Bridling at Homeowner Group’s Tight Rein

Morning Glow Way has everything a horse could ask for in a tract of $500,000 homes.

A riding trail flanked by redwood fences runs right down the street and into the hills, and each house has open space in its yard for horses.

But despite the accommodations, few horses have ever hung their saddles in the upscale development of 25 homes chiseled into the foothills of the Verdugo Mountains in the east San Fernando Valley. None live there now.

And as the homeowners association cracks down on yards without sufficient landscaping and other aesthetic offenses, some of the people who prize the neighborhood’s rustic roots are having second thoughts about staying.

There have been warnings about improper holiday decorations, and fines have been slapped on homeowners who failed to landscape their front yards. Neighbors who once greeted each other with cheery hellos now scarcely speak. And, as befits a proper dust-up between well-heeled homeowners, both sides have lawyers.

“They’re trying to change this area into something it’s not,” said Ted Lang, a resident particularly upset--and vocal--about the strict rules adopted by the La Tuna-Oak Canyon Homeowners Assn. “They thought, ‘Oh, what we’ll do is make these houses look yuppie-duppie.’ And they did. . . . But these homes were designed as horse-keeping properties.”

Homeowners who favor the landscaping rules say the debate is less about keeping horses than about keeping up appearances in an expensive area.

“The philosophy . . . was to avoid having the neighborhood degrade or deteriorate as to affect people’s quality of life and property values,” said Scott Wilkerson, the homeowners association board president.

In 1997, the association adopted a series of rules governing landscaping, architecture, parking and other matters. A majority of homeowners approved the rules, said property manager George Garcia. Enforcement has recently been stepped up by the association’s three-person board, whose members are elected annually.

The resulting clash of cultural sensibilities has divided this subdivision of large, two-story homes with three-car garages on lots of about 20,000 square feet. The tract’s high-end suburban facade stands in marked contrast to the simple ranch-style homes that dot much of the surrounding canyon. Some homeowners favor the changes, some oppose them, and some don’t seem to care.

Long before the homes here were built, La Tuna Canyon was an equestrian area, full of stables and trails and hundreds of horses. Many canyon dwellers fought the development when it was proposed in the 1980s, fearing that it would dilute the country atmosphere of their semirural neighborhood and block access to the trail head.

The city of Los Angeles allowed the houses to be built, but attached several conditions to make sure horses would always be welcome, said Arlene DeSanctis, a field deputy for Councilman Joel Wachs, whose district includes La Tuna Canyon.

One condition was the 12-foot-wide horse trail along the east side of the street. Whether they keep horses or not, property owners are required to maintain 2,000-square-foot parcels in their backyards free of buildings and swimming pools--just in case, DeSanctis said. And each home boasts an access path, wide enough for a horse trailer, leading to the back.

Lang, for one, says he plans to bring his horses (now residing in Malibu) to live in his backyard. He objects to a rule adopted by the homeowners group that requires turf or plants on yards visible from the street, including part of the access path. Why would anyone plant grass that would be trampled by hoofs? he asks.

But other residents, less concerned with equine matters, are also chafing against the landscaping rules and other requirements. One homeowner, Greg Propp, said he has been fined $1,000 by the homeowners association for his yard, a swath of bare earth without a hint of green.

“We have a few overzealous people on the board, telling you how to park your car, what color to paint your house, and what to plant in your yard,” he said. “I just want to be left alone. I’m not hurting anybody up here.”

Bill Becker and his wife, Therese, have also felt the lash of the association, which all owners are required to join and to which they pay $1,000 in annual dues. Their offenses included parking cars on their access path and keeping a classic 1966 Ford pickup in the backyard without a cover.

“It’s very, very frustrating,” Becker said. “It’s to the point where we’ve seriously considered moving.”

Unsightly piles of junk, weeds and seasonal decorations that linger for months after the holidays are also prohibited. Becker said that after his family took down their Christmas lights, one of the board members from the homeowners group was quick to point out an oversight.

“We missed one bulb that we didn’t see,” he said. “And she’s like, ‘Are you aware that you still have a Christmas bulb in your tree?’ ”

So far, the clash has remained largely a private matter. Lang has alleged that some homeowners installed swimming pools on land set aside for horses, but inspectors from the city Department of Building and Safety have not found any violations of the horse-keeping provisions, said Bob Steinbach, the agency’s chief residential inspector.

The disagreements came after years of relative harmony, according to some residents. Most of the homeowners on Morning Glow Way are original buyers who moved in 10 years ago. When housing prices plunged in the early 1990s, some put off adding expensive landscaping to their yards.

For some neighbors, however, the time has come to enforce the rules.

“It would be nice if everyone could have a lawn or some other type of landscaping,” said resident DeDe Hansing. “It’s not like we all moved in the other day. I mean, we’ve been here 10 years.”

In the past, the homeowners association might have let such things slide. But in recent years, Wilkerson said, there’s been a growing sentiment on the block that more enforcement is needed to preserve the neighborhood.

“It’s one thing . . . to have a more country look,” said David Swedelson, an attorney representing the association. “It’s another thing to be junky. This board’s philosophy is to get rid of the junky look.”