Community Guidelines

G.1 New to the Subdivision?

• 1) If you are a new homeowner at Buckingham, please create an account on Vanguard Management Group portal/website https://vanguard.cincwebaxis.com/.
  Vanguard is the property management company. It may take a few days for your account to be created, once the request is submitted through the portal.

• 2) If you recently purchased a home in Buckingham, and if you are in a rush to perform some fencing, painting, exterior home improvement etc., please be aware that there is a Architectural Review process and you need to submit an ARC (Architectural Review committee) form. You can only submit this form through the Vanguard Management group portal after you login. Please be aware that the home might not have transferred to your name - in the records of the management company, unless the necessary paperwork and handshakes/transactions between the Title company and the management company have taken place. This involves financial and document exchange between those 2 entities.
  To Rush the process between them - you may have to phone contact or go in person to the Vanguard Management group office.

• 3) Download the Association Bylaws and the Rules and Regulations from the Documents section of this website and familiarize yourself with our policies. Inform your family members of these rules.

• 4) Get familiar with the Solid Waste Pick up days. Wednesday is our pickup day for garbage (black bin) and yard waste (must be placed in yard bags or tied with a string in no longer than 4 feet in length). Saturday is our pickup day for garbage (black bin) and recyclables (blue bin). You can keep these bins at your curb on the previous evening for pickup, but must remove them by the following evening. All garbage and recyclable bins must be stored in your garage or out of sight from the road.

• 5) Get familiar with lawn watering days/times and program your sprinkler systems accordingly. You can find these days on City of Tampa's water department website. These days vary by street address and vary during the wet and dry seasons of the year. You may be fined by the city for watering on non-watering days.
  

G.2 Community Do's and Don'ts:

• 1) Speed Limits: The speed limit is 20 mph inside Buckingham, and 40 mph on Tampa Palms Blvd outside Buckingham. Do not exceed the posted speed limits as we often have children playing inside the community. City of Tampa police officers patrolling our community can issue citations for speeding. Please make sure that your driving-age children and visitors are aware of the speed limits.

• 2) Parking: Do not park your car overnight on the street. Street parking inconveniences your neighbors and service providers such as garbage trucks. Use your garage or driveway, without blocking the sidewalks which are right of way for pedestrians.

• 3) Lawn Watering: Please follow the City of Tampa's watering schedule for watering your lawns. The city may cite you if you ignore this schedule. Note that the schedule changes from summer to winter.

• 4) Garbage: Garbage is collected on Wednesdays and Saturdays, recyclables are collected only on Wednesdays, and yard debris on Wednesdays. Do not put trash or debris on your curb on non-collection days. Use your garbage and recycling bins for disposal of garbage and recyclables. Yard debris must be stacked neatly and/or tied into 4 feet stacks or sealed in Yard Waste bags for disposal. Furnitures, appliances, building materials, and bulky items will not be picked up by the garbage collector, but may be disposed at the Hillsborough County Solid Waste Disposal Site with your tax bill.

• 5) Lakes & Ponds: Do not swim, fish, or wade in the community ponds, or anywhere else in Tampa Palms. These lakes and ponds may have deadly snakes, alligators, or bacteria.

• 6) Dog waste: Please remember to pick up after your dog. It's the law. For your convenience there are two dog waste stations in the subdivision.

• 7) Architectural Changes: Before repainting the exterior of your home or adding/modifying exterior structures such as fence or lanai, please complete an Architectural Change Control (ACC) form (download from Documents link) and submit it using 1 of the ways recommended in the form - (a) upload the completed form through the Vanguard portal or (b) email to the property manager or (c) postal mail (slowest way) or Fax etc.. The ARC committee's approval is needed before you can start the work. There is a set date before which the work needs to be started.

• 8) Exterior House Painting: The Buckingham community has a set of approved color palates on the Sherwin-Williams website (select "Buckingham of Tampa Palms" as the HOA community on this page). They are also available in hardcopy book at the local Sherwin Williams store. Your exterior paint color must be different from the houses to left and right of your home and the house across the street directly facing your home. The colors online and in the books are suggestions and guidelines. Other colors are welcome as long as they coordinate with the new colors. If you wish to paint your home, you should submit a ACC.

• 9) Signs: Buckingham covenants does not allow you to post any religious, commercial, or other signs on your premises. "For Sale" signs must follow the Buckingham approved design. Please remind your realtor that they may not use any other types of signs.
  10) Storm Water Drains: City regulations prohibit dumping / pushing dry leaves, yard wastes and other pollutants into the Storm Water drains. It is Illegal. Refer https://www.tampa.gov/tss-stormwater/programs/pollution/illegal-dumping
  Dumping increases the chance of flooding. The drain openings are on either side of the road. They appear like they run below the ground level on either side of the road. In reality the drains in Buckingham are all single exit and are much shorter than one would think without looking at the map of the drains.

G.3 Property Maintenance Guidelines:

Keeping your property in a good condition will help us maintain the property values of all Buckingham homes, and will help you avoid the aggravation of citations. Following are some guidelines to help you with property maintenance.

• The grass in your front lawn should not be more than 6 inches tall at any time. Mow the lawn at least once every two weeks in summer and at least once every four weeks in winter.

• Oak trees on your property should be trimmed so as to have a clearance of 8 feet from street level.

• Stow your garbage and recycling bins away from public view on non-garbage pickup dates, preferably inside your garage.

• Pressure wash your driveway and sidewalk at least once every spring, and as needed.

• Sidewalks adjacent to your property are your responsibility to ensure they are not lifting, A lift is defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act as a 0.25" difference in elevation. Trim the oak roots and keep the sidewalks level with each other.

G.4 Community Communication:

The Board of Directors keeps Buckingham homeowners and renters informed of important matters - that pertain to our life in the community. If you are a new homeowner or a renter in this community, please ask to be included to this communication by e-mailing buckinghamhoatampapalms@gmail.com (or using the form on the Contacts page).

The communication is enabled by a google group. The board will add you to the "google group". That will generate an email to you. Please accept the email / invitation to join the google group.

This is separate from the mailing list maintained by Vanguard Management Group who are the "community management company". To receive emails from them, you should opt to provide your email address and contact information when creating an account on their portal. Vanguard Management Group does send emails from time to time. They have an obligation to keep you informed when the law (state law regarding HOA) changes and the law requires them to notify you.

G.5 Needing access to the subdivision / Gate Access:

Owners and Renters needing changes to their name as listed on the gate access panel or looking to add their name, folks who need new clickers / transponders / remotes and PINS (4 digit personal identification numbers) must contact Tracy and Nicole of the management company. There is a form which they must fill and remit the appropriate payment to Vanguard Management Group.

The form will be transmitted to the board member who uploads the data to the Panel. PIN #s are for the requestor to use. When visitors look up your name, on the panel near the gate, and use the gate system to dial, it will call the phone # you provided on the form. To Allow access that is - to cause the gate to open, you will press 9 on your phone. You phone must be set to transmit tone and not pulse - for this to work.