The Vows That Bind

The most telling section of the 51-page Rancho Santa Fe Covenant, locals say, lies in paragraph No. 46, where there’s a line detailing the Covenant’s mission to protect the architecture of The Ranch “to ensure a uniform and reasonably high standard of artistic result and attractiveness, of exterior and physical appearance.”

The Ranch’s 6,200 acres are roughly bordered by Camino del Norte, El Camino Real, Fairbanks Ranch and Del Mar Heights.

Everything built within those borders must conform to the following rules:

* Single-family houses must sit on properties no less than two acres in size. Buildings must also be built Mediterranean ranch-style.

* No trees can be cut down within 25 feet of the road without permission of the Rancho Santa Fe Assn.--even if they’re on the owner’s property. Fences or walls built along the roadways are discouraged.

* Neon, exposed clotheslines and unscreened trash containers are prohibited. For sale signs are limited to one small placard.

As with any 63-year-old document, the Covenant also contains some pretty outdated material.

For instance, it prohibits drilling for oil on the ranch, as well as caring for anyone afflicted with tuberculosis.

Residents are also not allowed to manufacture gunpowder or operate dog pounds, cotton mills, door factories, coal distilleries, fish canneries or cattle yards.

Sure, some of the provisions may be outdated, association manager Walt Ekard said. But just try removing any of them from the Covenant’s pages.

“It’s a major undertaking--something like an act of Congress--to get anything changed on that document,” he said. “So most people just leave it alone, no matter how funny some stuff sounds.

“They figure it’s better that way.”