WHAT A CO-OPERATIVE IS

By John Leaman

            Ocean Resorts was incorporated as a Cooperative on February 6, 1980 and was labeled a "residential park for recreational units".  A cooperative is a rather rare form of community wherein the owners are shareowners of the total and each has a leasehold right to one or more designated lots.  For Ocean Resorts there are 400 shares of the cooperative and 400 individual lots plus all the common areas and amenities such as the Recreation Hall, comfort stations, main office, post office & library, tennis courts, marina, swimming pool, storage area, streets, water and sewage systems, etc.  Each shareowner does not own their lot, but rather 1/400th of the total cooperative. Each cooperative owner then has leased rights to their lot through a Proprietary Lease.  The shares along with their respective leases can be bought and sold much like real estate.

            Ocean Resorts is now managed in accordance with Florida statute 719.  However, 719 did not exist when Ocean Resorts was formed, as it only came into being in the mid 1990's.    Also, statute 719 was almost a carbon copy of statute 718, which applies to condominiums.  Since Ocean Resorts in no way resembles a condominium, but is much closer to being a small city, many challenges had to be overcome to assure both compliance with the statute and effective management of the "little city" of Ocean Resorts as a cooperative.  By -Laws were established with the creation of Ocean Resorts and by 1982 when all developer personnel left the Board, the cooperative was under the leadership of a 7 member Board of Directors, all elected by the shareholders to 3 year terms, with terms expiring on a staggering basis to facilitate continuity and accountability. (Click below for a listing of Board members). Although the original By- Laws have been amended many times, the cooperative management aspects have remained unchanged.  The many amendments have dealt with the physical evolution of the RV Park into a community of mostly permanent residences.

                The Board of Directors has a full time licensed professional manager who then "runs" the park in accordance with Florida statutes and policies established by the Board.  The Manager accomplishes his/her responsibilities through a staff that he/she hires and directs within the policies established by the Board.  Ocean Resorts had been fortunate to have the same most competent management staff for two decades.  The fact that Ocean Resorts' operating and maintenance costs had increased significantly less than the cost of living, while the park amenities had improved greatly, attested to the effectiveness of that management.  Through the years it had been stated that Ocean Resorts was the best bargain on the Treasure Coast.  That management arrangement ceased in 2012 as the park management was transitioning to a posture of contracted management.  This was not a smooth transition and by 2014 some of the turmoil that precipitated the change was still at play, and the park transitional back to self management, hiring its own manager and rehiring its former Maintenance employees.