History of Lake Inverness
This area was formerly part of a farm owned by Mr. Marvin Singer of Atlanta. The dam which creates the lake was originally built in 1959 by a Mr. Jim Morrison on a stream then known as Shetley Creek. The lake was created to serve as the reservoir for the farm's pasture land.
The dam was formerly known as Morrison Lake Dam. An evaluation of the lake and dam done by the US Army Corps of Engineers in early 1980 showed the dam to be in generally poor condition. This was just prior to the sale of the farm to the Cohn Communities, the developer of the subdivision.
Cohn enlarged both the lake and the dam and repaired the dam based on the recommendations listed in the US Army Corps of Engineers' report. The developer renamed the area Lakeside at Berkeley Manor and sectioned the lakefront area into 33 lots. They also incorporated the Lakeside at Berkeley Manor Association for the purpose of maintaining the lake area.
About the Homeowner's Association
Today, 30 of the original lots have homes built on them. One lot still without a home on it is known as the Common Lot. The other lot previously had a home, but was destroyed in 2007 to allow Gwinnett County service to purchase the lot for purposes of access to the dam. The dam itself, and its outlet stream are jointly owned by seven lots in the subdivision. However, maintenance of the dam is the responsibility of Gwinnett County Water Resources. The dam area is inspected by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources at least once per year as part of the state's Safe Dams program.
In addition to owning one lakefront lot and maintaining the lake and common areas, the Association owns the lake itself and some of the land near the stream inlet at the north end of the lake. The Association must pay taxes on the land it owns and also carries liability insurance to insure against accidents that could occur on its property.
The Association's primary functions are to a) manage day-to-day business afairs of the Association: b) collect annual dues and special assessments; c) pay taxes on Association-owned land; d) maintain liability insurance on Association-owned land and waters; e) maintain the Association-owned properties and monitor the adherence to the Rules and Regulations and Bylaws of the HOA's Association; f) insure the homes of members maintain the best resale prices possible by insuring the percent of rentals is maintained to a maxium of 4, excluding grandfathered lots)
The Association is not a typical HOA in that we do not place many restrictions on individual homeowner activities such as house colors, fencing, shrubbery, etc. The one exception to that is; the good maintenance of back yards (lake front areas), (defined as ; A line paralleling the rear wall of the structure stretching to the property borders and to the lake waters. plus anything else that pertains to the lake).
Lake Inverness is completely surrounded by private property and, as such, does not allow the general public to access the lake for any reason. Only lakefront property owners and their guests may enter and use the lake.