The formal structure of the Great Oaks Homeowners' Association consists
of a five-member Board of Directors, two or three of whom are elected
each year by the association members for a two-year term at the annual
GOHA meeting. The elected board, in turn, elects its officers:
- President
- Vice-President
- Secretary
- Treasurer
- At-Large
The board is specifically empowered, under the Declaration,
to appoint a committee for architectural control composed of three or
more representatives. Further, the board is authorized by the By-Laws
to appoint a nominating committee and such advisory committees as
deemed appropriate. At present, the committees appointed by the board:
- Architectural Control
- City Liaison
- Landscaping
- Long-Term Planning
- Maintenance and Snow Removal
- Pool
- Safety and Security
- Erosion Remediation
- Tree
The Declaration and By-Laws,
while they specifically reserve certain powers for the association
members, give the Board of Directors, as the elected representatives of
all GOHA homeowners, express powers and duties for the administration
of the association.
Complete list of GOHA Job Descriptions.
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Annual Meeting: Pursuant to our
governing documents, there is an annual GOHA meeting. This meeting is
generally held in September. Notice of the meeting date is sent to all
homeowners prior to the meeting.
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Common Areas:
Great Oaks has many common areas. These include the front entrance, the
area along Old Lee Highway, the traffic islands at both ends of the
neighborhood, the swimming pool, some of the wooded area behind the
swimming pool, and areas between and behind many of our homes. All of
these areas are the responsibility of GOHA. We participate annually in
the Fairfax City clean-up day (generally in April) and utilize
landscaping, swimming pool and snow removal services to maintain our
common areas.
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Leaves: Fairfax City workers
pick up leaves in the fall. In order to have your leaves picked-up, you
will need to rake them to the curb/street. Watch the newsletter and
City Scene (the Fairfax City newsletter) for details on fall leaf
removal.
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Parking: The design of our award
winning neighborhood comes with some limitations. As a result of the
narrowness of our streets, parking is limited in some areas. This is
necessary to allow access to all homes by emergency vehicles. The diagram of the community
indicates the "no parking" areas. Everyone is encouraged to avoid
parking in these areas. Specific parking regulations are found on our Documents page.
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Pets: Pets are great. Many
owners in Great Oaks have cats and dogs and one way we keep up with
each other is by meeting when we are walking. But - pets can be messy.
We encourage everyone to remove any "presents" that their pets leave on
common areas.
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Trash and Recycle Pickup: Trash
pickup for our neighborhood is Friday mornings. Please place your trash
and recyclable's at the curb before 7:00 a.m. on Friday. The City of
Fairfax government provides recycle boxes.
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Great Oaks was designed in the early 1970's by developer Lester H.
Shor, who set aside much of the site as open space. Many of the
original black oak, white oak, birch, beech and tulip poplar trees were
preserved, and earth-toned brick and rough-cut wood contemporary houses
were built beneath them. Since then, residents have planted new trees
and hundreds of shrubs along residential streets with names like Great
Oaks Drive, Hemlock Way, and Beech Tree Court.
The original plan for the site called for
clearing away the trees and building several apartment towers, but
Fairfax City officials fought to save the old trees. As a compensation
to the developer, more than the usual number of homes were allowed per
acre, but they were each angled in such a way that the houses feel
private and separate from each other.
Fairfax City approved Shor's plan in 1973, after he had dedicated 21 of
the 30 acres to green space. The subdivision received awards for
excellence in home construction and land planning from the Northern
Virginia home building industry in the 1970's as well as recognition
from Better Homes and Gardens Magazine an award-winner for "Better
Neighborhood Planning."
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