Homeowners Living Under House Rules : CC&Rs; Regulate Communities in North County

They’re a curse when you want to build an addition or change the color of your house, and a blessing when the guy next door wants to raise pit bulls under your bedroom window. They alienate neighbors and keep lawyers happy, yet at the same time preserve the character of the neighborhood you found attractive enough to buy into.

Homeowners associations and the codes, covenants, and restrictions they enforce have increasingly become a part of our neighborhoods and the way we live.

Chances are, if you buy a home in North County, you buy into a homeowners association as well. Though, says attorney Harry Olsen, you may not understand all the ramifications when you sign on the dotted line.

“I find the majority of new home owners aren’t aware that: One, they’re in a homeowner association, and two, they’re subject to architectural controls and bylaws,” said the Vista attorney who represents both homeowners and developers involving homeowners associations.

Even if your CC&Rs; have been in effect for decades and the rule book comes gift-wrapped, you probably won’t get past the first “whereas.”

“A covenant document is a lot like the instruction booklet you get when you buy a new appliance,” said Rea Mowery, a former manager of the Rancho Santa Fe Assn. “You throw it in a drawer until something goes wrong.”

So many problems are cropping up with homeowners associations that community colleges are offering courses on understanding and running them.

“People are thrown into this experiment in democracy where they’re forced to live and work together in a community,” said Olsen, who teaches one of the classes at MiraCosta College. “So there’s often a lot of stress and strain, and sometimes antagonism.”

With or without CC&Rs;, suing and squabbling have been going on for centuries. At least as far back as the Middle Ages, neighbors generally loved to quarrel, fight, slander, and sue each other, according to historians Frances and Joseh Gies.

It’s all just more codified today.

Each homeowner association operates a little differently. Here is a look at how three in North County work: Rancho Santa Fe, Del Mar Highlands in North City West and Silver Saddle Ranch in Poway.

RANCHO SANTA FE

Association established: 1928

Number of homes: 1,653

CC&Rs;: 51 pages

Annual fee: Based on assessed value of home, averages about $1,000

Rancho Santa Fe has what may be the granddaddy of CC&Rs; in North County. The 62-year-old covenant document was set up by an itinerant city planner who developed almost identical arrangements for communities such as Shaker Heights, Ohio, Montecito (near Santa Barbara), and Palos Verdes in the 1920s.

Its stipulations for preserving the rural character of the 10-square-mile community were farsighted, but according to former association manager Rea Mowery, it took some time for residents to take them seriously.

“Back in the old days few people followed the covenant,” recalled Mowery. “Residents would sit around the table and say ‘I want to do this or that.’ And the answer (from the homeowners board) would be, ‘Oh go ahead, have fun and do it.’ ”

It wasn’t until the mid-1960s when a hard-nosed association manager came on the scene that the covenant was put to the test.

“He followed the letter of the law, and made a lot of locals mad,” remembers Mowery. “He didn’t give a minute to the good-old-boy situation.”

Today the association--under its manager and staff--oversees its golf and tennis clubs, private security force, and parks and playing fields.

Its board of administrators, made up of seven elected residents, uphold the bylaws, and has the clout to slap an injunction against an illegal addition or modification. More than one homeowner has had to dismantle a clandestine wing or guest house under court order.

A board-appointed art jury of five members issues building, landscaping, and grading permits, and makes sure that nothing too exotic gets built on the eucalyptus-lined streets.

Sometimes.

Theoretically, architectural styles are limited to California Ranch, Monterey, Mexican and Hispanic-Mediterranean. But a stark contemporary, a Southern Colonial, or an English Tudor have cropped up here and there, due to the interpretations of the ever-changing art jury.

“Some art jurors have held the philosophy that people ought to do what they want when they want with their property,” said another former association manager, George Parrish. “Just as long as it doesn’t impinge upon their neighbors.”

Others take a more hard-line approach, which irks some residents. Like Bert Parks.

The blue shuttered, pink stucco Mediterranean house of the Miss America patriarch was viewed as out of character with the covenant a few years back. Parks and his wife, Annette, were asked to tone down the colors. They complied, but Parks thinks the art jury was a little unjustified.

“Sometimes they go a little overboard,” he said. “This is a Mediterranean house, and I think it’s a gorgeous color combination. It isn’t garish. It isn’t out of character.”

“I agree with wanting to keep the natural beauty of the community,” he said. “But it’s a double-edged sword. I think most anybody who is told to modify their house feels it’s unjust, but it also prevents any outlandish developer from coming in and making another Beverly Hills.”

Along with architectural controls, grading of lots must be kept to a minimum, streets and tennis courts are not allowed to be lit, and roof colors must blend in with the landscape.

The bylaws even restricted skin color until 1973. Before anybody had the chance to sue, the general membership voted to drop the clause and amend the covenant.

However, the association has not always been able to avoid litigation. Residents have tried to sue the homeowner association for everything from keeping one too many cows to adjusting set-backs on property lines. Most cases either don’t make it to court (the cow died) or if they do, the association historically wins.

One recent lawsuit was settled out of court on Oct. 4. Fifteen residents were suing the homeowners group to stop play on the soccer and baseball fields. The property, it was discovered recently, is zoned residential and opponents cited noise and traffic problems. Proponents argued that the field has been used for sports for the past 12 years, and children needed a place to play ball within the community. A compromise was reached that reduced the hours play would be allowed.

