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Greenbrae Property Owners’ Association (GPOA)
Date: January 15, 2002 The meeting was called to order by Michael Hillman. Present were Bob Gilley, Jeff Goodrich, Mark Litwin, Patty Oxman, Paul Schwartz, and Richard Stromberg. Homeowner issues The floor was opened to homeowners present. Responding to neighbors' concerns, and to a letter from your Board dated October 29, 2001, Mr. Robert Merwin of 90 Paseo Way appeared to offer an update on fence work he is undertaking at his corner lot along his Paseo and Corte Precita frontages. At issue, yet again, is the construction by Greenbrae homeowners of fences within front setbacks, in clear violation of a restriction against such construction in the subdivision CCR's. Mr. Merwin came well-prepared with numerous photographs providing further ample evidence of the extent to which this restriction has gone unenforced for decades. The status of this particular project is further complicated by the fact that the sideyard construction (along Corte Precita) falls within the City of Larkspur right-of-way. Construction has been halted while Larkspur officials take the situation under advisement. Likely, Mr. Merwin will be required to move the fence further back onto his property. This case illustrates the predicament in which we find ourselves. Greenbrae homeowners, and the GPOA Board, have clearcut legal authority for restricting certain kinds of fence construction (the CCR's recorded with each property). However, your Board lacks the resources and "police power" to enforce the restriction. Meanwhile, neither the County of Marin nor the City of Larkspur restrict frontyard fences, as long as they're built on private property. When they encroach on public property, the enforcement resources enjoyed by those two government entities become apparent. Your Board wishes to clarify its position on this matter. All Greenbrae homeowners have the right to pursue a private cause-of-action in the Marin County courts in the event they find a violation of the CCR's to be sufficiently objectionable to warrant such action and, of course, this isn't limited to just frontyard fences. We would all hope that more neighborly and amicable means could be found to deal with these situations. The Board wishes to prescribe a protocol, based on information and communication, that will lead to a happy compromise between full and peaceful enjoyment of one's private property and neighborly cooperation. Please see details under "Community Relations Report", below. No other homeowner issues were raised. Treasurer's Report Jeff Goodrich mercifully volunteered his time and energy to take over the duties of Treasurer, a position recently vacated after years of loyal and diligent duty by Dennis Ryan. The Board reviewed, and approved, more efficient methods of handling and approving invoices, and of utilizing our bookkeeper's records and services in preparing the quarterly report. Community Relations Report In keeping with the spirit of voluntarism, Paul Schwartz agreed to take on responsibility for continued liaison with County and CalTrans officials regarding getting the north Greenbrae soundwall into Phase One of the Highway 101 widening project. Mary Lindsay, our former Community Relations Committee Chair, worked tirelessly on this worthy project, and we appreciate Paul stepping up to the plate. Attached you will find a "job description", prepared by Mary, detailing the duties of the GPOA Community Relations Chair. While Mary will be a particularly tough act to follow, your Board encourages the people persons among you to consider joining us to pick up where she left off. A few hours per month contributed by the right person can make a tremendous difference in our being part of a community, and not just a subdivision. Please contact Michael Hillman at 461-5000 if you're interested. Nomination and election to the Board will take place at our Annual Meeting on March 19. Regarding the Board's handling of frontyard fence construction: Whether your property is located in Marin County or in City of Larkspur jurisdiction, and whether or not your particular project requires a permit, it is not unreasonable to assume that you will prepare at least some type of rudimentary plans or drawings. The Board strongly recommends that you take it upon yourself to contact, and to meet with, immediately adjacent neighbors, and with any neighbor whose view might be impacted by your project in order to discuss your plans and to reach a compromise on objectionable aspects of your project. The Board further desires that you provide a copy of such plans accompanied by a brief, informal memorandum of the results of your meeting(s) with your neighbors a minimum of two weeks prior to initiating construction. The Board will exert its best efforts to mediate irreconcilable differences among the parties. Failure to comply with this protocol, in conjunction with the prima facie restriction in the CCR's, would obviously prejudice your position should one or more of your neighbors choose to escalate their complaint. Please note the following excerpt from the Frequently Asked Questions posted at the Marin County website: http://co.marin.ca.us/depts/CD/main/comdev/CURRENT/QUESTION.cfm#9 "6. Does the County enforce Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions (CC&Rs)? No, CC&Rs are deed restrictions which represent private agreements