If you are making an exterior alteration to your home or planning to operate an in-home business, it is likely you need approval from the Kings Contrivance Community Association. Below you will find information to guide you.

Architectural Guidelines

Exterior Alteration Application

If you are selling your house, you will need to request a letter of compliance:

Letter of compliance request form

The Resident Architectural Committee (RAC) meets on the second and fourth Wednesday of each month at 7:30 p.m. at Amherst House to review applications. Your completed application must be received by 10:00 a.m. two Mondays before the meeting date to be considered by the Committee. Applications may be submitted via email to covenants@villageofkc.org or dropped at Amherst House in the mailbox to the left of the front entrance.

Questions should be addressed to the Covenant Advisor at 410-381-9600 or covenants@villageofkc.org.

WHAT ARE THE KINGS CONTRIVANCE VILLAGE COVENANTS

The covenants are among the many legal documents you (or your landlord) received within days of signing the contract for your new home. We hope that you took time to read and understand them.

The covenants are a binding legal obligation between the King Contrivance Community Association and each lot owner in the village and they "run with the land" as part of your deed of ownership. There are similar covenants, or contracts, for each of the other villages of Columbia. Our covenants assure the residents of certain minimum standards for land use, architectural design and property maintenance throughout the village. They also provide for your membership in the Kings Contrivance Community Association, Inc., and establish the mechanism for the operation of the association.

Because of the legal, contractual nature of the covenants, it is important that all exterior alterations to residential properties covered by the Guidelines be approved through the architectural review process. If an alteration is made without approval, you incur the risk of legal action in order to compel modifications consistent with the Guidelines. Such legal action may cloud the title on your property.

The covenants are not easily changed. Sixty percent of lot owners in the Village must agree to change the covenants. Lot owners, not in violation of the covenants, may cast one vote per unit owned if changes to the covenants are proposed.

If you cannot locate the copy of the covenants you received when you purchased your home, you can purchase a copy at Amherst House or read an unofficial copy. If you are wondering about a specific change to your property, you can look at the Architectural Guidelines. The Guidelines are a practical interpretation of the covenants and they stand as a straightforward guide for the Resident Architectural Committee (RAC) and residents to follow.

Architectural Review Process