Unit 12, Rear Access Limited By Fencing

Unit 12 chain link fence is not aesthetically similar.
Chain link fence pinned in place with large rock.
Wood fence extension not in original building plans. The narrow access limits access by emergency equipment and personnel (EMT).
17-8-10. PERFORMANCE STANDARDS
1. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS, Page 26
e. No fencing shall be erected so as to restrict access by emergency equipment to any building.





November, 2007. The chair is to demonstrate the lack of access caused by the narrow passageway.

Unit 7 Side Fences, Trash Cans

Fence extends sideways from building structure.



Sold side fence is over 6' tall, not in original building plans, and extends sideways from building structure for more than eight feet. Fence gate has inaccesible gate latch.

17-8-2. PERMIT REQUIRED
1. No person shall relocate, replace, construct or erect eight (8) linear feet or more of any fence at any Lakewood Zoning Ordinance
April 2004
Page 22
location within the City without first obtaining the necessary building permit.


Chain link fence extends sideways from building structure, and is also more than eight feet long.


Outside trash cans on common association property.

Unit 7, Another Fence

Fence extension is not in original building plans.

Unit 7, Rear Fence

Unit 7 rear fence addition has inaccessible gate latch.

Unit 11, Unleashed Dog

Unit 12, Tall Solid Fence, Grill Limits Access

There are varying fence height restrictions, depending on the zone district.

Research - Encroaching Tree

Over the line
Overgrown trees trigger dispute with neighbor, association
By Lew Sichelman
Last Update: 7:05 PM ET Oct 4, 2007
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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Question: I own a patio home with a property line that extends three feet from one wall of my house into my neighbor's backyard. The CC&Rs give each lot owner, as the "dominant tenement," a non-exclusive easement extending five feet onto the lot adjoining the dominant tenement.
My neighbor planted two American Podocorpus trees only a foot away from the wall and has never maintained them properly. Both trees are now four-story tall giants growing right next to my wall. One is leaning on my two-story roof and has broken several of my roof tiles. The other one is an even bigger tree, 12-inches in diameter with branches hanging on the front part of my house.
I asked our community association to write to the neighbor and ask him to remove the trees. But I was told by the association that this is a neighbor-to-neighbor dispute; therefore, I should sue him. I hired an attorney and have spent $10,000 so far, but my attorney still thinks that the association should help us interpret the rules because even if we go all the way to trial, the judge will most likely require the association to define the non-exclusive right.
The upshot is that this will cost me $20,000 more. Can the association just sit there and watch the homeowners sue each other? Isn't it the association's duty to interpret the CC&Rs when homeowners have a dispute regarding issues that are not clearly defined in the documents? Jenny Chou.
Answer: Nowadays, houses in new developments almost always come with strictures on how the property can used. Typically, these limitations -- called covenants, conditions and restrictions, or CC&Rs -- place the power to make decisions into the hands of the homeowner's association.

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Some associations rule with an iron hand, while others are far more lax. But either way, their role is to maintain or enhance the value of all the houses under their jurisdiction.
According to T. Peter Kristian, president-elect of the Community Associations Institute, a 29,000-member group created in 1973 to foster vibrant, harmonious and competent communities, every association in consultation with its legal counsel has a duty to interpret the CC&Rs as they relate to an owner's rights and responsibilities under the governing documents.
Since your question indicates the CC&Rs are silent as to the installation of plant material in the easement area, it would seem your neighbor is free to plant landscape material in this area.
However, the five-foot easement is for the purpose of accessing your property to perform maintenance. That may mean your neighbor could not place anything within the easement area that would unreasonably restrict the rights you have to use the area to access your home for maintenance. A tree or trees may or may not, depending on their size and structure, unreasonably restrict the activities required for maintenance.
But Kristian, who is general manager of the Hilton Head Plantation Property Owners Association, suspects you would need to use the easement area for maintenance activities such as painting and siding replacement, power washing, window replacement, roof repair and so on.
"If you are unreasonably restricted from using the easement area for these types of maintenance activities, the association should get involved by writing to the offending property owner and indicating that the trees should be pruned or removed to allow access to the easement area," he says.
If the trees are not unreasonably restricting your ability to access the easement area to maintain your home, then you do, indeed, have a neighbor-to-neighbor issue. If you haven't tried to sit down with your neighbor over a cup of coffee to discuss and address your concerns, Kristian suggests you do so now. "Stop suing each other and start talking to each other," he says. "Court should be your last resort."
If you have tried talking -- and being reasonable in your demands -- and it hasn't worked, the association manager thinks your attorney should advise your neighbor that you believe you have the right to cut or trim any of your neighbor's landscape material that encroaches on to your property, you consider the trees a hazard and your neighbor will be held legally and financially responsible for any damage to your home caused by the trees hitting or damaging your property.
"This approach generally will get your neighbor's attention," Kristian says.

