchaser.

Any open space restrictions the declaration creates must be permanent rather than limited to a set number of years. The declaration must also make the association responsible for carrying liability insurance, paying local taxes on association-owned property, and maintaining recreational facilities and other common improvements, so those obligations cannot be left undefined or shifted informally onto the City or individual owners.