between you and the appropriate homeowners association and/or board of directors for your neighborhood and are not enforced by the County. The responsibility for enforcement of CC&Rs is placed on the homeowner association and/or board of directors. CC&R restrictions cover the type of use and the physical development that are permitted on your property, and are often more restrictive in nature than the County's zoning regulations. You are advised to check with the authority responsible for enforcing the CC&Rs in your neighborhood prior to submitting applications to the County for any construction or development on your property. Following this procedure will minimize the potential for disagreement among neighbors and possible litigation. Additional information regarding this topic is available at the Public Information Counter." and further, "9. How high can I build a fence? Fences up to six feet high are normally exempt from zoning requirements. A fence over six feet high is subject to setback requirements from property lines, unless permitted or approved by the County through the Design Review process. Before applying for a Design Review for a fence over six feet high which does not meet setback requirements, you should consult with your neighbor to ensure that the additional height of the fence will not be objectionable. For more information regarding fences, please inquire at the Public Information Counter." Of course, any project utilizing the assistance of a General Contractor should only be undertaken under a permit issued by the appropriate authority and pulled by the Contractor. It is the Board's sincere hope that all residents will adhere to this policy in the sprit of neighborliness with which it is offered. Landscape Report See attached "GPOA Landscaping Report, Submitted by Scott Sherman, January,2002." Scott Sherman's quarterly Landscape Report can be viewed at the GPOA website, www.greenbrae.org. Naturally, the work of the GPOA Landscape Committee as it pertains to both common area landscape maintenance and to capital improvements, represents the lion's share of the GPOA's activities, and its budget. The Landscape Committee and the Capital Improvements Committee are essentially one and the same. As such, the Capital Improvements Committee has met twice in the interval between the January 15 Board Meeting and the preparation of these minutes, with the agreement of all Board members that the report of that Committee would be incorporated into these minutes for informational purposes prior to the March 19 Annual Meeting. The Board set for that Committee the task of establishing specific goals and objectives for the year 2002, to be reported here and at the Annual Meeting. Attached below is that report: "Here is a summary of the landscaping capital improvements our Capital Improvements Committee approved this week, with concurrence of a majority of the Board (via phone calls). Within budget capabilities (and they are somewhat constrained based on a recent detailed review of current funds and anticipated cash flow), we will aim to complete work on 3 areas this calendar year: Via la Cumbre: the northernmost, entrance island would have a drip irrigation system installed as well as be planted according to landscaping plans developed 2 years ago by Schwartz and Associates of Mill Valley. We would remove many of the volunteer and poorly performing plants and replant/infill to create an integrated design with drought-tolerant natives and other appropriate plants. We also would install a low, entrance-quality wall with Greenbrae on it to announce the entry into our development. Henry Buder's company will provide an itemized planting bid according to the landscape plans/specification on a 'time & expenses with a cap' basis prior to any planting. This will allow us to control costs and work requested. The irrigation and planting will continue into the adjacent, large island to just past the large oak tree. This island project will give us a concrete look at actual costs to install irrigation and planting with Henry Buder's Landscape Restoration company. This will suggest how much additional irrigation and planting might be completed this year on the other two islands selected. Almenar Drive: The westernmost end of this street had large utilities boxes installed from the undergrounding project on Sir Francis Drake Blvd. several years back. And due to the walkway, called Rosie's path, and existing planting that requires regular pruning to a low level to ensure safety of pedestrians from cars making the turn there, we would run an irrigation line from the water meter (installed but not yet active) at the middle of the block in the island to the westernmost end and remove the taller growing plants and replant/infill with plants specified in the landscape plans also developed by Schwartz and Associates and approved by MMWD. Much of the island moving eastward is green and growing and the hydroseeding is now beginning to infill with small and larger perennials. Yet, there are areas in which infill planting may be done tapping into the irrigation line and as specified in the landscape plans just mentioned. Again, the extent of infill planting will be determined by costs as identified by preceding work. Henry Buder's company is to provide an itemized infill planting bid for the island on a 'time & expenses with a cap' basis prior to any planting. This will allow us to control