As anyone who has reviewed these pages should know, there is a sign-up page provided on this website to allow residents of the CRC neighborhood to register their intent to sign a quitclaim deed and related settlement documents and thereby avoid being added as parties to this Action. We received an inquriy from a resident this past Friday who expressed an intention to sign and after obtaining permission from the resident, I am posting the question and the resulting email conversation in hopes that it will enlighten those residents who still fail to understand the issues or how best to resolve this matter. We appreciate the thoughtful question, insight and feedback and we hope that there are many more of you out there who will register as the deadline approaches. Note: In preparing this post, Larry Oldham corrected some typographical errors in his emails and included some hyperlinks but did not alter the communications from the resident, other than to redact information that might impact the anonymity of the resident.

This is the question that was included along with a sign-up confirmation submitted on Friday, November 1, 2019 at 1:49 p.m.

We have a question regarding the settlement package. We are not opposed to signing the actual quitclaim deed as we have zero interest in that property whatsoever, but we would like to know what the other "related settlement documents" are before we would agree to them. Can you please forward that information? Please note that we DO NOT serve in any official capacity for CRC HOA nor do I want anything to do with them in this matter. We are simply regular ordinary homeowners in the neighborhood who don't really care in the slightest what your client wants to do with HIS property. Any documents or information you share with us are for our personal review only and I will not distribute or pass along this info to anyone else in the neighborhood or the HOA. Thanks [redacted]

On Fri, Nov 1, 2019 at 11:20 PM, Larry Oldham responded to this question, as follows:

[Redacted]:

Thank you for the thoughtful feedback you included with your registration. Thank you also for letting me know that you are not on the CRC HOA Board so I will not inadvertently [communicate] with you without doing so through your attorney (I presume you are aware of what happened and same is why you included that information – if not, check out the post under Are you Kidding Me? post under Updates. While we still have not completed thinking about what they should be (hence the reason for waiting until the last minute, when it still is unclear how many of you will be signing – so far, your household is the only new one since the two registrations back on October 6, 2019), since you asked, I will give it a shot.

The “related settlement documents” that are going to be required are at least the following (and possibly other things, but only along these same lines – lawyers do their best to eliminate possible issues whenever they can): (i) a covenant not to sue to try to obtain any implied easement rights of access through the Equestrian Center Property (while the quitclaim deed arguably takes care of same and that is the defense we would proffer to such a suit, the real purpose of it is to get rid of the cloud caused by the Agreement Regarding Development and we do not want there to be any doubt); (ii) an Affidavit stating that you are not aware of any actual knowledge on the part of Mommies or any of its representatives pertaining to the Agreement Regarding Development); (iii) an Affidavit [stating] that you are not aware of any violations on the Equestrian Center Property of the Forsyth County Unified Development Code, the Metropolitan River Protection Act, violations pertaining to streams or wetland, and land disturbing activity violations, etc. (while there are no such violations on the Property, you would be surprised what the CRC HOA, some of your neighbors and Forsyth County officials have had to say in making life difficult for Mommies [Properties] and Mr. Bose). I trust that you find all of the foregoing requirements reasonable and also consistent with a desire to minimize the possibility of future litigation initiated by current residents or their successors-in-interest.

While not required for settlement purposes, we would love to receive the following from one or more CRC HOA members, which would help us in the fight against the CRC HOA and your other neighbors whom we will have no choice but to add: (i) a voting proxy and a limited assignment of rights to enable us to exercise rights pertaining solely to the Equestrian Center Property issues that we have been fighting and that would allow us to obtain HOA records that members are entitled to inspect under Georgia law (while we eventually will get this information as part of the discovery in the lawsuit, we are being fought every step of the way and it might help expedite matters); (ii) copies of any communications that you have received from the CRC HOA since March of 2018 (while we eventually will get this information as part of the discovery in the lawsuit, we are being fought every step of the way and it might help expedite matters); and (iii) an affirmative statement that you will not oppose yoga in the stables loft area (the CRC HOA and others in your neighborhood hosed Mr. Bose on this issue a couple of years ago – I will be posting an update that explains this in more detail, because it is prime example of what Bose has been put through by those whose goal it is to make his life miserable and you will understand why we are asking for, but not requiring, this.

I will provide a copy of this response to my co-counsel and it is possible [some] of them may think of something else to add. If they do, I can assure you that same will be as reasonable as the way we have approached everything else in this case.

If you do not have an objection, I would like to make an Updates posting with your question (keeping your identity anonymous, of course, unless you tell me otherwise) and this response. Please let me know if I have your permission to do so.

I received the following response on Saturday, November 2, 2019 at 9:42 p.m.:

Larry:

Thank you for the detailed reply.

As for the "related settlement documents", you are correct in that I find the agreement not to sue, the affidavit about knowledge of the ARD, and the affidavit about violations to be reasonable and I do not believe I would have any reason not to sign them. I would have to consider any other additional documents you might add to these before I would agree to sign those, but these three seem perfectly fine. I would, however, like to have a copy of these documents to go over before the settlement if possible so I have a chance to completely understand what we are signing instead of having to just skim it at the actual signing.

As for the other things you requested I will have to give those some more thought before I can answer. However, I will say that I am NOT opposed to yoga in the stables area. While completely understanding that this is NOT my property and NOT my decision as to what goes on there at all, of course I would say that personally I would love for it to retain the original equestrian nature of the property as I believe both the neighborhood and the property derive benefit and value by being related as they are. While Mr Bose may not have been treated fairly (I will add here that myself and likely very many others in the neighborhood would agree that that is NOT who we are or what we stand for), I do hope that he can see that a beautiful equestrian property attached to a beautiful equestrian style neighborhood benefits both parties and that he will not view all of us as his enemies, for we are not, but as neighbors.

