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But first a few comments on our neighbors in Butt Mountain Estates.
The histories of Cinnamon Woods and Butt Mountain Estates are
somewhat commingled as you will soon discover.
Robert and Janet Anne Faucett bought the major part of Butt Mountain
Estates from William and Margaret Stepp in October 1972.Butt
Mountain Estates at that time was what we would today refer to
as the lower portion. Basically what you drive by coming up Marley
Drive and further what you can see as you turn into Cinnamon
Woods. There were three "Blocks" or groupings of individual
lots. Block A, Block B, and Block C. Block A comes up Marley
Drive, Block C goes off to the left down a private road, and
Block B has nine lots around the comer. The Faucetts bought all
lots in Block A, Lots 1,3, and 4 of block C, and five lots in
Block B. This depiction is displayed in Plat Cabinet C, Slide
144 and Plat Book 8, page 16in the County Offices. The Faucetts
sold lots over time and in this process conveyed to the new owners
the impression that Marley Drive was a proprietary part of their
purchase. They more than likely were going to do the necessary
paperwork but never got around to it. However,
all lot buyers were under the impression that they either owned
Marley or had control of it. As we now begin the history of Cinnamon
Woods keep in mind that lot owners in Butt Mountain were under
the impression that they owned Marley Drive. In addition there was
to be a Butt Mountain Estates Neighborhood Association. No one
has ever put this in place. Even today there is no Association.
One of the best reminders to all Cinnamon Woods residents about
the need for an active Association can be seen in the condition
of the roads in Butt Mountain Estates. Go have a look at the
condition of their roads. There is a good lesson there for us
all.
Now about Cinnamon Woods
In the early eighties a Mr. Barnwell bought the
Cinnamon Woods property and logged it. After
it was logged he addressed the issue of what
to do next. He collected some friends, one of
whom was Rick Merrill, and together they explored
ways to get access to the logged land. This
was a huge issue for them at the time. The purchase
agreement of the land carried an access provision.
Access was critical. An attorney in town named
Don Elkins was a friend of theirs. This new group
of hopeful developers asked Don to find a way
for them to gain access to the property. For
a while nothing developed. Finally Don Elkins
searched all the records and unearthed what today
is referred to as The
Faucett's oversight. The
Faucetts still owned the perimeter road. They
had never deeded Marley Drive to the unsuspecting
land-holders of Butt Mountain Estates. Mrs. Faucett
was located in Colorado and was contacted by
Rick Merrill. He offered her $100.00 for the
perimeter road. She settled for $500.00. Don
Elkins prepared a Quitclaim Deed, Mrs. Faucett
signed it and it was recorded. The Quitclaim
Deed is dated April 30, 1984. BRTR
Inc. then owned Marley Drive. The decision was then made
to proceed with their planned development that
included 100 mobile home sites. They moved several
pieces of heavy equipment over Marley Drive and
started to move dirt around. Then all hell broke
loose. A temporary restraining order was issued
on September 18th, 1985 against BRTR Inc. prohibiting
them from continuing any further attempts at
developing Cinnamon Woods without further hearings
on the restraint order. There were numerous (19)
Butt Mountain Estate residents who were part
of the lawsuit against BRTR Inc. and their planned
development. These individuals are listed as
Plaintiffs, 19 in all, in the Consent Agreement.
The restraint order was so strict as to prevent
BRTR Inc. from using Marley Drive as a exit for
their equipment. They had to build a road to
get their equipment out through another exit.
A very expensive law suit with cross claims quickly
developed. That law suit File is achieved in
the County Courthouse as File No.: 85 CVD 723.
The File is two inches thick, contains hundreds
of pages, and is available for public review.
A recent review was the first look back in the
last 21 years. After a year's court fight the
dispute was settled with a Consent Order dated
October 15, 1986. The Consent Order encompassed
many parts and addresses multiple subjects. One
part provided for a Declaration of Restrictive
Covenants. A sub section of this Declaration
required a 100% acknowledgement from the original
Plaintiffs before any change could be made to
the Restrictive Covenants by residents of Cinnamon
Woods. This requirement alone has taken a heavy
toll on the ability of past Cinnamon Woods Boards
to adequately manage the business of this community.
There was also a Supplemental Order of the same
date that required BRTR to Quitclaim certain
roadbed portions to several Plaintiffs. None
of this roadbed is along Marley Drive. The Consent
Judgment acknowledged BRTR's claim to ownership
of Marley Drive. As a gesture of goodwill BRTR
agreed to Quitclaim a portion of this 60 foot
wide roadbed back to owners of property along
Marley Drive because a part of this sixty foot
right of way extended into what had been their
front yards. The Declaration also provided for
the creation of a Cinnamon Woods Owner's Association
together with By Laws for its operation. After
exhaustive research it was determined that all
roadbed along Marley Drive which was not Quitclaimed
was still owned by BRTR. That land is Marley
Drive (paved portion) from Roper to Cinnamon
Way. In March of 2005 Marley
Drive was Quitclaimed to the Cinnamon Woods Owners Association and
that deed is recorded in the County Registry.
Cinnamon Woods has two major problems which the
current Board hopes to soon address in a special
meeting of the residents called for June 14,2005.
One involves a decision by the Board to abandon
any attempts to manage the community through
the use of the original Declaration. It is simply
impossible for a number of reasons all of which
have been spelled out for the Board by a local
attorney associated with the Frank Jackson law
firm. Another issue is the need to modify the
community By Laws to enable the Board to institute
Rule making which will protect and enhance the
safety of the community. These issues will be
addressed at the special meeting on June 14th
of this year. This is the history of Cinnamon
Woods. Our quiet neighborhood exists today through
a lot of heart ache and pain on the part of others.
Many within the community have expended great
effort to correct certain mistakes that have
made our neighborhood administration very difficult.
This current Board is on the threshold of positive
change for renewed success. All within the community
will soon receive a newsletter which will spell
out in detail the activities planned by the Board
over the next several months. Cinnamon Woods
is one of Hendersonvilie's nicer communities.
When the proposed changes to our by-laws are
complete and the membership institutes some basic
Rules for the management of the community, Cinnamon
Woods will move from a nice place to live to "the
place to live."
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