costs and work requested. Bretano Way: The 100-block island, just east of La Cuesta already has irrigation main and lateral lines on the uphill side west of the water meter at 117 Bretano Way. This is the same system that already provides irrigation to the La Cuesta and Los Cerros islands north of Bretano. Budget permitting, and based on another planting bid by Henry Buder's company, we would install the last remaining parts required to activate drip irrigation on the existing lateral line, possibly also complete the main and lateral lines in this island only, to the east of the water meter, and infill plant as appropriate. Again, the hydroseeding is providing some infill on its own. We would determine how much to infill based on the prior costs seen on Via la Cumbre and Almenar. This infill planting on Bretano Way is most representative of the type of work to be done on most other islands. Most of the 'demolition' work of old and dying plants already has been completed by our maintenance and arborist services. So, all that remains is installation of irrigation and infill planting. Another issue to be sorted out is any additional water entitlement from MMWD to allow us to water our plantings. MMWD already has approved the landscaping plans for all this work. Yet, we are coming to the limits of current water entitlement, should have a credit for additional water, and this will be discussed with MMWD. The process of lining up the contractor, specifying the work, refining the agreements, and managing the work takes substantial time. I will need help from the Board members in monitoring and guiding the work, though I will definitely take the lead in guiding the contractors and activities. Paul and Bob have both indicated they will help in this process. That is much appreciated, as is any other help you can provide." President's Report Our introductory Sherman's GPOA 2002 Seed Mix sale met with a very nice success. More than 50 residents purchased some 60 pounds of the seed mixture concocted by Scott Sherman for this Fall's annual hydroseeding (that green stuff you saw sprayed last November over all the medians) for use at home. With Spring in the air at this writing, we're hoping to see the first shoots of more than 30 varieties of perennials and wildflowers all over Greenbrae. If you didn't place your order last Fall, or if you would like to order more seed, we have placed an order form online at the GPOA website, www.greenbrae.org. Speaking of which, the website has undergone some substantial upgrading this Winter, and remains a work in progress. Please take a moment to pay a visit, and feel free to offer your comments and suggestions at info@greenbrae.org (of course, there's a link to this email at the site). We encourage you to use email as a very effective way of communicating with your Board. I'm pleased and excited to report to you some real progress on the Greenbrae roadwork and re-paving project. On a cold, wet day at Thanksgiving-time, Jeff Goodrich and I toured Greenbrae with a camcorder, and produced a videotape (with Jeff providing the commentary) which provides incontrovertible evidence of the sorry state of many of Greenbrae's roads. Mark Litwin and I met with County Supervisor Hal Brown and Deputy Director of Public Works Robert Beaumont in early December, at which time they viewed the videotape and listened to our plea for acceleration of the roadway "overlay maintenance" schedule. Hal requested that Mr. Beaumont have DPW staff perform an inspection, and proposed that we meet again in January to review the results. We did so on January 9. Mr. Beaumont's report indicated that, while many of Greenbrae's roads are in better-than-acceptable condition-relative to a "Pavement Condition Index (PCI)" of Marin's roads-many are not, and are within two or three years of regularly scheduled repaving. Given the resources at the DPW's disposal, this regular schedule would complete Greenbrae repaving by the Year 2032!! Among the roads with lower PCI's were two heavily traveled, primary thoroughfares-Los Cerros from the easterly subdivision entrance at La Cuesta over the hill and down to Manor Road and the westerly entrance, and Vista Grande all along the ridge. Both Hal and Bob committed to looking closely at this year's demands and resources in order to determine whether these two roads could be included in this Summer's work schedule. Early completion of this work would benefit a large proportion of Greenbrae residents, and would provide a compelling example for purposes of determining whether the majority of residents would be willing to participate financially in accelerating the scheduled repaving of the remaining roads. I hope to elicit a good deal of discussion on this issue at our upcoming Annual Meeting on March 19. Paul Schwartz continues to work with the County Surveyor's staff on the completion of the "Aerial Photographic Survey" of Greenbrae. This detailed photo, along with topographical and lot line overlays, will be posted at the website as soon as possible. The Board's meeting schedule for 2002 is as follows: January 15, at Frank Howard Allen offices in Greenbrae March 19 (Annual Meeting, location to be announced) April 9, at Frank Howard Allen offices in Greenbrae July 9, at Frank Howard Allen offices in Greenbrae October 8, at Frank Howard Allen offices in Greenbrae Meeting adjourned at 9:10. |
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