HOA Board refussing to put their determination in writing

Hi Everyone,

There is a situation with Trees and Bushes not being trimmed regularly and becoming a nuance and possible fire hazard because we live in a area in the hills which the city and county states in writing "This is an area of extreme fire hazard area"
The Board is now stating that they do not have to give their decisions in writing to us when we ask for them. The reason we are asking for decisions in writing is because every time a Board Changes, so do the agreements made regarding this situation.

Backround: 33 years ago a neighbor, below us, planted on an area that was only to be planted on and taken care of by the Association, per the specific plan and the CC&Rs. This area is on a fire break. The bushes she planted were Acacias and a Eucalyptus brush. I guess no one notice them because they were small at the time but have grown out of control. This neighbor has fought hard to keep them because she wants privacy in her yard. These bushes are extremely flammable bushes and Eucalyptus are know to explode when on fire. Plants which are flammable should of never been planted on a slope which is a fire break.

Fighting has gone on about keeping these bushes to a reasonable size for years, with negotiations of keeping them at a certain size and letting the neighbor have her privacy, but keeping the size to were the bushes are not out of control. This has gone on with 3 different Boards now. One Board in the 2000's took care of them, but the neighbor still complained about privacy, yelling at the gardeners for trimming them. Then in the late 2000's the next door neighbor neighbor of the neighbor who has these bushes got on the Board as president and things went down hill since then.

My next door neighbor has been going to the HOA for years with me and they don't seem to want to do anything about the bushes. In 2016, the Eucalyptus bush grew to about 35 feet high because of it not being cared for or trimmed. The landscape company then told the Board it is now a tree. Well, we stated to the Board, it is a bush and now at tree size because the gardeners let it grow that high and the Board did nothing when it was reported that it was not being taken care of. Now we have to pay for the bush to be on a tree schedule with an extra tree trimming charge, when before, for years and years, it was trimmed for free by the landscapers...when you could get them to do it. The reason they did not like trimming it is because it is on the top of a steep slope and hard to trim. IMO

Well, to make a long story short. My neighbor had a list of questions she read to the Board at a board meeting about a year ago. She asked for a reply in writing. She had to go to Brazil because her father died and stayed for a while. When she was gone, I went to meeting for myself and her to try and negotiate with the Board on having this situation handle with something we could all agree on. I thought we came to an agreement, but the agreement never happened. My neighbor came back and asked what happened to the decisions the Board made that she ask for in writing and they said they do not have to give her that in writing. they just said, it is now a tree and that is how tall it is going to be...but they will not put anything in writing.

Is this true. I know at public meeting there are things like the public information act that a person can see things or get things in writing. Is there anything that states a HOA does not have to give their decisions in writing to a homeowner?

Thanks you

Anna, I do not think the Board has to put anything in writing at this point. In my opinion what you should do is follow California statutes regarding dispute resolution at HOAs. The first step is to submit a formal request for "internal dispute resolution." See https://www.davis-stirling.com/HOME/Internal-Dispute-Resolution . Per the latter, try something like the following:

Dear HOA Board,

The HOA's covenants at ___ and ____ require maintenance of the grounds in a manner that ensures the safety of residents. The trees/bushes on the common areas at _______ are in a Fire Break. As you are surely aware, the trees/bushes pose a great risk of fire. To attempt to resolve this, and pursuant to California Civil Code 5910 et seq., I request Internal Dispute Resolution. Please let me know by August 15 when and where the Association's representative(s) can meet with me.

Thank you,

Jane Smith
___ Main Street
___ HOmeowners' Association
____, CA ____
Phone:
Email:

Thank you AugustinD

I love this reply, thank you for the info.

Well, I don't know if the real issue is the desire for privacy, it certainly is one. Years ago, in the early late 1990's and 2000's, We elected a new and the board president really let the HOA go. No one really noticed until it got out hand. A lot of people in our community started going to Board meetings. When asked about the condition of the shrubs and trees on the slopes, he told us that tree trimming cost too much money, so he never did it....long story short we voted in a new Board next time.

The new Board started getting things cleaned up on the Slopes really fast. The neighbor who has the overgrown bushes we are talking about here, went crazy at the meetings. The wife told everyone, that is my property and my plants that I planted and I don't want them cut.

Just so you understand, this HOA was built in 1985 and the association property that we cannot plant on or maintain are in areas between homes and are listed in the Specific plan and CC&R maps as a fire green belt that must be maintained by the HOA only.

A fire battalion chief, said they no longer call it a fire green belt, but fuel modification zones. How this association was set up, put these fire green belts on property owned by homeowners. So these bushes and shrubs that she planted, are on their property, but when she purchased the home, they signed the papers agreeing to the Specific plans and CC&R's.

In 1986 when we moved in, the slopes were all planted with mostly ground cover and low plants to slow down a fire that moved from one street to another. It was suppose to maintained that way to avoid a fast moving fire. This is explained in the CC&R's.

The owners who planted these bushes, we are talking about here, like myself, are original owners and I don't think they read the Specific Plans or the CC&R's when they purchased her home. So the new Board of the early 2000's had to set them straight. The husband threatened to sue at a meeting and it started going legal and I know a decision was made legally that the Specific Plan and the CC&C's stands. This is the big reason they are upset to this day.

These neighbors actually stop work orders from boards while the bushes were being trimmed, by yelling at the workers, telling them that this was their property and they could not cut the bushes. This happened many times and the management company had to step in so the work orders could be completed. I believe these neighbor's only receives letters to stop giving the gardener instructions, not sure if anything else happened to them in these cases.

In the late 2000, we changed our management company. Last year when this situation came up again about the bushes and letting them get to tree size, I asked the Board,if they had read the decision that was made in this case in the 2000's. They said when we changed management companies, a lot of paperwork was lost. We don't have that information. Isn't that nice?

This is why my neighbor asked for their decisions in writing so we have a record for future boards in case paperwork is lost again.

I have tried to reason with my neighbors many times so that there would not be such an upset with them.

In the early 2000's I went to these neighbor's home and ask if we could come to a decision of how high she needed the bushes to be so that they could maintain their privacy....they would not agree, it was their bushes and they did not want them lowered. Last year I had the wife come into my back yard and had her look how high those bushes were. They are over 30 feet high now and I showed her that if they were lowered 10 feet, we still could not see in her yard, would that be agreeable? She still would not agree, that is her property she keep saying.

I think this board may not want to get into a legal issue with her, that is the only reason I can think of. Letting that bush get to tree size is not economical. We now have to pay a tree trimmer if we want the bush cleaned up....prior to letting it get so high, the landscapers were suppose to trim these bushes as part of the landscape agreement.

We have watch fires go through the hills in front our community a few times. It came all the way to the edge of the community in front of us one time and we were told we might have to evacuate. It is windy up here and if sparks from a fire hit our slopes we would have a big problem. The slopes are suppose to be maintained so that if a fire did occur, it would stay flat on ground and move slowly because of fire retardant plants that are suppose to be there, not go up 30 bushes with flames flying into our yards. Especially eucalyptus, they are known to explode in a fire when they get really hot and start shooting flames. They are NOT native to California and California has articles about them that are not good when it comes to fires.

I hope this clears up things a little better.

Ok, Kerry .....thank you for your impute. We will try to the this on the agenda. I do not believe it was ever an agenda item in the past. Let's see what they say.

Anna

Have your local fire Marshall speak at the next meeting. Perhaps he/she would order fire management measures by law.