As for posting my original question "What are the related settlement documents" and your original reply above in the Updates section, you have my permission to do so provided that everything is worded in a way that is completely anonymous. I am NOT trying to put any kind of target on my back with the HOA or anyone else. We do have to live here after all.

Thanks

On Sun, Nov 3, 2019 at 11:20 a.m., Larry Oldham responded as follows:

[Redacted]

I am agreeable to everything that you have stated and appreciate your approach. You and your [spouse] obviously are reasonable and intelligent people and I presume there are many more like you in the neighborhood, which I am sure is a great place to live.

I am used to dealing with general apathy and the “this has nothing to do with me” attitude that is prevalent in the Chattahoochee River Club and we have done our best to get the word out so that people can avoid something I can assure you they will not be happy to be a part of before all is said and done. What else can we do but let them know and then do what we say we are going to do for those who choose to bury their heads in the sand? It is like watching two trains in the distance approaching each other in a head-on collision course and not being able to do anything about it.

Something that has blown me away about all of this is that it would make no sense for Mr. Bose or Mommies Properties to make any use of the Property besides something that would be harmonious with the neighborhood and he has never contended that he has any intention of doing anything other than that. He is one of the nicest guys you are ever going to meet and bought the property to run it as an equestrian property. He wants to have the option, as any other reasonable person would, of course, to make additional uses of his property which are compatible with its surroundings and help [make] its operation more economically viable and I have no idea where your neighbors have gotten off thinking that they should be able to tell others what to do with their property.

It is up to Mr. Bose and Mommies Properties to find a way to make a use of [the Equestrian Center Property] that makes economic sense but that cannot be done in a vacuum – what could your friends and neighbors possibly be concerned he would be able to do that would be detrimental to the neighborhood? Who opposes yoga or a reasonable-sized caretaker’s residence that would allow the operation of the very equestrian use everyone wants? Your neighborhood does, either actively, through its HOA Board’s overreaching, or your [neighbors], through their apathy.

Believe it or not, I have received calls from some of your neighbors and have heard concerns about use that include a convenience store, a church, a mosque, a hotel, a Hindu Temple or some other sort of commercial use that makes no sense based on its location. Mr. Bose is a successful businessman who wants to be operating a going concern on his property. He never understood the animosity towards yoga, especially when he was told [by] the HOA Board and other neighbors that they would support it (and even told what to request) before ever making the application to modify the CUP. The HOA pulled the rug out from under him then and has opposed him in every way since then, urging the County to get involved in December of 2017 to stop him when he was having utility lines relocated and issuing another stop work order to keep him from growing grass in the paddocks.

We are not making any of this stuff up and we are convinced that all of this has been part of the HOA’s plan to try to take the Equestrian Center Property from Mr. Bose without paying for it. I know that you have reviewed at least some of the postings on the website that I have created and if you look at the communications since August, you will see that neither your HOA nor its counsel have done any of you HOA members a favor in the way they have approached his situation. Mr. Bose recognizes that all will need to get along for years to come and he did not ask for this fight.

There are some people in your neighborhood who have influence with Commissioner Semanson and they used that influence get her involved in overstepping her authority to pressure County staff to take actions we contend they never would have taken otherwise. Mr. Bose and the members of his legal team are principled to a fault and we have been outraged by the governmental abuse that has happened here, either by actively participating in [it] or seeing it happen and doing nothing about it. As you may be aware, we have filed a separate lawsuit against Commissioner Semanson and a County Inspector, Shane Pruitt, for acts outside the scope of their governmental authority. The way we look at it is if this can happen to Mr. Bose, it can happen to any of us and it needs to be addressed.

Just so you understand, it always has been our intention to get together a sign-up list like the one you are on, provide proposed settlement documents for review and consideration prior to requiring them to be signed, address any reasonable concerns about them that we may not have considered and give those who have at least expressed a desire to resolve this matter before we add them as parties the opportunity to sign the final versions of same. Being on the list prior to the deadline affords you that opportunity and not being on the list subjects you to the same risks and everyone else. We are adding residents for no reason other than that we are required to do so and once same occurs, they are along for this ride until the end unless we settle with them and agree to let them off earlier.

Because this entire string of communication is relevant, I am planning on posting it in the Updates section later this evening unless you tell me I only am authorized to post what you have approved. I agree, of course, with your request that this remain completely anonymous and understand what it is like having to live in a neighborhood after a controversy. If you have not done so, you might want to check out the following link that is on my firm website, which is an interesting study in HOA overreaching, mob mentality and how lawyers do what they do and litigation can get out of control when people are unreasonable:

http://lcopc.com - go to Links - High Gables v. Oldham

I appreciate you communicating with me and look forward to meeting you when we sign the settlement documents.

Larry Oldham received the following on Sunday, November 3, 2019 at 8:29 p.m.

Larry:

We definitely cannot speak to the thoughts or actions of the HOA, the county, or other members of this community. We have no idea how or why they came to the conclusions they did and we took no part in it. It does not surprise me that most are ignoring all of this - to them it is out of sight out of mind. Neither my [spouse] or myself have ever even SEEN this property (or any horse in this neighborhood for that matter) and I am sure it is the same for many if not most others. All I know is this - based on the information available to us, Mr. Bose is not responsible for the screw up the developer made with the ARD way back in 2000 nor should he be punished for it. It is his property to do with as he will and he should have been treated fairly by the HOA and everyone else in CRC and welcomed as a neighbor.

Please let us know when you have finalized everything about when my [spouse] and I need to sign the settlement documents. You may post this conversation on the website as long as anonymity is maintained.

Thank you for the conversation and thank you for allowing those of us who wish to resolve this matter personally a easy way to do so. We do appreciate it. We also wish Mr. Bose the best of luck in his future endeavors.