“I think solving problems within the community works better,” said association manager Walt Ekard, in a recent interview with the Rancho Santa Fe Review . “Unfortunately the community is getting larger, the property more valuable and people are moving closer together. It seems to be a reflection of society.”

DEL MAR HIGHLANDS -NORTH CITY WEST

Association established: 1983

Number of homes: 1,040

CC&Rs;: 83 pages

Annual fee: $300

“The trouble with most homeowners organizations, is that they alienate the neighborhood,” says Emily McColl, a Del Mar Highlands resident. “Instead of calling your neighbor and discussing the issue, you call the board.”

McColl remembers one incident in another neighborhood where her 4-month-old baby was ticketed. While he played on the grass, she kept her eye on him from the kitchen. But a security guard didn’t see it that way and snapped a picture of what appeared to be an unattended baby. The McColls had to appear before the board and pay a $25 fine.

“I’m grateful we don’t have anything like that here,” says McColl. “At least not yet.”

She feels communities would work better if neighbors would talk to each other more and tattle to board members less.

“Especially when some board members take their jobs so seriously,” McColl said, adding, “It’s like they have to justify their existence. It all depends on who’s serving. But some board members can be overzealous.”

Her neighbor Louella Dick sees it differently. “It’s been our experience, if you complain a lot, the rules will be enforced,” Dick said. “If not, nothing gets done.”

When she and her husband tried the neighborly approach and politely reminded the man across the street that his basketball hoop didn’t conform with the CC&Rs;, his reply was: “Sue me.”

And when the Dicks wanted to wall-in a courtyard in the front of their house, the neighbors circulated a petition against it.

“They were nasty about it,” Dick said. “It just doesn’t seem like we have a community feeling here. But maybe it just takes time.”

Del Mar Highlands is a 1,040 unit community made up of sub-divisions of single-family homes and condominiums. Built by Pardee in 1983, it’s in the northwest corner of North City West, bounded by Del Mar Heights Road and El Camino Real.

Its hefty book of bylaws regulate everything from the installation of swing sets to the number of pets an owner can have (“Four, and the total number of any one species should not exceed two.”). It also stipulates how the common areas should be maintained.

“Our board of homeowners only deals with the landscape and maintenance of the common areas,” said Ginny Barnes, president of the master homeowner association. “Each neighborhood up here has its own CC&Rs; that deal with architectural controls, motor homes, weeds, and animals, but Pardee neglected to link the separate boards.”

Even though Barnes sees her role as limited, she says neighbors do call and complain about one nuisance or another.

While she believes neighbors should handle their own problems, she’s not opposed to acting as middleman between parties.

“Sometimes its nice to have a mediator step in,” says Barnes. “If you painted your house purple, and I hated it, but I loved you, then maybe it would be nice to have a third person help out a little bit,” she said. “How do you tell your friend you don’t like the dress she’s wearing? There are feelings involved.”

A professional management company is hired to manage services like security patrol and landscape maintenance, as well as file liens against residents who fail to pay their annual homeowner assessments.

“That’s seldom a problem here,” said Barnes. “There are only 10 delinquents out of over 1,000 units.”

Barnes sees the biggest problem with the CC&Rs; is the “It Doesn’t Apply To Me” syndrome.

“People are drawn to the community because of the way it looks,” she said. “They appreciate the fact that there’s no laundry hanging out front, no boats or RVs parked in the driveways, and no dog poop on the sidewalks,” she said. “Yet after six months they end up violating the CC&Rs; that made this place what it is.”

SILVER SADDLE RANCH IN POWAY

Association established: 1972

Number of homes: 214

CC&Rs;: 4 pages

Annual fee: $10

The biggest complaint among the 214 residents of Silver Saddle Ranch in northwest Poway concerns the recreational vehicles and motor homes that sometimes clutter the streets and driveways for days. (CC&Rs; stipulate that they be enclosed in a garage or fenced area.) Other complaints include the changing of oil in driveways, leaving trash on the curb days before pickup, and the littering of trails that surround the half-acre lots.

Longtime association board treasurer Ralph Jordan says he and other board members get their share of complaints from residents who are disgruntled with their neighbors for one reason or another.

“They can’t seem to talk to each other,” said Jordan. “So we end up playing the peacemakers.”

Jordan says his board’s primary duties are to OK additions and enforce the CC&Rs.; But the board, along with the Green Valley Civic Assn., has found strength in numbers. They recently prevented a developer from building 700 homes in a neighboring plot that was zoned for 156.

The board also knows how to rattle a few chains when neighborhood streets need resurfacing, open areas need cleaning up, or a traffic signal is needed at a dangerous crossing.

Unlike most homeowner associations where membership is mandatory, belonging to the Silver Saddle Ranch Assn. is optional. Yet more than two-thirds of the homeowners opt to join. According to Jordan, that’s due to the bargain annual assessment of $10.

It probably also has something to do with the board’s civic-minded public relations. Along with its annual Christmas party, the homeowners association has organized an earthquake preparedness program, and offers free cardiopulmonary resuscitation classes.

The simplicity and the spareness of the CC&Rs; may also account for the relative peace the homeowners enjoy.

“I think our CC&Rs; are strong enough to protect the value of the homes, but they’re not so stringent people want to go against them,” said resident Sue Herndon. “In some places they’re so tough, they give people who are bored a license to kill.”