Research - Association Documents

Governing house
Are you prepared to be ruled by a homeowners association?
By Andrea Coombes, MarketWatch
Last Update: 3:15 PM ET Sep 30, 2007
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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Buying a home is already a complex endeavor. Add in the sometimes unfathomable machinations of a homeowners association and you enter a realm filled with the potential for misunderstandings that may have legal and financial consequences.
Often, home buyers don't fully realize the tradeoff they're making when they move into communities that involve becoming association members, experts say. More than 57 million people live in associations governing everything from large and small condominium developments to subdivisions of single-family homes, according to the Community Associations Institute, a trade group in Alexandria, Va.

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"Many people have trouble accepting the fact that decisions will be made by others," said Mark Pearlstein, a partner with Levenfeld Pearlstein LLC, a Chicago-based law firm that represents associations.
"They are trading the convenience of having someone else maintain their property in exchange for being subject to the decisions made by others, [including] what they can do in their unit, expenditures for maintenance of the property and the assessments they will have to pay," he said.
Sixty-nine percent of homeowners in a recent survey said homeowners associations are either a "major headache" or a "minor annoyance," though 25% of respondents said they had not lived under an association, according to a survey of 3,000 homeowner subscribers to a newsletter from ServiceMagic.com, a Web site in Golden, Colo., that connects consumers with contractors nationwide.
Associations provide a number of important benefits including, for instance, landscape maintenance and access to fitness facilities, and their rules often help protect property values. But it's the horror stories that make the news: Full-blown fights over a homeowner flying a flag, stringing a clothesline or owning a large dog. And in some states associations are within their rights to foreclose on homeowners who respond to disagreements by refusing to pay their dues.
Two common homeowner complaints: Unexpected increases in dues and unwelcome rule changes.
Homeowners are often "surprised about the ability of an association to change the rules," Pearlstein said.
For instance, recently, to forestall declines in property values, more associations are prohibiting homeowners from renting out their units. "Courts in most states have held that an association can change the rules by a vote of the ownership to restrict or eliminate leasing," Pearlstein said.
Still, despite the difficulties, associations offer plenty of benefits, including supporting property values by keeping common areas well-maintained. A separate survey conducted for the Community Associations Institute found 78% of homeowners agree that associations protect and enhance property values.
Associations "maintain property values at their highest level," said Bill Kosena, a broker associate with Re/Max in Denver. "It's really impossible, especially in today's market, to sell a home where your next-door neighbor has a yard that's gone, or junk cars parked outside."
Another plus: Homeowners who, alone, can't afford a swimming pool or access to a golf course can enjoy such amenities through the resources of the association.
Before you buy
Do your homework before signing with an association. Explore the building or neighborhood and talk to the community manager to assess whether the rules will adversely affect your lifestyle.
"See if anyone else is doing what you want to do. If you don't see any RVs, it's a pretty good guess the homeowners' association isn't going to allow RVs," Kosena said.
Potential conflicts include restrictions on:

* The size, type and number of pets. "We do have one client who has a scale in the manager's office to weigh a pet. They don't want big dogs," Pearlstein said.
* Exterior antennas, clotheslines, flags, fence types and paint color
* Running a home-based business, including restrictions on parking commercial vehicles

