ARCADIA – Council members last week rebuffed a proposed draft resolution that several argued would give city-designated homeowner associations too much power.
During a special study session, the council discussed amending and consolidating the five HOAs’ development standards, design guidelines and design review procedures into one cohesive document.
But after a passionate discussion, the council directed its staff to revise the draft document before bringing it back to council for another review. HOA representatives, with input from city officials and developers, had been crafting the draft for more than a year.
“I don’t like the document,” Councilman Roger Chandler said during the session. “This is just too hard for amateurs to work with, too many things to consider.”
Some argued that the draft would give the associations’ Architectural Review Boards – which have architectural design review authority over the association area – too much control over size of homes, setbacks and other issues.
ARBs should look favorably on someone’s dream home plans “unless it was so garish and outlandish that it might negatively affect property values in the area,” said Councilman Bob Harbicht.
“I sense in some cases the ARBs have moved far beyond this simple fail-safe concept and in the proposed resolution they are trying to become much more intrusive on individual property rights.”
But for some HOA representatives, the draft resolution didn’t go far as they would have liked.
Laurie Thompson, who serves as the chair of Santa Anita Village Association’s ARB, said earlier that she would have liked the document to include a floor/area ratio – which would limit how intensively a lot can be built upon – comparable to what surrounding cities have.
The idea, however, was rejected by council members who have no such residential restrictions anywhere in the city.
“The concern is overbuilding,” Thompson said. “The size of the house compared to the size of the lot is so huge, that there is no way that house is not disruptive to the ambience of that neighborhood.”
In addition, Thompson supported an earlier version of the draft resolution that would have protected any tree with a diameter of 12 inches or more unless it was diseased or tearing up the foundation.
After objections were raised, HOA representatives reduced the list to five protected trees. But that number is still too high for some developers and council members.
“First of all, it’s ridiculous the number of trees you’ve got here,” Chandler said. “Like Liquid Ambers, that’s the most useless tree the city has ever put in. They’re destructive, they’re horrible, and here you are protecting them.”
Richard Tipping, project manager of Bowden Development, said he wanted removed any language from the draft that would give the ARBs discretion over size of the homes. He also thought that only oak trees should be protected in any future draft.
“They shouldn’t be more restrictive than the city,” he said.
brenda.gazzar@sgvn.com
626-578-6300, ext. 4496
