After the long winter and rainy spring, many of the houses need a fresh coat of paint, the trees need trimming, and the weeds/yard debris need to be cleaned out. Please take a few minutes to check the exterior of your house paying special attention to the front eaves, the door frame, the bump-out and the garage door. Now would be a good time to check for water damage, rotting wood, and possibly mold in the attic (caused by a leaking roof).
To ensure the health of the trees on your property, please have a landscaping professional check the trees for possible disease, root rot, and fungus and have them trimmed or cut back, if needed. You are responsible for the trees on your property.
Don’t forget to power wash the front steps which may have accumulated layers of dirt and appear grungy.
The Covenants Committee members inspected the houses and noticed that several homes need painting, tree trimming, or general cleanup work. Individual letters are being mailed to the homeowners; if you receive a letter, please take immediate action to address the issue and help improve the look and aesthetics of the development.
Please note that holiday lights on the house, the garage door, and the trees in your yard are not festive in summer. These holiday lights and ornaments should be taken down in early January and stored away until the next holiday season. (Please refer to the Windsor Mews Design Standards.)
When painting the exterior of your house – especially the front door or shutters, please note that you cannot change the paint color. The Design Standards specify that the color should be the same as the original color. Those who are original owners will have received the color chart when they purchased their house; please follow that chart. Those who are not original owners, or if you are unsure of the color, please email the Board requesting the information and we will provide you with what the correct color of your front door and/or shutters should be (windsormews.org).
Many homeowners may not know that they need to clean, scrape, and paint the space under the eaves when painting the exterior of the house. Due to the height of the roofs, some of these areas can only be seen when you walk a good distance from the house and inspect the eaves at an angle and over your neighbor’s house. These areas cannot be seen from the front, or the back, or even from the side. We have noticed beehives, plants, and bird’s nests in the spaces under the eaves.
When painting the front door or shutters, please note that you CANNOT change the paint color. The Color Chart lists the door and shutter colors, while the Design Standards specify that the color of both the front door and the shutters cannot be the same, and they should be the same as the original colors they were. There is an order to the door colors and choosing any color that you fancy disrupts this symmetry. Those who are original owners will have received the Color Chart when they purchased their house; please follow that chart, and for new owners, please refer to your house model on the chart on our webpage (http://www.windsormews.org) or email the Board if you are not sure.
Also, only the natural wood color or stain may be used on the deck. We understand that there is a wide range of colors in natural wood, but white or orange paint is not a natural wood color or stain. If you choose to use partial composite wood, please choose the closest wood color. Fill out an architectural modification form so that you have the required permissions before you make any changes to your deck. Correcting violations later are time consuming and costly.
The Windsor Mews Social Committee plans occasional activities for the community. The committee is a small informal team of organizers, but everyone is encouraged to contribute their ideas and talents. So let’s think about ideas for this year. Remember, while the HOA Board chips in some money and resources, there is essentially no dedicated budget. This is about making our community a great place to live, so be creative and send in your ideas for some fun events we can all enjoy.
If you would like to volunteer on the Social Committee or the Covenants Committee, please drop us a line and we’ll put you in touch with the right person.
We have observed that many backyards have open containers and plastic toys that fill with rain water attracting mosquitoes. Please empty all plastic lids, pet bowls, buckets, pails, that may have filled with rain water and ensure there is no standing water outside the house at any time.
We enjoy the many benefits of the trees and the wooded areas close to our development. But with the greenery come wildlife right in our backyard. Wild animals that are around people or homes may be sick or injured, which could make them act aggressively. Please re-look at your backyard and your surroundings and make them animal proof. Trim all weeds and tall grass and clean-up accumulated trash and litter. Vegetative debris can attract rodents and reptiles. Please do not attract rodents by leaving food scraps or food wrappers out, and ensure your pet food and bowls are indoors, and trash cans are securely sealed. Animals are attracted by the smell of food (any food) and may be dangerous - they could be rabid or carry Lyme disease ticks.
The public parking spaces are for guests and visitors. Please park in your garage or on your own driveway and leave the visitor spaces for visitors. We have just 52 guest/visitor spaces for 130 houses. There is a parking policy in place and we ensure it is being enforced consistently. It is your responsibility to inform your family members, guests, and renters of the policy. We have contracted with Dominion Towing to handle any towing services in our community. Their website is dominiontowing.com and their phone number is (703) 730-1177. Enforcement of double parking, also known as tandem parking, is being enforced in Windsor Mews. The second parked vehicle completely blocks the sidewalk and forces walkers to step into the street to get around the double-parked vehicle and poses a risk for motorists who may accidently hit the rear of the second parked vehicle. This also makes it difficult for your neighbor across the street to back out of his own driveway. Please do not double-park your vehicle.
Residents are reminded that any exterior modification requires the completion and submission of an Architectural Modification form BEFORE the work begins. The form may be downloaded from our website (windsormews.org). Please follow the instructions on the form regarding submission. If the information you provide is complete and accurate, we promise a quick turnaround.
The post lamps provide the only light on our streets and must be on at dark for the safety and security of our community. We recommend replacing the light bulbs with 15W compact florescent lights for energy efficiency and longer bulb life. If replacement of the bulbs doesn’t make the light work, then take the following actions before calling an electrician:
The tennis court is for the use of homeowners and their guests only. Members of other communities are NOT allowed to use our tennis court and we do NOT have reciprocity of any kind. If someone is waiting to play tennis, please vacate the court in 30 minutes so others get a chance to play (reduced from 60 minutes). Please ensure that kids are not allowed to skateboard, or play games such as soccer (with cleats on their shoes) on the re-surfaced tennis court. Pets are not allowed on the court at any time, regardless of their size. Only a homeowner may obtain a key to the tennis court by paying a fully-refundable deposit of $25, by check only, made out to Windsor Mews HOA. If the original key is lost and a replacement key is required, the homeowner would need to wait at least one month and the replacement key deposit would then be $50. If the second key is lost or misplaced, the deposit for the third replacement key would then be $100 and the wait time would be three months after requesting the Board for a replacement. Contact a Board Member or check the HOA website (windsormews.org) for more information.
Please use the place responsibly – don’t leave trash behind for others to clean up; don’t litter, don’t leave children unsupervised.
Please ensure when you walk your dog that you clean up after it. The pet station along the perimeter wall on Piney Branch Road has helped, but we still receive complaints that residents are not cleaning up after their dog. Also, the tot lot is NOT a pet walk area. If someone has observed a resident not cleaning up after their dog please remind the resident that they need to clean up or submit the address of the offender along with the date and time it occurred to the Board via the website (http://www.windsormews.org).
Please take a moment to check out our website, windsormews.org, for information on the community, where you can obtain answers to your Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ), submit questions or concerns, and download the Architectural Modification form. You can also download copies of this and previous newsletters, or find a link to email the Board at hoaboard@windsormews.org. For legal and financial information or to review your own account, click on https://dcmetro.fsrconnect.com/windsormews using own login ID and PIN. And as always, please contact our management company, FirstService Residential, (fsresidential.com) at customerservice.dcmetro@fsresidential.com or at 703-385-1133, with questions or clarifications.