The History of

Spyglass at River Bend HOA

Spyglass at River Bend is a gated community of 100 homes located within the River Bend community in Ruskin, Florida.  

River Bend HOA was incorporated in Hillsborough County on May 26, 2005. There were several additions of land to the incorporated area over the course of the next 3 years.

River Bend, LLC was the original developer of River Bend. It later merged into a larger development company called Ryan Group, LLC.  The DCCR (Declaration of Conditions, Covenants and Restrictions) called for the eventual transfer of ownership of River Bend’s common property (any property not privately owned or owned by the county) to a CDD (Community Development District), a special tax district created by Hillsborough County under provision of Florida statute.

Spyglass boundaries were defined in the Second Amendment to the DCCR's (annexation of land into the incorporated area) on January 17, 2006. The housing “bubble” collapsed shortly thereafter. Creditor(s} of the development company filed for foreclosure in either late 2008 or early 2009.  Four (4) houses were built on Orange Mill Avenue and four (4) more on Cumberland Cliff near the curve of the street before foreclosure. Filing for foreclosure brought all development of unsold lots in River Bend, including Spyglass, to a halt for about five years.

The foreclosure action was resolved in county court on July 12, 2012, with Pallardy, LCC getting ownership of all unsold lots except five (5) in Spyglass whose ownership was transferred to creditors. Two of these lots were on the river side of Cumberland Cliff at the turnaround and one at the corner of Orange Mill and Cumberland Cliff.  All three were sold and built on, 2402 Cumberland Cliff being the last to be developed. Two other lots deeded to creditors remain undeveloped. One (1) is on Allegheny Valley and one is on Orange Mill. 

Pallardy, LLC sold development rights for most empty lots to Lennar Homes soon after the foreclosure settlement.  Lennar wanted to re-plat the lots in Spyglass into smaller lots and smaller houses and remove other upscale requirements in the original development plan. Since the Spyglass HOA was not functional at this time, The River Bend HOA took responsibility for Spyglass and was able to keep Lennar from re-platting lots and building small houses there. Many of the upscale architectural requirements were abandoned and Lennar built houses in Spyglass that were considerably less grand than the original 8 homes built before foreclosure.

Spyglass at River Bend Homeowner's Association Inc was incorporated on February 22, 2006, but did not function as an independent entity until 2016 when enough lots were sold for residents to assume control. The Spyglass gates originally operated as “soft gates,” allowing any vehicle approaching the gates to open them. The Spyglass HOA petitioned the River Bend HOA that owned the gates, streets, and common property in Spyglass to upgrade the gates to monitor and limit entry with a virtual attendant. The River Bend CDD agreed to allow a virtual attendant and limited entry only if the Spyglass HOA assumed financial responsibility for installing virtual attendant equipment and any future repairs for the gates and streets in Spyglass. The Spyglass HOA and the River Bend CDD signed a contract for this arrangement on July 12, 2018. The Spyglass gates soon operated to limit entry to the development.   

The Spyglass HOA is responsible for the following:

• Maintenance of the streets within Spyglass
• Maintenance and operation of the security gates
• To levy assessments against lots in Spyglass for maintenance expenses and maintain an escrow account for road maintenance (quarterly assessment)

All other community issues – parking, community pool, violations, architectural modifications, etc. – are the responsibility of either the CDD or River Bend HOA.

The Spyglass HOA Board of Directors is comprised of a President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer and Member at Large.  Members are elected for a three (3) year term and officers are elected annually.  The board meets quarterly at the River Bend Amenity Center.  All meetings are posted in advance on the Spyglass HOA website https://vanguard.cincwebaxis.com/090/home/

Updated November 2023

Thanks to Richard DeBrosse for his research and valuable contributions to this article.