Dear ALA Members,

At the August 2023 ALA Board meeting it was announced that the long-awaited oral arguments for the appeal of the preliminary injunction enjoining the ALA from enforcing a member-approved by-law amendment was scheduled for September 21, 2023.

Regrettably, the ALA was informed this week by the Appellate Court as follows:

• Appellants Gary Clifford, Robert Mattison, Alan B. Kaitz, Eran Heissler, Anthony O’Keefe, and Christopher Wilson have filed a request to continue oral argument. The request is granted.
• Oral argument in this matter, set for September 21, 2023 at 1:30 p.m., is ordered off calendar.  The parties will be notified of the rescheduled dated and time for oral argument.

This action will continue delaying the ALA from enforcing the by-law.  A copy of the court’s Order will be placed on the ALA website under Legal Documents.

The ALA Board will keep you updated as we learn more.

THE FACTS AND NOTHING BUT THE FACTS
ALA BOARD-STATEMENTS AND FACT SHEET REGARDING SHORT TERM RENTERS SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT - COMPLYING WITH THE PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION

• Lake Arrowhead is a private lake. There is no litigation contesting the privacy of Lake Arrowhead.  All Directors have pledged to maintain that Privacy. Not a single Director desires Lake Arrowhead to become a public lake.
• We fully recognize that 2318 members voted in 2020 to adopt a bylaw prohibiting Short Term Rental clients from accessing ALA property.
  • However, at the time of the voting, members were not made aware of such an outcome potentially being a breach of the 1964 Agreement and therefore subject to a lawsuit for such an alleged breach.
  • As far as any of us can remember, 2021 was the ONLY summer season in the history of Lake Arrowhead in which STR client access was prohibited.
• The 2022 preliminary injunction issued by the Judge presiding over the lawsuit in San Bernardino County ORDERED ALA to not enforce the 2020 bylaw amendments, to the extent they are inconsistent with the 1964 Agreement, that prohibited STR renters from accessing ALA property, but allowed ALA to, for the first time ever, establish and enforce rules to mitigate the impact of STR client access, including:
  • STR clients must be registered by name on the STR owner’s account
  • STR clients must purchase wristbands from ALA and sign paperwork
  • STR clients may not use any watercraft including motorboats, sailboats and human-powered vessels such as kayaks and stand-up paddleboards (SUPs)
  • Hence, access is not unfettered but is regulated, controlled, and enforced  
• ALA has appealed the 2022 preliminary injunction, but unless and until such an appeal is successful, it is in the best interest of the ALA to comply with the terms of that injunction.
  • In 2023, the full board was advised by legal counsel that under the terms of the preliminary injunction the ALA should not prohibit dock owners from allowing access to the owner’s dock to any properly registered guest.
    • As a dock owner, who rents slips to members, the ALA has decided to update its rental agreements to prohibit access by short term rental clients. The ALA DOES NOT ALLOW dock owner to decide whether or not to allow such access to their private property.
    • At last count there were 129 docks owned by members whose homes are registered with the county of San Bernardino as Short Term Rentals. Each of these 129 members can and should decide for themselves whether or not to allow their guests or clients to access their dock, and ONLY their dock.

The ALA membership has been inundated with repetitive misinformation by a few members, likely resulting in over 900 ALA members opting out of the member emails. Many ALA members believe these comments are libelous and slanderous.  The ALA will protect its interests.

• We fully support the rights of members to express their opinions to other members as provided under the California Corporations Code on issues reasonably related to their interest as members.
  •  We do not condone the use of member-to-membership communications for personal attacks, the spreading of misinformation, baseless speculation, misleading dialog, and unwarranted creation of fear.
  • We encourage members who choose to communicate with the membership to comment or reference bylaws, rules, regulations, policies, and legal documents, all of which are posted on the ALA website.
  • We support having more than one option available for member-to-membership communications. Prior to 2020, the ONLY option available was for a US Postal Service mailing at the member’s sole expense. Current options include low- and no-cost methods.