Next, read the association documents, or covenants. "You think you're buying a home but really, in addition to that, you are entering into a contract and it's a very elaborate one," said Peter Dunbar, an attorney in Tallahassee, Fla.
Ask what the monthly dues cover, whether the association hiked dues substantially in the past and, if so, why? Ask about additional fees, such as move-in fees.
Ask about the size of the reserve fund. Some states, including California and Florida, require associations follow a reserve-fund formula, but in other states there is no good rule of thumb for how much is enough, Pearlstein said. At the least, ensure there is an amount large enough to cover future large maintenance costs, and consider talking to a real estate attorney if you're unsure.
Ask when the association last commissioned a reserve study. These studies ensure the association is putting aside enough money to cover major upcoming expenses.
Ask for the minutes from recent meetings of the association's board of directors, and for a copy of the association's most recent financial statement. "If they don't have one," Dunbar said, "that's a red flag immediately."
If you find it difficult to obtain these documents before you buy, make your signing of the contract contingent on the review of certain documents, so that you can back out if those documents prove worrisome. End of Story
Andrea Coombes is MarketWatch's assistant personal finance editor, based in San Francisco.

Unit 11, Chemical Storage

Unit 12, Additional Exterior Garage Light

Exterior lighted mounted on garage structure. Not in original building plans.

Unit 12, Chain Link Fence

Close up of chain link fence gate, with rock leaning against it. Also chicken wire threaded through top.

Park In Fire Lane

Colorado 617 KNI.

Park In Fire Lane

Lakewood Noise Ordinances

City of Lakewood noise rules.

Unit 6, Pet Door, Wire Fence

Unit 12, Tall Fence At Rear

Unit 32, Skylight

City Regulations: Fences And Courtyard Enclosure

5.2 Fencing and Retaining Walls
Intent:
Where necessary to protect property, fencing, screening, and aesthetically pleasing walls may be constructed in accordance with the specific requirements of Article 8. They must be visually integrated into the development and surrounding landscaping and topography.
Fences along a public street should be constructed of high quality materials compatible with the primary building materialsandarchitectureofthehomes.
Guidelines:
• Fences or walls shall be constructed of high quality materials compatible with the primary building material and architecture of the home.
• Fences should not block pedestrian connectivity between different neighborhoods and access to public open spaces, parks, recreational facilities, community shopping centers, etc.
• Particleboard or other low-quality imitation wood and untreated concrete are not acceptable materials for fencing.
• Fencing shall be in a color or material compatible to the surrounding natural landscape.
Good example of an architecturally designed wood fence.
• When fences are proposed to mitigate negative sound or lights, earth berming with appropriate landscaping shall be considered instead. Constructing berming to increase fence height is not allowed.
• Solid fences/small masonry walls that are constructed at the front and side yard to create a court yard must be build out of the same materials as the main structure, cannot exceed 42” in height, and must meet all requirements of Article 8. The minimum distance between this courtyard enclosure and detached sidewalks should be 12 feet, unless specifically outlined in the Official Development Plan.
• Continuous fencing or walls along public streets and public open spaces shall provide visual breaks and/or architectural treatments every 30 linear feet. These treatments may include columns, recesses in plane, planting areas, and open fencing sections.
• Any fence along a public street must be accompanied by landscaping on the exterior side of the fence.
• Side yard fences on corner lots should be setback to line up with the side façade of the house. It is desirable not to enclose the side yard with the fence.
• The use of chain link is strongly discouraged.
• Open style fencing, such as picket, split rail, or wrought iron should be utilized along pedestrian and traffic corridors to increase safety on these paths by maintaining visibility and preventing a “walled” or “fortress” effect.

...

Unit 7, Trash Cans, Chain Link Fence

Unit 8, Skylight

Unit 8, Power To Upstairs Apartment

Power conduit runs to attic to power upstairs apartment, including cooking range.

Unit 12, Fences

Fence gate was not in original building plans. Gate was added without handle access on street side.


Rear partition fence between units 11 and 12 was extended to nearly the back of the lot. The passage is narrow, and is blocked by a chain link fence-type gate that doesn't swing. This gate is held in place by a chicken wire attachment and a large rock.

Unit 6, Side Wire Fence

Unit 7, Dog House And Chain Link Fence

Dog house and chain link fence on common property, covered by wood sheet.


Trash cans, side fence without latch, light fixture.